‘The last King of Scotland’ is full of amusement!
Apr 17, 2007
SIR — Pointing out bloopers made by film producers can be an amusing pastime. Ugandan enthusiasts would no doubt return with bagfuls of slip-ups from The Last King of Scotland.
SIR — Pointing out bloopers made by film producers can be an amusing pastime. Ugandan enthusiasts would no doubt return with bagfuls of slip-ups from The Last King of Scotland.
The moment you get past Forest Whitaker who executes his part with masterly artistry and Stephen Rwangyezi and Abbey Mukiibi who hold their own with remarkable finesse, the trouble is over; the rest is ‘open cast mining’ for laughable factual and technical blunders.
First is the rather confusing Acholi war dance that Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) does to the sound of beautiful Kiganda drums, then there is that cow that gets shot with one bullet in the head and sustains two neat entry wounds, the blood clotting instantaneously. Elsewhere, Kay Amin (Kerry Washington) can pass for a Lugbara belle until she speaks (from what corner of dear Motherland could that accent be?), likewise, Dr Thomas Junju (David Oyelowo) looks and acts like he could be from Mityana, but the overtones of his Nigerian mother tongue refuse to be bottled up. If there was any concern that this motion picture might portray Uganda in dim light around the world, it was never more worrying than in that scene when the Ugandan Dr Junju is found fully engrossed in the interpretation of a chest x-ray (“…..reticulonodular lung pattern.. indicating pulmonary TB… etc), while the chest x-ray film is displayed reversed on the viewbox. That is somewhat like reading this article from a mirror whilst holding your newspaper upside down! If we can be sure of anything, Dr Junju cannot have studied at Makerere Medical School.
Dr T. Okello-Anywar
okellotokello@yahoo.co.uk
The moment you get past Forest Whitaker who executes his part with masterly artistry and Stephen Rwangyezi and Abbey Mukiibi who hold their own with remarkable finesse, the trouble is over; the rest is ‘open cast mining’ for laughable factual and technical blunders.
First is the rather confusing Acholi war dance that Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker) does to the sound of beautiful Kiganda drums, then there is that cow that gets shot with one bullet in the head and sustains two neat entry wounds, the blood clotting instantaneously. Elsewhere, Kay Amin (Kerry Washington) can pass for a Lugbara belle until she speaks (from what corner of dear Motherland could that accent be?), likewise, Dr Thomas Junju (David Oyelowo) looks and acts like he could be from Mityana, but the overtones of his Nigerian mother tongue refuse to be bottled up. If there was any concern that this motion picture might portray Uganda in dim light around the world, it was never more worrying than in that scene when the Ugandan Dr Junju is found fully engrossed in the interpretation of a chest x-ray (“…..reticulonodular lung pattern.. indicating pulmonary TB… etc), while the chest x-ray film is displayed reversed on the viewbox. That is somewhat like reading this article from a mirror whilst holding your newspaper upside down! If we can be sure of anything, Dr Junju cannot have studied at Makerere Medical School.
Dr T. Okello-Anywar
okellotokello@yahoo.co.uk