The Last King of Scotland Essays - Films, The Last King Of Scotland

The Last King of Scotland We have watched the movie T he Last King of Scotland , which I am now going to analyze . I will focus on the directors' work of light-composition, the use of perspective and the way the music is chosen to cooperate with the tones of the scenes. The Last King of Scotland , directed by Kevin Macdonald, is an action filled movie about the corresponding relationship between Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator, and Nicholas Garrigan, a Scottish doctor. The whole story begins with Garrigan as he moves to Uganda as a result of him starting to work for a missionary clinic. After a while, Garrigan and Amin run into each other's and begin to develop a relationship. As time goes by, the ir liaison begins to form into a friendship and Amin start to heavily trust on Garrigan. After many conversations and discussions about the state issues, Garrigan begins to see that Amin's government is the true definition to "political corruption". Even though Amin always manage to put forth hi s most charming sides, Garrigan in the course of time finally see through his artifice and get to see the ruthless dictator that Amin really is. As a consequence , Garrigan start s to interweave in the politics of Ugan da. Furthermore , the movie also leads us through Garraigan's romances with Sara Me rit and Kay Amin. The Last King of Scotland was an intense movie to watch witch many moments that made my heart wrench a bit. The movie was made with scenes that used amazing film techniques to draw the attention of the viewer. The techniques were so good that you as a viewer, felt that you were in Uganda and dealt with the same problems as Dr. Garrigan. However, in this movie , darkness is widespread and the faces in dialogues are often wrapped in shadow . As a result of many scenes being dominated by darkness, the music plays an important role in the way the viewer perceives the tone of the scene. The most commonly music is in the genre African popular music, though in this genre, different type of tones. As an example of this, when the music plays an important role, is in the end of the movie in the scene when Garrigan is fleeing Uganda. Because in the moment we see Garrigan escape Uganda we are also being informed that Amin have been deposed as president. At this moment, in this scene , the director w ants the audience to experience relief. He succeeds very well by letting an ataractic guitar playing ove r the scenes of dancing people i n the streets. Another example i s in those scenes when Garrigan is troubled and when the audience are to feel distr essin g , the tones in the music are instead sharp. In this way, the tones of the scenes are enhan ced by the music. This is one of those as aforementioned really good techniques Macdonald is using. Furthermore, a n important message in the movie I would say , is the development of political corruption I Uganda during the time Amin ruled . The director uses several really good techniques in the matter of relaying this message of the movie. The use of perspective is probably the most apparent technique to achieve this. By letting the audience follow the observant Garrigan allows us to become aware of the corruption in Uganda in the same moment as Garrigan himself. The surreptitious corruption in Uganda is therefore revealed through the method of perspective. Another technique that contributes to relay the central message of the film is the portrait of Amin. Amin is a happy and friendly person when he speaks to his people, but unofficially, he is a brutal man. This reflects the dishonesty inside the state as it the individuals living in Uganda are totally oblivious to. Furthermore, the director also uses the "lightn ing t echnique" as mentioned before, to communicate the message s to the viewers. He does this by darken the conversations that are , as to say "forbidden". This technique makes the contrast between the official outer and truth very clear. Moreover, the