Abstract
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This paper examines the phenomenon of "metatextuality" and "trumping" in Kevin McDonald's 2005 literary adaptation of Foden's The Last King of Scotland. To use Kamilla Elliot's adaptation terminology, the film "trumps" the novel and incarnates Foden's Idi Amin on screen in a better light. McDonald's film is not in any way redemptive; the narrative point of view is still white through Dr. Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), Africa is still the "Dark Continent" with expendable darkies, but unlike the novel which is overtly racist and colonially more self-reflexive, the film adaptation humanizes Idi Amin and minimizes the violence. This article is the product of post-doctoral research I conducted between 2010 and 2011 on Contemporary Hollywood films about Africa. I carried out research in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa and the United States. This paper examines the role of the Uganda Government, the Ugandan Cultural Advisor to the director, presence of notable Ugandan actors, and use of indigenous Ugandan songs in re-imaging Uganda in the film. This paper evaluates the political economy of transcontinental/cultural collaboration in the production of the film, and how it re-invents Idi Amin, Uganda's brutal past, and black Africa.