GroshLink

While Theresa attended a York Revolution minor league baseball game with her parents, her sister, her sister's boys, and our girls (except for Eden), I had the opportunity to watch The Last King of Scotland, i.e., after Eden went to bed.

Despite the brief displays and inference of violence and sexuality (for which I blinked), I found the R film of great interest.  How can this be?  Remember my recent post Space for Atonement?  After giving it consideration, I realize that I give greater space to a film which focuses upon historical figures/circumstances, in this case Idi Amin's Ugandan dictatorship, than classic works of fiction [and classic fiction even more than lesser known but appreciated works of fiction (including comics) and those even more than material made just for the big screen (unless I'm really grabbed by the story as let's say Star Wars ... so this is a general NOT absolute spectrum)].

Response:  Yes, but Atonement (2007) was set in a historical circumstance, just as The Last King of Scotland. 

Rejoinder:  True, but the The Last King of Scotland's fictional lens enables the viewer to enter the historical, cross-cultural story of Idi Amin (played by a powerful, large, and convincing Forest Whitaker) and the Uganda of his making (thank-you to the British?). In addition, the extra material sheds light on how such a figure takes power, holds power, and continues to exert power over a region even after exile/death.  This sheds some insights on how to perceive Zimbabwe (note:  Mbeki’s Shame in this morning's NY Times), Sudan (note: God Grew Tired of Us), Rowanda (Hotel Rowanda), and South Africa (see global exchange). 

Atonement (2007) was not so much about WWII as the question of atonement/forgiveness. I have another lens/story for framing atonement/forgiveness (and many other more rich pieces for delving into the aristocratic British culture during the period surrounding the WWII).  The Last King of Scotland helps me to better understand, engage, and pray for the world scene ... I'll take the expense of a fictional character with some influence on the story (way to go James McAvoy who played Mister Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) which makes The Last King of Scotland a film of a fictional novel with about 80% fact (according to the author). Thank-you to the professional reviewers who point out some of the discrepancies and other elements which demand attention, see Christianity Today's Review and the NY Times.