23 February 2007, by Elizabeth Kameo in Kampala. When the shooting of the movie 'The Last King Of Scotland' began over two years ago on location in Uganda, there was a rush of wanna be actors and actresses hoping to make it big in Hollywood. "For me this is a dream come true, I am hoping I can be on screen long enough to be noticed by a movie maker and maybe then I could get some movie jobs," said wanna be actor known as JJ at the time.
That was in 2005 at the shooting of the movie at Makerere University. Now that the movie is out, JJ only gets to be shown for a split second in the movie; you have to know him to recognise him. He is among the many doctors in the airport scene who treat passengers of the world known plane that was hijacked by Palestinians and landed at Entebbe International Airport. And like many actors and actresses with minor scenes or those who acted as extras, he was not privileged to attend the VIP premier of the that was attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and main actors Forest Whitaker, James McAvoy and the movie director.
Interestingly, the premier of the movie involved a lot of pushing and shoving as security was at its peak and journalists was later on stopped from attending the screening because the president was present. If anyone thought they were going to watch a gruesome, they were mistaken; the gruesome scene was better witnessed by journalists who went to cover the premier. "If I had known it was going to be like that, I would never have turned up," wrote society columnist for the state owned newspaper Timothy Bukumunhe in his daily society column.
The Last King of Scotland, a movie about Uganda under the rule of former Idi Amin depicts Uganda in its fine structures. Mainly set in Iganga district in eastern Uganda, one of the places that still look like it did in the colonial days, it shows Uganda"s best. Kampala Road, the Sheraton Hotel and its gardens, parliament, Kololo hill and its lush vegetation and rich residents. However its also shows the other side of the country, rural areas still so run down and looking like they did 30-40 years ago. To crown this terrible side are poverty stricken families and roads so terrible they are filled with dust on hot days and mud on rainy days.
"I am happy for Forest Whitaker, he is going to win an award, but apart from that, there is nothing really impressive. They make a bog deal out of his accent, but he did not get that close," says Kasujja. Adding "however there is a good side to it, my colleague"s father is so happy his old car that was rented by the Last King of Scotland crew gets to be shown in the movie".
Unlike most Ugandans, he quickly remembers the unfair manner in which many Ugandan actors and extras were treated and how little they got paid to wait for hours and sometimes days to be cast as extras. When the movie was shot in 2005, extras were paid Uganda Shs 40,000 (about 18 Euros) for a whole day"s work.
Like many Ugandans, Kasujja watched the movie long before it was premiered officially in Uganda, "on a bad copy" as he puts. The pirated movie industry in Uganda is so big it helped most Ugandans who would have otherwise had to wait months to watch the movie watch the Last King of Scotland at the same time it was premiered in the West. "They turned Uganda"s story into a Hollywood story," complained one Ugandan after watching the movie. "All those excuses the director gave in the media about not having wanted to write a script based on a history he had not seen are baseless. Have all the directors lived to see what they base their stories on. He could have weaved our history with his Hollywood thing and still got a better movie, I am not impressed at all."
Phoebe Mutesi, 23 went to the cinema expecting to watch a gruesome movie, one that told the history of Uganda but that was not the case. "The movie is about what one saw through the eyes of a foreigner, not the eyes of a Ugandan who knows their history or experienced it. I thought it would be gruesome like history tells us about Amin"s rule but it was not. However if I were older and had lived when Amin ruled, I would have been disappointed because the movie does not at any one time tell this country"s history," she said.
She adds that the movie does not tell the story of Idi Amin but rather dwells on the influence of foreign powers in Africa. "They come here, mess up our countries and then leave without as much as being hurt when things go bad. They use us and this is what people should see when they watch the movie. That is why there is no reason for people to get angered by the fact that the history of Uganda is not brought out in the movie."
According to Mutesi, the movie further tries to justify Amin"s actions and rationalize what he did because he was surrounded by enemies. "But it is a really funny movie in its depiction of Idi Amin."
However Ugandan movie critic Kalungi Kabuye believes the entry of the movie in the Oscar awards nominations (Whittaker was nominated for best actor) will boost the country"s presence on the international movie scene. He believes it could be a follow up to the similar success in 1985 of the movie Out of Africa which won three Oscars and put Kenya on the international scene for filmmakers. According to Kabuye it could be a ground breaker for the movie industry in Uganda and do what the movie Mountains of the Moon shot in 1990 telling the story of Richard and John Speke"s search for the Source of the Nile failed to do for Uganda.
But as for now, it is still as rush as Ugandans dash to watch the movie not very much to see what really goes on but to catch a glimpse of a brother, sister, friend or neighbour who managed to get a part of an extra.
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