Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait

In high school I used to play a racing game in the arcade and the computer racers I raced against had some funny names. One of the racers was named Idi A Mean Dada. At that time I had no clue who Idi Amin was, but I thought the name was funny.

"General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait" is only as deep as Idi Amin himself was. Cameras follow him around where we can hear his speeches and interviews which give you a fairly clear sight of who he was as a person. He wasn't as evil as some may describe him and we know he was no saint. I think what's missing most in this documentary is context. What were the conditions of Uganda leading up to the rise, and eventual takeover, of Idi Amin. A man like that does not appear out of nowhere and without the right environment. In short, we needed more.

This film is an expose of the life and times of Idi Amin, at a time when he was becoming increasingly notorious in the world. Filmed by a French movie crew, Amin probably saw this as a chance to score a public relations coup with the world, but he ends up being his own worst enemy. The film begins with a short segment about Uganda in general, the story of how Amin came to power in a coup in 1971, and how things had deteriorated in the country since the takeover. Following Amin around in his official duties and during his recreation time, the film captures the madman he was on film. The movie crew plays him absolutely straight; you can see his change in emotions from jovial to barely restrained rage.

Besides showing Amin at his worst, this film also tells the tale of everyday life in modern Africa, and shows how Ugandans tried to make the best a miserable situation. One interesting part of the movie is that it shows how the old and new mix in Africa; a group of tribal dancers performs at a military base with a modern jet fighter in the background, for example. Great scenery of the Nile and wildlife as well.

While Amin has been forgotten by many people today, this film is interesting as it shows him at the height of his power, and lays him bare as the madman he was. An interesting look at a crazed leader and how he lived.

I saw the film on rental DVD which is out of print and very difficult to get ahold of if no out of print VHS copy is available. This is a compelling and fascinating documentary on the former and ousted Uganda dictator Idi Amin Dada who thought it would be ideal as a positive public relations tool to use a documentary film to voice his views. It proved the opposite as you watch the film that maintains truth and objectivity while letting Idi expound his opinions to inform the viewers of his views and justify his decisions as the despotic ruler of Uganda between 1971 and 1979.

It's an amazingly candid documentary about a candid dictator who at first seems like a nice, jollying person to hang out in the beginning of the film but turns out to be a perverted-beyond-humanity, murderous, blood-thirsty schizophrenic psychopath as an illiterate military commander-turned-dictator thirsting and gnawing on bestial cruelty and bloodshed as a stronghold on ultimate power that is a toxin of the mind, heart and soul. The documentary barely shows any atrocity except at the beginning, but the way Idi engages the documentary crew with his inane, egotistical, delusional and bizarre ramblings on-camera should ice-chill the spine of every conscientious viewer who paid attention to watch this historically important film since Idi Amin Dada recently died from multiple organ failure in a Saudi Arabia hospital in August 2003.

For a brief but detailed account of Idi Amin Dada's sheer scope of violence and brutality under the Dada regime, I recommend "The Most Evil Men and Women in History" by Miranda Twiss available only at Barnes & Nobles. It astounds me that one of the worst and most barbaric dictators of the 20th century lived to be an old man without prosecution for crimes against humanity.

Without Barbet Schroeder's brutally honest documentary, we would not be aware of what was inside the warped mind of Idi Amin to justify the horror bestowed upon the victims in the wrong place at the wrong time from all directions in Uganda under his coup d'etat rule.

Truly, we have the real Hannibal Lecter on film and that is General Amin. A rare film that's so bone-chilling it's scary just listening to Amin's speeches with his strange, barely contorted facial expression - and it's in real-life. The embodiment of evil personified by Amin on film.

Watching Forest Whitaker's performance as Ugandan military dictator Idi Amin in 2006's slightly disappointing The Last King Of Scotland, and then watching this, Barbet Schroeder's fantastic 1974 documentary about the same man, you have to applaud Whitaker's Oscar winning depiction. He not only grasped the man's sense of humour and desire for approval, but his terrifying ferocity which led to Amin being one of the most loathed and feared rulers in recent history. Yet if ever an Oscar was truly deserved, the Academy should have handed Idi Amin himself the award for Best Actor in 1974. The term 'autoportrait' (self-portrait) is cleverly used in the title, as that is exactly what it is. This might seem like a fly-on-the-wall depiction of a man narrating through his everyday duties, yet the film is very much controlled as much as Kevin Macdonald's fictional film was. Only it's not the director that is calling the shots in this film.

The film is one-half cinema verite and one half an Amin vanity project, and plaudits to Schroeder to let it happen, as it reveals much more about Amin as it would if he had no participation at all, other than in front of the camera. In one scene, Amin arrives by helicopter at a small town and is greeted by a horde of screaming townsfolk, waving flags and clapping in anticipation. However, we are told, the scene has been completely set up for the documentary by Amin. Without repeatedly informing us of the influence he had on the making of the film, and on Schroeder himself, we are allowed to sit back and watch this monster bend and manipulate the truth for his own benefit. He is seen in a meeting with his ministers laying out his ideals and his expectations for his country. In this scene, Amin plays the role of both serious and committed leader, and approachable joker. He warns one of his ministers that he will take action and replace him should he fail to inform him about an aspect of his work again, to which the minister stares down and nods in understanding. We are informed by the narrator that his body is found dead in the River Nile a couple of weeks later.

The film depicts both the political and social sides of Amin. As well as his claims to being the 'last king of Scotland' and his invitation to Queen Elizabeth to visit Africa and meet 'a real man', it also shows the increasingly uneasy relationship that Amin and Uganda had at the time with neighbouring country Tanzania and their President Julius Nyerere. Amin would have you believe otherwise, laughing off these claims and joking that the two have a friendly and informal relationship (the two countries would eventually go to war between 1978 and 1979, leading to the overthrowing of Amin's regime). We also see him with his children from many wives (he was a polygamist, marrying six women) and taking Schroeder and his crew on a boat trip down the River Nile, pointing out the wildlife and talking about Uganda being the most beautiful place on the planet.

It is a terrifying insight in how politicians and military rules can use the media as a propaganda tool, and what a lack of respect they have for their people. You get the feeling throughout the film that Schroeder would like to pose more trying questions to Amin, yet because of the likelihood that the film would be shut down should he be challenged, Schroeder is forced to indulge Amin's desires. In a satisfying climax, which sees Amin allowing himself to be questioned by a board of doctors in a bid to show his accessibility, the camera zooms in close as he sits speechless after being confronted with a difficult question, and the volume on his microphone is turned up to maximum to capture every quiver in his breathing, and the thumping of his ever increasing heartbeat.

The documentary was forced to be edited and released in two versions - one hour-long version in Uganda, and the full length version everywhere else. Amin sent spies to France to make extensive notes on the full film, which lead to the kidnapping of over a hundred French citizens residing in Uganda. According the Schroeder, he was forced to re-edit the film in order for the captives to be released. The film lay in this state until Amin's fall from power, to which the film was restored and re-released in it's entirety.

It could almost be viewed as a companion piece to Leni Reifenstahl's landmark propaganda documentary Triumph Of The Will, both of which show the length that military rulers are willing to go in order to manipulate their people. It is confusing as to why Schroeder would go on to make standard Hollywood pap such as Kiss Of Death and Murder By Number, as this is a fascinating insight into the mind of a fascinating man.

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This documentary is unique in my experience, offering as it does in-depth interviews and real-time personal footage of a notorious dictator, with his full cooperation.

Idi Amin ruled Uganda from 1971-1979 during which time it is reputed that some 300,000 Ugandans were put to death. Given Amin's reputation I was expecting him to have the personality of a Stalin, but not so. In many ways he seemed to be a fun-loving, likable guy. For example, at a dance he would play an accordion-like instrument, dance and joke around. He seemed to have a genuine appreciation for wildlife and the countryside. But as the movie went on you began to feel that behind the bonhomie was a personality disorder. For one thing he was delusional - he had, or said he had, a hatred of the Jews and in one scene he was seen staging a mock invasion and capture of the Golan Heights. This was a pretty pathetic performance - a few dozen soldiers with a helicopter backup. The thing that makes the movie interesting is that you can never quite figure Amin out. Did he actually believe that he could take the Golan Heights, or were the maneuvers just a game?

He would do crazy things like establish a fund for England and offer food for the starving English. He made the comment that United Kingdom Prime Minister Edward Heath would not come to visit him because Heath would only visit weak leaders. Did Amin believe these things, or was he grandstanding? I think Amin's agreeing to participate in this endeavor indicates a certain innocence, or was it arrogance?

The filming of a cabinet meeting caused a little chill to go up my spine. Amin instructed his cabinet members to make decisions on their own saying that he wanted strong, independent men to occupy those posts. But then he contradicted himself saying that they could call him any time for advice - even at 2 AM. And, in a voice-over, the director pointed out that one of the ministers who had made a poor decision was mysteriously found dead in a river a couple of weeks later. This cabinet meeting offers perhaps the deepest insight into Amin's rule: contradictory, unfocused, emotional, threatening, and avuncular. Given the fact of Amin's participation and that many of the scenes were staged, the horrors perpetrated by his regime are not treated here, but those horrors are the biggest part of his legacy.

Giving absolute power to anybody is a bit problematic, but giving it to someone as quirky as Amin produced some pretty bizarre results.