The the Last King of Scotland - Movie Review Example

The trace that is left behind in the absence of the artwork The trace that is left behind in the absence of the artwork IntroductionWe live in the world where human beings like to freely interact with each other. This way of socializing is propelled by various kinds of events and activities which bring together human beings. These forms are mostly based on entertainment, co-existence, individual conduct, among others and they include artworks, performances, movies and films. Artworks and performances often leave their audience in states they didn’t imagine. Some of them address development issues, politics, and good governance while others are solely for entertainment. Presence or absence of artwork is usually accompanied by various consequences to the society as a whole and to an individual as one. Both the artworks presence and absence may have negative and positive effects. The positive effects tend to outweigh the negative effects in most contexts. For instance a movie on bad governance has more good effects to the general society than the negative ones. I have watched a film called ‘The Last King of Scotland,’ which is primarily based on an acclaimed novel by Giles Foden. It is a 2006 movie based on the rule of Uganda’s dictator, Idi Amin Dada and his rule throughout the 1970’s. The movie has the acclaimed actor, Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin, James McAvoy as Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, among many other actors. Retrieved from (https://www.google.com/search?q=the+last+king+of+scotland+screenshot&client=firefox-a&hs=Y04&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&imgil=OT6XyPfT9FusfM%253A%253Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fencrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com%252Fimages%253Fq%253Dtbn%253AANd9GcRdwc0exg65ObpkWPqMF9IE9Cg9R5DifXOVyqLVzxYphGiS7vFt%253B400%253B263%253BqQZMuwbbvqNcxM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.listal.com%25252Fviewimage%25252F396219&source=iu&usg=__6e8koZDV0CTZqGfoog0DXusGASE%3D&sa=X&ei=LSNvU-zrNILfOeyXgdgK&ved=0CDQQ9QEwBA#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=OT6XyPfT9FusfM%253A%3BqQZMuwbbvqNcxM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fiv1.lisimg.com%252Fimage%252F396219%252F600full-the-last-king-of-scotland-screenshot.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.listal.com%252Fviewimage%252F396219%3B400%3B263) The movie starts with this young medical doctor from Scotland who has just arrived in Uganda and is destined to a certain rural hospital where his services are required. He is Nicholas Garrigan. He is heard saying, even though he has come to Uganda to help in medical attention to the locals, he has also come to enjoy the Ugandan life. On one of his missions, he meets up with the new president who has overthrown Milton Obote. The president promises the people of Uganda a change in their life and his promises are taken as inspirational (Cable, 2009). From the above, the cast has tried to give us a start with a good featuring of production techniques in this piece of the artwork. The sounds and lighting auger well with the theme, making the viewer want to know more about what happens next. (Lee Grieveson, 2008) The props and the setting of the State House of Uganda are well brought out. The house where the president resides is filled with all the kinds of power that a dictatorial leadership would always be associated with. The production team made it possible that when the president is addressing people in the village, what is brought out is the faces of those in dire need of help especially the old, children and women. (Shay Sayre, 2010) In continuation with our story, Nicholas is saved by a friend and returns to Scotland, where he is expected to spill the beans due to his wide knowledge of the operations of Amin. The movie ends there leaving me to wonder what Nicholas did next after getting to Scotland. Did he tell the world the truth? This movie shows us how the leaders were behaving in the postcolonial times especially in Africa. It depicts them as self-congratulating, dictators and individuals without a sense of humanity. They just killed anything that moved without care so long as their personal matters are attended to. Retrieved from (http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&docid=ZWOg_8QEHm8e9M&tbnid=kQnyG71tQX6eAM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Di%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dimages%26cd%3D%26cad%3Drja%26uact%3D8%26docid%3DZWOg_8QEHm8e9M%26tbnid%3DkQnyG71tQX6eAM%3A%26ved%3D0CAUQjRw%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fenglishessaysfred.wordpress.com%252F2011%252F11%252F26%252Fthe-last-king-of-scotland-review%252F%26ei%3DeyBvU8ufJqmN0AXtv4GgBA%26bvm%3Dbv.66330100%2Cd.ZWU%26psig%3DAFQjCNEr5r_Tk2-VQ9D_R1zn5YQlugAEOQ%26ust%3D1399878134735125&ei=eyBvU8ufJqmN0AXtv4GgBA&bvm=bv.66330100,d.ZWU&psig=AFQjCNEr5r_Tk2-VQ9D_R1zn5YQlugAEOQ&ust=1399878134735125) The movie ‘The Last King of Scotland’ was shot at a very perfect time in the history of Africa where most countries were agitating for new leaders. This was after the previous regimes decided to turn to their personal satisfaction first. They strongly condemned anybody who dared oppose them. As seen the movie, they employed various tactics and techniques that they knew will help silence the opponents. This ranged from extrajudicial killings, torture, to chasing them out of the country. At the end of the movie, there is an impact that is felt by the viewer. The movie calls for the immediate change in the leadership of such dictatorial regimes even by all possible means. The absence of the movie makes people especially the leaders in the countries that are most likely affected by this kind of leadership to relax in the efforts to ensure good governance. They tend to think people have forgotten the scars from the past and just act the way they think. (Paisley Livingston, 2008) On the side of the movie itself, the casting crew did a marvelous job. All the way from the beginning of the movie to the end, the setting of the layout, careful pick of words and the fact that Whitaker, who stars as Amin, is trying to say the Swahili words as if he is a native and they come out clearly. The sound track employed in the movie is just awesome with the incorporation of African songs at some points. This makes the whole film lively and makes the viewer think he/she is in Uganda at that point in time. The voice of Amin has been brought out in such a way that it portrays the dictatorial nature .It is heavy, bold with the authoritative swing, making his listeners bow to the fact that he is their president The production crew gives the real portrait of Uganda’s villages. They don’t just add up into movie impressive pictures but they leave it just to be the way it is. This enables the viewer to relate to the kind of life the Ugandans were living those days and the kind of leadership that existed. The bodies of those ones killed by Amin are in such a way that the viewer sees a real murdered human being.it drives into the minds of most people that indeed Amin was killing people that way. (Paisley Livingston, 2008) The absence of the artwork leads to societal erosion of people’s culture. It tends to encourage people to continue doing whatever bad things they do thinking they are just right. Artwork acts as the disciplinarian to such like characters hence helping shape moral wellbeing of the society. It impacts positively on the common citizen of that country hence helping in some ways to alleviate the problems that would arise. (Burns, 2013) In the ancient days, artwork was treated with such importance that people used to create enough time for time. In Africa for instance, the old were the ones who were used in passing on wisdom and knowledge to the young ones. Presence of artwork has therefore been complemented by various scholars as the best form of non-formal education that ever existed in black man’s history. A movie that is all about dictatorship like our case here needs to have characters whose faces are not friendly. This applies mainly to the ones who are on top of power unlike the ones who are being ruled. The subject should portray the face of a suffering nation that is just there helplessly without any humanitarian help. A movie without such artist impression may end up losing its original goal and thus not well received by its perceived audience. (Hjort, 2012) Furthermore, electrical and production design should be present in a well presented manner if it has to be. It shouldn’t therefore be poorly choreographed or with poor quality. This calls for the need to be done in the best way possible so as to impress the audience. If the movie calls for its absence, then the absence should be felt as relevant by the audience and should not raise any questions. Absence of artworks in a movie leads to the movie’s low tendency of gaining a large audience. In the movie the last king of Scotland, the production team tried as much as they could so as to configure the lighting, electrical and other necessary graphics. There are various studies which have been carried out to point out the difference between the presence and absence of artworks in a movie, film or any other piece of art. They have been carried out by the scholars of art and experts in the same field. Paisley Livingston, 2008 claims that the impression created after watching a movie without the necessary finishing and artwork creates a temporary memory. The viewer will only be able to remember the movie for around seven days after which it will be hard for them to recall clearly. His argument is supported by Hjort (2012), who claims that the viewer will be remembering faintly the movie and may not want to watch it. The viewers will be expressing negative comments over the film or piece of art even if it was the best. In the mid of the 20th Century, there was a move from the hollywood movies that changed cinema to be an independent endeavor of the artist. Infact Robin Wood as a film critic wrote declaring that films by Alfred Hitchocock had the same features as the plays of Shakespear. For hitchcock’s form films to be evaded in future, universities and colleges started offering courses in film studies. These studies were meant at ensuring that the films that will be produced subsequently meets the visual,sound, graphics and all forms of artwork that suit views. With these changes, film and theatre industry completely changed due to the bringing on board of new brains that were more creative hence helping to revoutionalze the film industry. William Whittington is a phD holder and the assistant chair of Critical Studies at the School of Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California. He has produced various articles and one of them is ‘Sound Design and Science Fiction’ from University of Texas Press, 2007. The books highlights the instances of sound, the kinds of sound and the necesity for sound in a fiction movie. He argues that a science fiction movie without proper lighting and sound makes the viewers to totally contradict it. Based on the fact that most people do not believe in science related works, inadequate sound and light that is pursuasive may make them not to believe the movie. The produced for instance in a movie about search for a certain medication for a deadily disease should be soothing and giving hope to the viewers. When they watch they just feel that the scientistist have succeeded. The film and cinematography industry has made a stride in the recent years especially in the field. Modern people are now used to the artworks in the recent movies that a movie or film without them seems flawless and people can’t be attracted towards them. They are made in such a way that they make the movie be lively and real and the viewers relate to it in a very clear manner. This contributes to the viewers retained memory and positive perception of the movie. The absence of a proper soundtrack and the necessary graphics in a movie creates a sense of beauty to the ear and the eye. They are used to fill the gaps between the missing pieces in the storyline and animate between the scenes. It also incorporates stereoscopic effects for advanced audience impression as well as interactivity features. Graphics can further be used in the archived old images and the restoration of the movies and films (Biagi, 2014) The absence of artwork has a great deal of effects that are being felt today. People especially young people are ending up leading miserable lives due to their reduced or lack of enthusiasm in artwork such as films and movies. The impact feltb in such like a case is where the young people are ending up criminals due to their unknowledgeable ability in artwork. Pieces of artwork teach people to be hardworking, avoid corruption and all other forms of unlawful acquisition of property and wealth.this has led to the society suffering a great impact in terms of moral behaviour. (Shay Sayre, 2010) In conclusion, the movie ‘The Last King of Scotland’ ends in a dilemma leaving its audience with a lot of questions lingering in their heads. They wonder whether Dr Garrigan reported Amin’s brutality or not. In addition,the movie ends leaving the world aware of what was really happening in some African regimes soon after independence. It creates an awereness for Africa’s second liberation and the need to teach their leaders the importance of good governance. It also leaves behind some of the greatest dark marks ever experienced in the history of post colonial Africa. Bibliography Biagi, S. (2014). Media/Impact: An Introduction to Mass Media. Cengage Learning.p380 Burns, J. (2013). Cinema and Society in the British Empire, 1895-1940. Palgrave Macmillan.p140 Hjort, M. (2012). Film and Risk. Wayne State University Press.p45-47 Lee Grieveson, H. W. (2008). Inventing Film Studies. Duke University Press,.p13 Paisley Livingston, C. P. (2008). The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film. Routledge.p77 Robert Pepperell, M. P. (2006). Screen Consciousness: Cinema, Mind and World. Rodopi.p54 Shay Sayre, A. P. (2010). Entertainment and Society: Influences, Impacts, and Innovations. Routledge.p500 Read More