MovieChat Forums > The Last King of Scotland (2007) Discussion > What the hell does Scotland have to do w...

What the hell does Scotland have to do with this?

posted 15 years ago by PanicAtTheMovieTheater
13 replies | jump to latest

Why the hell was this movie called "The Last King of Scotland" I understand that it was one of the many stupid titles Idi Amin gave himself(along with Lord of the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Sea...oh so now he's GOD...SMH)
but back to my point, the only Scottish person referred to was the doctor and this film is obviously set in Uganda, Africa so where does being the King of Scotland come in??

I never sleep because sleep is the cousin of death

[–] yagyrl 15 years ago

He used to fight with(alongside) the Scots when he was younger. He liked the way the Scottish would run their armies and in truth, I think he wanted to be Scottish. So he considered himself to be the Last King of Scotland. By the time he tried to incorporate their ways (which he didn't do so well) into his own army, the Scottish were more civilized and liberal, hence the reason why he's the last.

If I'm wrong about this, please correct me. I wouldn't mind getting a little history lesson myself.

[–] fab4fan-2 15 years ago

Amin also made a comment during a press conference in the movie that he was the "last king of Scotland" because he was driving the British out of his country as the Scottish had once done... if I remember correctly.

[–] Little_Korean 15 years ago

It was one of the many titles he gave himself. This one was part of his strange sense of humour and to tweak the noses of Uganda's former overlords.

When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...

[–] INeedUnguent 15 years ago

Here's an interesting comment from McAvoy on the subject:

"I'm extremely proud to be Scottish. I like the fact that we're glorious in defeat. We can take a beating and come out with most amazing, poetic and musical playing. We really do get defeated gloriously. We play amazing stuff in defeat every single time. That's being Scottish. That's why it's important for the Western audience that the protagonist of this film is Scottish. I'm Scottish and I come from a tribal system. I started there. Then I am chosen by the English and so I'm British because I'm conquered. I've been raped. I've been pillaged and there's been hundreds of years of that. It's only in the last 300 years that we've not been getting completely pummelled. So I go into this and I am white and I am from the West and from an economically powerful country - but I am different. I get you. I get your suffering and I won't treat you like everyone else. I will have more respect. That's why the film benefits from making Garrigan Scottish."

Having a Boo Radley moment, are we?

[–] beauedson 15 years ago

"the only Scottish person referred to was the doctor"

"referred to"?

i'll assume your entire post was a huge joke. the doctor was more than "referred to," he was the film's protagonist, and the ENTIRE MOVIE was told from his point of view (excluding, perhaps, a bit of intercutting and focus on the black doctor's sacrifice at the end).

[–] beautifuldissidence 15 years ago

Plus...that's the name of the book : )

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] goony86 15 years ago

Did you watch the movie?
The protagonist was Scottish and it was based around a guy who called himself the last king of Scotland as he felt Ugandans and the Scots were kindred spirits due to their dislike of the English.

[–] mail-2775 15 years ago

The others explained it here, but the title is nonsensically fitting, a stupid title for a stupid film.

It has nothing to do with Scotland, nor much to do with anything that really happened to anyone in their real life, it is a historical account of someone who never existed.

The point of it seems to have been to defame Amin by saying he befriended someone then tortured him, cut his wife's head off, etc..

This movie is the most ridiculous and insulting thing I've seen in a long time, any TV movie is 3x as good.

[–] volatileacid_at_gmail_dot_com 15 years ago

Mail2775 - you are a stupid person aren't you?

[–] jstang411 15 years ago

So right -- I don't know why critics, audiences and IMDB voters think this is such a fantastic, meaningful movie. They should just take back the best actor Oscar and and all the other awards for the film too.

And I was as insulted by that as you were. Imagine, they have the nerve to defame Idi Amin, who by all reasonable accounts was a helluva a sweet guy (why he never won a Nobel Peace Prize I am still trying to figure out).

[–] The24thFoot 14 years ago

Idi Amin served in the British Army's King's African Rifles (an African colonial unit) during WWII in the China-Burma-India campaign where they were brigaded with a Scottish Highland regiment and Amin came to respect and admire the Scottish soldiers (as has pretty much everyone who has ever fought with or against them). Let's face it, the British Army has alot of elite units; Paras, Royal Marines, Guards, SAS, etc but the Highland regiments are pretty hardcore too.

[–] metasyntactic_variable 8 years ago

(Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but this may need answers.)

The title does have everything to do with the main theme of the film.

We know that the protagonist, Nicholas, is childish and naive. He rebels against his father. Idi Amin is also just a big (and very dangerous) child.

The way these hurt children react toward their superiors is also played out in the way any minor country reacts to being overrun by a larger imperial force, in this case Scotland/Uganda versus England/The British Empire.

So, not only was "The last King of Scotland" a moniker used by the real Idi Amin -- Scotland becomes a symbol of a more general inferiority complex in ourselves, Nicholas and Amin being the "kings" of that attitude.

(This is, by the way, a theme made famous by Milton's Paradise Lost).