Hello again Mongolia,
The film ?Last King of Scotland,? is based on the novel by Giles
Foden. The physician, Scotsman Nicholas Garrigan is a fictional
character; however during a 1998 interview, Giles Foden said he used
conversations with Bob Astles, widely perceived to have been Amin's
closest advisor, to construct Garrigan's character.
?The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning first novel by
journalist Giles Foden. A UK film adaptation was released in the U.S.
on 27 September 2006.?
?Its fictional protagonist, Scotsman Nicholas Garrigan, relates how he
came to be the personal physician and confidante of Idi Amin, the
president by coup d'etat of Uganda from 1971-1979.?
?The author evokes the form of a memoir by inserting fictional
newspaper articles, journal entries, and authentic events.?
?During a 1998 interview with the online magazine Boldtype, Foden said
he used conversations with Bob Astles, widely perceived to have been
Amin's closest advisor, to construct Garrigan's character. As a
British soldier who worked his way into Amin's favor, Astles was much
more "proactive than Garrigan", according to Foden, but paid the price
by spending six and a half years in a Ugandan jail after Amin's fall.?
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_King_of_Scotland_(book)
Excerpts from the interview:
? You met and interviewed Bob Astles, a man widely perceived to be
Amin's closest advisor -- what was he like, and how did he help you
shape Garrigan's character??
Giles Foden: "Major" Bob, as he was known, is a former British soldier
who inveigled himself into Amin's favour (he was much more proactive
than Garrigan) and became part of his apparatus of repression. After
Amin's fall, he was imprisoned for ten years in a Kampala jail. I
discovered that he is now living in the leafy London suburb of
Wimbledon, and managed to persuade him to talk to me. It was a
strange, even spooky occasion, going to this little house and meeting
the man the British newspapers used to call "Amin's White Rat." He had
come to believe his own version of events, and in some ways I felt
sorry for him. The weirdest part was that he had a pet magpie which
kept hopping and flapping round the room while I taped what Astles was
saying. At one point, it got up and sat on Astles's bald head and
pecked it. The Major lit a cigar; then it dumped on his shoulder. Even
though he now distances himself from the dictator, Astles seems to
live in the same fantasy world as Amin. Garrigan does this too in the
book, and that more than anything leads to his downfall: he becomes
entranced by Amin's voice, as much as anything.?
Boldtype: Giles Foden's interview
http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/1298/foden/interview.html
?Garrigan is loosely modeled on Bob Astles, a British WW2 veteran who
somehow became Amin's closest advisor.?
Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Last-King-Scotland-Vintage-International/dp/0375703314
?The doctor in question, named Nicholas Garrigan, is Foden's fictional
creation, but if he is based on anyone, it is Bob Astles, a British
soldier who worked his way into Amin's favour and ultimately spent six
and-a-half years in prison once the hulking tyrant was deposed. The
differences between Astles and Garrigan are too many to mention, the
least of which being that the former was already in Uganda and married
(and working for Amin's predecessor and political enemy Milton Obote)
when Amin came to power. But whether or not you approve of Foden's
playful treatment of history, you can't deny the novel's power.?
Toronto Life
http://www.torontolife.com/blogs/movie/2006/oct/06/last-king-scotland/
"The Last King of Scotland" is not based on a true story. It was
inspired by "true" events, which leaves more room for invention. Based
on the 1998 novel by Giles Foden, it's the story of a young Scottish
doctor who in 1971 signs up with the British Ministry of Health to
work in a remote Ugandan village and winds up living the high life in
Kampala, clutched to the turbulent bosom of Gen. Idi Amin.?
?The story is as strange and gripping as it sounds, and the suggestion
that the doctor might be real adds a not inconsiderable holy-Moses
factor. It's a bit of a letdown to discover the events depicted are
only partially factual. Amin, of course, was real.?
Calendar Live
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-last27sep27,0,471436.story
?I had spent several years writing a novel about a fictional Amin
sidekick, and in the course of research learned a lot about the public
face of "Major" Bob (Amin gave him the title): the man who journalists
loved to accuse of being Amin's "White Rat", the "second most hated
man in Uganda".
Giles Foden's novel about Idi Amin, The Last King Of Scotland
http://www.rhodesia.com/oz_wa/bt1998/aprmay.htm#wobbly
Bob Astles (born 1924) was an associate of Idi Amin, and widely
considered to have been Amin's closest advisor and his right-hand man.
Read more about him here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Astles
Giles Foden's Novel
?In the novel, author Giles Foden created a fictional young doctor
who becomes Amin?s trusted friend and confidante.?
?At last, he found a way past the veils of mythology surrounding Amin
and into the intimate heart of the dictator?s world ? by creating a
fictional young doctor who becomes Amin?s trusted friend and
confidante, only to discover he is trapped in a realm that grows more
violent and out of control every day.?
Emanuel Levy
http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=3405
?Based on the novel by Giles Foden, the film views Amin through a
fictional character, the young Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan
(gifted newcomer James McAvoy), who signs on in 1971 as Amin's
personal MD.?
Rolling Stone http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/10379541/review/11894555/the_last_king_of_scotland?source=movie_reviews_rssfeed
"Last King of Scotland," Macdonald's first dramatic feature, is
basically a fictional story, placed against actual events,
specifically the real-life backdrop of Amin's brutal regime.
In his political tome, Foden has invented a dramatic character,
Nicholas Garrigan (played by James McAvoy of "Chronicles of Narnia"
fame), a young Scottish doctor on a Ugandan medical mission who
inadvertently becomes entangled with Amin.?
Emanuel Levy
ttp://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=3276
Search terms:
"Last King of Scotland," fictional doctor OR physician
Based on "Last King of Scotland,"
"Bob Astles" "King of Scotland"
I hope the information provided is helpful!
Best regards,
Bobbie7 |
