Rise and Fall of Idi Amin

RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN has a very special significance for me because it's the very first movie I saw on video . It was late Autumn 1982 and the video recorder was really making waves on the home entertainment front and these were the days when there was little censorship as to what you could watch on video

This may have been a slight problem for RISE AND FALL OF IDI AMIN , while not being a true video nasty in the sense that it was later banned on home video like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE etc it did become very very difficult to find after video censorship was brought into this country by the BBFC . It is a knowingly exploitative movie with some very shocking scenes of violence: People literally lose gallons of blood after being stabbed or shot , there's scenes of cannabilism and there's a very infamous scene in an Ugandan torture chamber where a man is hit over the head with a crow bar causing a fountain of blood to explode from his head

Being in such a hurry to shock the audience the producers haven't made such a good job of explaining as to why Amin became such a cruel despot and everything seems to have skimmed over . That said there's no denying that the producers want the audience to know just how cruel Amin is - If he takes a liking to a woman he'll have her partner murdered by his goons and he'll force himself upon her , any journalists asking too many questions will be given a fair trial before they're executed and how many dictators have kicked out Asian Muslims from their country while holding the Israelis to ransom ? Perhaps the scene that sums up " Dada " the best is when someone tries to explain economics with him :

" If we don't get inflation under control then the currency will be as worthless as toilet paper "

" Sh*t paper ! SH*T PAPER . You call Ugandan money sh*t paper . Sargeant take this man outside and show him what we do to sh*t "

which seems to suggest he was nothing more than an ignorant thug who after becoming head of state became a meglomaniac too . Joseph Olita while not exactly being in the Morgan Freeman class of acting does at least bare a close physical resemblance to Amin and unlike Yaphet Kotto in RAID ON ENTEBBE does at least project some of the deranged despot's personality on screen , and talking of the Entebbe raid see what Amin did while the IDF were saving the hostages !

As I said this has special significance for me . It's a film I remember because of the circumstances I saw it rather than the film itself having any outstanding qualities . It's not bad but it is violent exploitation rather than a bio-pic and when someone makes THE RISE AND FALL OF SADDAM I hope they just don't concentrate on the torture scenes

As a child, I lived in Kenya and remember the time when my father went to Kampala for business. But then Milton Obote was overthrown and Idi Amin came into power. A few months later, our business in Kampala had to be shut down and soon after that, Amin ordered all Indians to leave Uganda. Some came across the border into Kenya but most went to England and remained there. It was only later that the news began to come out of the Uganda on how brutal as well as cruel the Ugandan dictator really was.

In the early 1970's Idi Amin overthrew President Milton Obote. The coup was supported by many but soon they this turned ugly and Amin ordered the Indians to leave Uganda. He also started to deal with anyone who opposed him, or, said anything against him. His critics, as well as his opponents are put in prisons and are tortured and killed. At the same time he raped women and did not care for diplomacy - even on International level. At one point he orders the British Ambassdor to kneel before him and at the same time, he calls himself "The King of Scotland."

Directed by Sharad Patel, The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin, is filmed in Kenya and has multi cast, which includes the most well known Kenyan actor, who was also a newscaster on what was then "Voice of Kenya," Norbert Okare as the judge that Amin orders to be killed. Jospeh Olita has done an excellent job as "Idi Amin." If at all possible, for those who think that they can watch such a "bloody" (this is not used in swearing sense at all but in real terms of the word) film. And those who would like to know what it was like under Idi Amin, then this is a film that is worth while to watch.

As a matter of interest and as the movie was filmed in Kenya, the scene that depicts Indians leaving their businesses, homes, shops, etc, was filmed with real Indians and not actors in the capital, Naiorbi, in the area of "River Road," which at the time did consist of shops owned by Indians. A lot of the Indians were actually invited to participate in that scene. The swimming pool scene was filmed at the "Nairobi Gymnkhana," which was known as "Patel Club" as well.

I watched this film a while ago now, and to me it plays more like an 80's action film than a genuine historical account of what went on during Amin's reign in Uganda. It's the way the film was paced, that leads a viewer to this impression. The film focuses only on Amin's reign in Uganda and not his early life, or how he came to be one of the worst dictators in history.

However, I will say this, Joseph Olita, the actor who is playing Amin is very, very believable as the dictator. He steals every scene he is in, because of his remarkable physical resemblance to Amin. The scene where he orders the group of school children to observe the aftermath of the execution of one of his wives is a prime example of the genuine air of menace than Olita manages to convey.

The film also captures much of the madness that was Amin. Whether he is awarding his young son Uganda's highest military Honor's, or consulting a witch doctor to determine who is plotting against him and then ordering the massacre of several tribes based on such advice is hard to fathom happening in the real world; but of course all available evidence said it did.

So in summary, I guess this film is best enjoyed as an account of some of the horrors that took place in Uganda during Amin's reign. It doesn't provide any real insight in Amin, but that's not necessary a bad thing. Any insights into why Amin did what he did must be inferred because of the craziness of this man, and this film does a fairly good job of capturing some of that craziness.

I saw the film for the first time last night and I must say it has left a lasting impression with me.The film shows the true horrors of the Amin regime in unflinching detail.It shows the violence in a way that doesn't glorify or exploit,but doesn't pull any punches either!

Overall,I'd strongly recommend this film to anyone with even the slightest curiosity as to what kind of a man Idi Amin was.Watch the film and see "the black Adolf Hitler"!

After watching 'The Last King of Scotland' last year, I became quite interested in finding out more about the madman that was Amin. I soon discovered that they had made a film in the early 80's and managed to watch a trailer on youtube. I immediately thought this would be a great movie to watch - not necessarily because it was well-acted or directed - but because it had that cheesy,crappy quality..so crap it's good sort of thing!

So finally - and thanks to the wonders of youtube, i managed to watch the movie. It certainly lived up to my expectations. The movie does accurately portray the timeline of his regime and certainly gives you a sense of the terrible conditions people had to endure under his rule. When Amin appears on screen, he just seems to do one terrible thing after another - the movie does seem to be strung together by scene after scene of Amin shouting maniacally about cutting heads off/kicking out asians/shooting the archbishop/liking Hitler/eating human flesh etc etc...all makes for entertaining viewing I have to say..but then you have to bare in mind that this tyrant was real..so we must never forget that. Some notable quotes "No-one mess with Big Daddy!" "This is what happen to bad mommies" "i Like Hitler,i put statue of him in kampala" "i am sex champion" "for an African,you have gone very white!" "you call uganda money sh*t money!"

In summary, definitely an exploitation film BUT does portray the man as the evil villain he was.