Kevin Macdonald's film is one about a man that is wildly out of control. Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator, has taken power and come to befriend a Scottish physician, Dr. Nicholas Garrigan. Within this relationship Macdonald is able to reveal the complexity and volatility of change within Amin in the scenes they have together. We see this in their first meeting where Garrigan shoots the cow with Amin's gun. There's blood in Amin's eyes when he watches Garrigan take his gun. It's only when he finds out that the doctor is Scottish that he changes, but it isn't a subtle change it's a 180 degree turn from murder to joviality. This is also seen when Amin has terrible gas pains that Garrigan relieves. Garrigan sees Amin when he is afraid which causes Amin to see Garrigan now as a threat as he knows he has weakness, but Garrigan is able to ensure the dictator that he is under oath as a doctor. This oath leads to Amin trusting Garrigan in a way that is beyond the scope of a physician.
Amin declares that Nicholas is the only one he cant trust. This is set up by the "oath" that Garrigan says he must abide by in his relationship with Amin. But the general dictator takes this much farther, bordering on paranoia that Nicholas is the only man in the country he can trust, and the only man who can tell him what to do when he is most vulnerable. Thus Macdonald sets up the conflict of these two men sincerely caring for one another and the reality that Garrigan must serve his truth while Amin serves his.
Macdonald's frantic camera movement and use of close ups in the film cause the audience to feel and experience each moment as vividly alive in the shoes of Dr. Garrigan. This allows the viewer to understand subliminally the very real threat Garrigan is in each time he's with Amin. And the director shoots the torture Amin inflicts in a way that causes the audience to interpret the pain and brutality through the filter of their own imagination as they aren't blatantly told what to feel through the imagery. Here, one relevant example is the close up on Garrigan as the hooks go into his chest. We see his expression rather than the entering of the hooks which causes us to connect with him rather than the gore and this makes it harder to watch. Which in the end is part of the point: Amin's dictatorship is hard to watch as he lords his power over everyone, accepting no responsibility for what is happening in his country and to him and using whatever means he can to remain plausible. Macdonald's film reveals all of this through the work of his camera and creating character with his imagery and composition, as well as pacing in his film.
