If it wasn't for the film that James Mcavoy participated in, I wouldn't specifically look for an African-themed film that was released for ten years. Maybe for this reason, my angle of watching the movie is a bit off.
The focus of the film seems to be the dictator, but I think the sweet-looking little doctor is the novelty of the film’s perspective. This Scottish doctor is not exactly the many Westerners who went to developing countries to ruin and ran away with their tails. Is it typical? Rather than describing the moodiness, brutality, or human nature of the dictator Amin, the film shows the complex relationship between the West and Africa, and to a certain extent, it honestly writes the absurdity and randomness of it.
At the beginning of the movie, the little doctor picked Uganda casually. He didn’t know anything about this country and didn’t want to know. He didn’t even know who the president was when he arrived in the country. which one). He is here to have some fun. Of course, this fun is a bit more special than the average Scottish medical school graduate. He is not satisfied with drinking and drinking at home. He hopes to explore and experience a different culture. It is best to have a dip. A girl with a difference, at the same time "make a difference". You see, isn’t this a very common Western hippie? Recently, this fashion has spread to China, and countless men and women who want to travel all over the world and travel around the world are not all starting from this point?
Therefore, Dr. Garrigan did not take Uganda seriously, as the hateful dictator at the end of the movie said, he thought it was a "game". This includes that he and Amin have made friends and become confidants, but he feels that he can withdraw at any time. This includes his affair with Amin's wife. It can't be said that he and Kay have no real relationship. They are playing with other people, but he didn't really think about that girl, or didn't realize that he needed to do it at all. When he went to discuss the abortion, the black doctor said, "(Go to the village to find a witch doctor for an abortion) This is the only option you leave her." The black doctor here didn’t make it clear, but I think it’s just "Can't you fucking wear a condom?"
But is the little doctor really a bad person? I think he is an ordinary self-centered person, born in a comfortable and wealthy country, and he can't experience real suffering, nor can he discern real evil keenly. Whether you say naive or naive, this is a common problem of people with a good life, and it is difficult to overcome. Empathy is hard. (Going to the next question, Professor X’s super powers are super empathy, and he is also very convincing.)
Before watching the movie, I knew a little about Amin’s regime, and I only had a general impression of him. Basically know nothing. However, the inciting speech by Amin in the village at the beginning of the movie was no better than other dictators, and I couldn't understand how he impressed the little doctor. It's not that I'm smarter than the little doctor, it's just that we live in such a shadow and have seen it.
This film has no special achievements in showing the cruelty of dictators. It is far inferior to "The Killing Field" which shows the Khmer Rouge, but it is still very characteristic in showing the arrogant and willful attitude of Westerners towards Africa. It's ironic to let such a good-looking James play it. Inappropriate metaphor, the whole movie is like this African dictator who gave Western youth like flowers to fuck. Perhaps, in many developing countries, Westerners "feel" that they were finally fucked, but they didn’t realize it. There were many joint injuries, and the locals paid the price in blood. It’s commendable that the movie didn’t portray the little doctor as a really good person with a sense of morality (James can definitely do it, think about Atonement a year later), nor did it make him more wretched. Poor is neither a hate nor a character.
In addition, at the end of the movie, the black doctors who really have a sense of morality also have high hopes for the little doctors. It cannot be said that it is unreasonable. This is a very common mentality, but the foreshadowing is a bit thin.
Amin in the movie is convincing. There have been many neurotic dictators in the history of mankind. Every dictator should make us more alert to the power of power, but, obviously, not. Amin is not the first and will not be the last tyrant. There is only hope that more and more people will not be charmed in the future.
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