General Idi Amin Dada (1974)

General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (French: Général Idi Amin Dada: Autoportrait) is a 1974 documentary film by director Barbet Schroeder with English dialogue. It was made with the support and participation of its subject, the Ugandan dictator General Idi Amin. While the 2006 film “The Last King of Scotland” introduced many to the historical General Idi Amin, portrayed by the actor Forest Whitaker, in that fictional drama, this documentary shows the real General Amin at the height of his power when he was the iron-fisted ruler of Uganda.

“If this mind-boggling documentary about one of the twentieth century’s most reviled dictators were fiction, it would be acclaimed as a comic masterpiece… but it is all true. With an ambition the size of Napoleon, Idi Amin considered himself a major leader and revolutionary on the world stage. In reality, his regime was amateurish, disorganised, and his maniacal command both hilarious and bizarre.”excerpt from Masters of Cinema

Criterion Collection

Criterion, Essay

The Auteurs

oldschoolreviews.com

DVD: Amazon

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *