Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Idi Amin & Me

What do you get when you combine brutality and star power? If you are director in Barbet Schroeder and your subject / “co-director” is the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin; the result is “Idi Amin Dada” an engrossing self-portrait of one of the 20th century’s worst, and most intriguing dictator.

Amin is not only the star of the documentary, he is also credited as co-director. The film, showing Amin giving speeches, attending festivals, giving insights into his rather paranoid psyche (particularly his virulent Anti-Semitism) is not that much different than what Ugandans saw everyday during Amin’s rule on the state run TV station.

But, this film is no pro-Amin propaganda film. The humor, is unintentional, and often at Amin’s expense. One of the most memorable scenes is where Amin is watching the army perform military training, using a child’s slide. Then there is the scene where Amin dressed in combat fatigues leads troops over a small hill, preparing for war with Israel over the Golan Heights. The scene looks like a bad war re-enactment produced by a community theater.
And of course no dictator is complete without the masses. Amin’s “masses” are about 40 villagers who are forced to cheer for him as his helicopter lands. Of course, sometimes the scene goes wrong for a director; and just as Amin’s helicopter lands; the crowd scurries for cover, hiding from the massive plume of dust caused by the landing. Ah, so much for a grand entrance.

Above all, Amin talks in the film. He gives really long lectures. I could sum it up in a nutshell: Women need to get up at 5:00 AM to take care of the house and everyone must love the leader! And when he speaks about donating food for “starving British people”; the real director couldn’t tell if Amin was being facetious, or if he was serous.


The early 1970s was a period of transition for the Third World, with colonial rule still in recent living memory; the United States and the USSR were arming and wooing governments in Africa and Asia, and using them as proxies in the larger Cold War between the two super powers. And Amin openly talks politics.
His favorite subject is Israel. Interestingly, the Israeli as well as the British government were initially supporters of Amin. When they dropped their support, Amin began to throw his support behind groups like Black September, the terrorist organization that killed 11 Israeli athletes in Munich.
Amin also admired Hitler and speaks about how the Holocaust was “justified.”
Besides his repugnant views on Holocaust; Amin also talks about more localized events. He honestly sees Uganda, with its one air force plane as a potential military super power; and as a leading light for post Colonial states. He speaks with genuine enthusiasm of his wish to teach African-Americans Swahili.
One of the most iconic and ironic scenes is one that is not in the DVD, but a photo from the DVD extras. The scene shows Amin, who was raised in British occupied Uganda, and who became the highest ranking African in the British Army, being carried in his chair by four white men; just like the British colonialists use to make the Africans do.
But, history and the link between colonial dictatorship and the dictatorship of newly independent countries is not the main theme of the film. The Ugandan people are not the subject of the film, with the exception that they are props for Amin's rule. Just as Amin is able to dominate a conversation, a room, his country; he dominates the film. And while he most certainly was a cruel and murderous dictator; he has a magnetic personality, and very much loves being the center of attention-whether it is playing the accordion at a party, leading a traditaional folk dance; or "winning" a swimming contest; due to everyone else doing their obvious best to let him win.

Amin is at his most charismatic giving a tour of a wild life preserve lake. In the extra, we learn that so many people were killed during Amin’s rule that their bodies would plug up the dams, the crocs not able to digest all the bodies thrown into the rivers. It is a chilling anecdote.

Although it is cliché, Amin loves the camera, and the camera loves him. I sort of imagine that if Amin didn’t die in exile, and was actually tried for the mass crimes he committed against his people, particularly the mass killing of members of other ethnic groups and political opponents, all one would need to do is to get him in front of a camera and he’d probably confess it all. And that would have been a sequel worth seeing.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

"He honestly sees Uganda, with its one air force plain [plane] as a potential military super power..."

Is he on crack or something? Yes he is!

Shaina said...

it is a fasinating doc. ps thanks for noticing my error. that is what i get for writing at 11:30 at nite. :)

Kirk Johnson said...

Shaina,

I can't wait to see this. And it's great to see a longer post from you again--I was afraid we were losing you! :)

Hope you're settled in the new job and that it's going well. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Shaina, I was wondering, is this the plane he was refering to, here is a photo:

http://www.lostdestinations.com/airplane/air033.jpg

Shaina said...

If you're amazed with the plane, you should have seen "military training" scene. Surreal is the only word for it. Their "training" consisted of going down children's slides. My mouth was agape.
Besides the "odd moments", it really is a fasinating profile.
In a way, Amin is a caricture of a dictator. He certainly was incredibly brutal, from expelling the Asians, to mass murder of other ethnic groups, to murder of any & all political opposition-there is a reason why he is still one of the most notorious dictators in modern history. But, juxposed with the brutality, is this incredible naivite. He honestly believes that going down a slide is great military training; that people world wide look up and admire him; that Uganda, and most of all Amin will be a force to reckon with.

I think that even is someone has no interest in Amin or Uganda; just as a character study-it is a film to watch. I only watched it once, having to return it to the library-but I'm sure if I get again, I'd pick up on new stuff than I haven't noticed the first time

Anonymous said...

Too many people at the time were distracted from the horrors he was perpetrating by the buffoonish image he put across. Murderous dictators aren't too be laughed at however much they play to the camera.

Anonymous said...

Apart from looking like an Ape, I don't see any other value in Idi Amin. I was perplexed for a good 3-4 minutes trying decide whether really he was an ape. I mean, just take a look at this guy, he cannot be human, he's an Ape:

Photo 1: http://www.marionkaplan.com/lib/mkafm23.jpg

Photo 2: http://www.nafodu.org/data/historical2.jpg

Does he look like human to you? It seems that all these dictators come from hell.

Kirk Johnson said...

Daniel, I'd be real careful with that comparison. Just a friendly word of warning.

Anonymous said...

Ok Kirk. You are probably right. Dictators responsible for cruelty, torture and mass killings of people should not be compared with Apes, because Apes have more intelligence than mass killers.

Idi Amin, Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic, Slobodan Milosevic... they are the worst of the worst.

Anonymous said...

PS to Kirk and Owen:

I do not think he looks like an Ape because he is black (if that's what you guys meant). I was refering to the posture of his face because (in all honesty) he looks incredibly stupid. This guy was killing and torturing black people. He doesn't belong to human race, he is a mass killer. I hope I cleared up my opinion about this mass murderer!

Kirk Johnson said...

Of course, Daniel--I didn't think you meant that at all. But an unscrupulous person intent on discrediting you for political reasons might try and make such a claim.

You and I both know there are people out there who believe in a very different reality than you and I do. I wouldn't want to inadvertently give them any ammunition. That's all I'm saying. No offense intended.

Anonymous said...

Dan, if there's one thing that I've learned by doing campaign stalls on the street it's that you can't ever judge people by how they look - reinforced by some experiences today.

Before he went to seed and turned into a padded cushion Mladic was quite good-looking and wore what I would have regarded as an amiable, good-humoured look on his face. You'd never have picked Milosevic out of a bus queue let alone a police line-up. Koljevic looked like the man of fastidiously scrupulous intellect he'd have like us to think him. Karadzic I wouldn't have bought a new teaspoon from but that was the glib patter rather than anything in his face.

Don't judge a book by the cover. Amin wasn't the fool he pretended to be, he played a canny game creating confusion in the minds of his enemies and victims.

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Irrefutable Proof ICTY Is Corrupt Court/Irrefutable Proof the Hague Court Cannot Legitimately Prosecute Karadzic Case


This legal technicality indicates the Hague must dismiss charges against Dr Karadzic and others awaiting trials in the Hague jail; like it or not.

Unfortunately for the Signatures Of the Rome Statute United Nations member states instituting the ICC & ICTY housed at the Hague, insofar as the, Radovan Karadzic, as with the other Hague cases awaiting trial there, I personally witnessed these United Nations member states openly speaking about trading judicial appointments and verdicts for financial funding when I attended the 2001 ICC Preparatory Meetings at the UN in Manhattan making the iCTY and ICC morally incapable trying Radovan Karazdic and others.

I witnessed with my own eyes and ears when attending the 2001 Preparatory Meetings to establish an newly emergent International Criminal Court, the exact caliber of criminal corruption running so very deeply at the Hague, that it was a perfectly viable topic of legitimate conversation in those meetings I attended to debate trading verdicts AND judicial appointments, for monetary funding.

Jilly wrote:*The rep from Spain became distraught and when her country’s proposal was not taken to well by the chair of the meeting , then Spain argued in a particularly loud and noticably strongly vocal manner, “Spain (my country) strongly believes if we contribute most financial support to the Hague’s highest court, that ought to give us and other countries feeding it financially MORE direct power over its decisions.”

((((((((((((((((((((((((( ((((((((((((((((((((((((( Instead of censoring the country representative from Spain for even bringing up this unjust, illegal and unfair judicial idea of bribery for international judicial verdicts and judicial appointments, all country representatives present in the meeting that day all treated the Spain proposition as a ”totally legitimate topic” discussed and debated it between each other for some time. I was quite shocked!
The idea was "let's discuss it." "It's a great topic to discuss."

Some countries agreed with Spain’s propositions while others did not. The point here is, bribery for judicial verdicts and judicial appointments was treated as a totally legitimate topic instead of an illegitimate toic which it is in the meeting that I attended in 2001 that day to establish the ground work for a newly emergent international criminal court.))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

In particular., since "Spain" was so overtly unafraid in bringing up this topic of trading financial funding the ICC for influence over its future judicial appointments and verdicts in front of every other UN member state present that day at the UN, "Spain" must have already known by previous experience the topic of bribery was "socially acceptable" for conversation that day. They must have previously spoke about bribing the ICTY and
ICC before in meetings; this is my take an international sociological honor student. SPAIN's diplomatic gesture of international justice insofar as, Serbia, in all of this is, disgusting morally!

SPAIN HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AN
"INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT."


I represented the state interests' of the Former Yugoslavia, in Darko Trifunovic’s absence in those meetings and I am proud to undertake this effort on Serbia’s behalf.

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