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Idi, Meanie, Amin, Doc
by Daniel Robert Epstein |
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10/5/2006 at 3:21:40 PM |
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If the folks over at The Criterion Collection know what’s good for them, they will be focusing special attention this fall on their 1974 catalog title General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait.
Made with the full cooperation of Amin – indeed, the Criterion DVD has as one of its Extras a transcription of the dictator’s requested cuts to the film – Barbet Schroeder’s memorable documentary was also a key element for actor Forest Whitaker in preparing for his role in The Last King of Scotland. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman’s reliance on A Visit with Truman Capote, a 30-minute 1966 documentary made by Albert and David Maysles, the Schroeder piece became Whitaker’s essential reference material. This kind of archival treasure trove is of course one of the advantages that comes with playing a real, well-known person.
“ I know that documentary backwards and forwards,” Whitaker confesses during a recent interview with FilmStew. “I could probably quote it to you. I think it was a really great tool for me to be able to try to understand Amin, because in that you see him in almost every single situation.”
“You see him with his cabinet; you see him with his children; you see him dancing; you see him giving speeches,” he continues. “You see him in so many instances. You see him talking to doctors. There’s so much footage of Idi Amin besides that as well. I have tapes of him talking in different languages. He spoke like ten or 11 different dialects, so sometimes I just listened to them. I may not understand it, but I just listened to his tone, his voice and the way he raised things.”
One element of Amin’s life that did not underpin Whitaker’s Oscar-hyped performance is the notion that the fearsome dictator was, or became, a cannibal. “I never met anyone who said that he did,” explains Whitaker in reference to his extensive time spent shooting the film in Uganda."I met with his brothers and sisters, his ministers, his general, his girlfriends and all these people in Uganda who know him, had experiences with him. I could not find that to be the case.”
“Just Western propaganda.”
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