The Last King of Scotland

Synopsis: In the early 1970s, Nicholas Garrigan, a young semi-idealistic Scottish doctor, comes to Uganda to assist in a rural hospital. Once there, he soon meets up with the new President, Idi Amin, who promises a golden age for the African nation. Garrigan hits it off immediately with the rabid Scotland fan, who soon offers him a senior position in the national health department and becomes one of Amin's closest advisers. However as the years pass, Garrigan cannot help but notice Amin's increasingly erratic behavior that grows beyond a legitimate fear of assassination into a murderous insanity that is driving Uganda into bloody ruin. Realizing his dire situation with the lunatic leader unwilling to let him go home, Garrigan must make some crucial decisions that could mean his death if the despot finds out.
Director(s): Kevin Macdonald
Production: Fox Searchlight
  Won 1 Oscar. Another 47 wins & 31 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.7
Metacritic:
74
Rotten Tomatoes:
87%
R
Year:
2006
123 min
$17,449,410
Website
2,706 Views


- Are yous ready?

- Aye.

On your marks. Get set.

Go!

Stew, Dr Garrigan?

And you, Dr Garrigan?

- I thought that...

- Mother.

...seeing as we've something to celebrate,

we might have a wee drop.

Sherry, right. Great.

- We are very proud of you, Nicholas.

- Very proud.

Not quite as good a degree as mine,

but a fine one nevertheless.

Being a family doctor. Let me tell you,

Nicholas, you've chosen a fine life.

If you'll both raise your glasses,

a toast.

To father and son.

A long future together.

Nicholas, are you all right in there?

I'm fine.

I'm fine.

OK, first place you land, you go.

First place you land, you go.

Canada.

What are all the soldiers for?

- Do you speak English?

- Yes.

What are all the soldiers for?

The army's taking over. There is a coup.

- A coup? What? Are we safe?

- Don't worry.

These are General Amin's men.

He fights for the people.

- It's a very happy day for us.

- OK.

- Is that him?

- Yes.

- What do you do in Scotland?

- I'm a doctor, a qualified doctor.

I thought I could maybe use my skills here.

- Monkeys. Look. Look up there, Tolu.

- Do you have monkeys in Scotland?

No, we don't have monkeys in Scotland.

No. If we had monkeys in Scotland,

we'd probably deep-fry them.

This is my stop.

I'm a medical officer overseas.

Dr Garrigan.

- Dr Merrit?

- No. I'm Sarah, David's wife. Welcome.

- Hello.

- David was called out on an emergency.

- I hope everything's OK.

- Just normal business here. Safe journey?

- You know. It was...

- Bloody awful?

A goat up your arse

and your face in someone's armpit.

Last time I did that trip, I nearly asphyxiated.

Right, hop in.

- Actually, I waited for the bus yesterday, too.

- Yeah?

We were getting a little worried about you,

thought you might be caught up in the coup.

It's official now, by the way.

Obote's out. The radio's full of it.

Who's Obote?

- Ex-president.

- Right. And whatshisname.

Amin. He's taken over, yeah?

You've certainly come at a busy time.

Whatever I can do to help.

- Morning, Nicholas.

- Morning.

- So, what do you think?

- Aye, fine.

Come on. Come through.

This is the operating room.

Simple procedures for the most part.

- Morning.

- Morning.

So, how many doctors are there here?

Well, there's me and now there's you.

- Morning, Sister.

- Morning.

You know, the interesting thing is,

still prefer the witch doctor to us.

Sometimes I think we're just

skimming the surface of an ocean.

- Ready?

- Yeah.

There we are.

There we go. Yeah.

OK.

Yes, thank you.

OK, and one more. OK, who's next?

That's a lovely name. OK. Can I see?

You ready? Now, come on, Angela.

Dr Merrit.

What is it?

- Complications with the Mugisha baby.

- I'll go.

No, I better go. I know the mother.

Sorry.

I'll be back in an hour or two.

Bonny.

- Jump in.

- Hi, Bonny.

Hi.

- I hope you don't mind me saying this, but...

- Yeah?

You seem an unlikely candidate

for this kind of work.

Why? Cos I don't wear socks and sandals?

Touch.

I still want to make a difference, you know.

- Really?

- Yes, really.

I wanna have fun, too, though.

A bit of adventure, something different.

That's a lot of things.

Is it?

Doctor.

A beautiful goal for Scotland.

- A good one.

- Bonny, why are the women singing?

You don't know?

The president is coming to the village.

Where's Dr Merrit?

He has gone to town for stores.

Come on. I thought you might be

slightly curious to see the new boss.

I don't work for Amin.

Right. Fine.

I just thought it might be fun.

OK.

OK.

Amin.

Uganda.

Uganda. Uganda.

And I want to promise you

this will be a government

of action, not of words.

We will build new schools,

new roads

and new houses.

I may wear

the uniform of a general,

but...

In my heart, I am a simple man

like you.

I know who you are

and everything that you are.

I am you.

Ask my soldiers.

All my life, I never eat food

until my soldiers have eaten first.

It will be like this in Uganda now.

Together, we will make this country better.

And stronger.

And free.

Uganda.

Uganda.

Uganda.

- Have you seen enough now?

- What?

Have you seen enough now?

Just a couple of minutes.

- Can we please go now?

- OK.

They sang just like that for Obote,

until they realised he turned their economy

into his bank account.

- Come on. Give the man a chance.

- I'm serious.

You talk to me in a couple of years.

What's going on?

Jesus.

- What's the problem?

- They're looking for a doctor.

- The president's been hurt in an accident.

- We have to come. We'll follow you.

God. Terrifying.

My hand.

My hand is broken.

Get that farmer out of my sight.

Come. Come here.

I'm Dr Garrigan. I hear you have a problem

with your hand. I'd like to examine it.

There you go.

Could you just raise your thumb like that?

- How's that? Is that OK?

- Yeah.

Sarah, I think we're gonna need a splint. Can

somebody do something about that cow?

I don't think you've broken it.

I think it's just sprained.

Please, it's in pain.

Can you hold that there

with your other hand, please?

Sarah, can you go and talk to that farmer

about his cow, please?

Sarah, how's it going?

- Somebody put that animal out of its misery.

- I am trying to explain to them.

For God's sake.

I'm sorry.

- I couldn't hear myself think.

- You took my gun.

- Yeah.

- Who are you?

Nicholas G... I'm Dr Nicholas Garrigan.

I work at the medical compound in Mogambo.

- I'm a doctor.

- You are British?

I'm Scottish. I'm Scottish.

Scottish.

Why didn't you say so?

I fought with the Scots against the Mau Mau.

Great soldiers. Very brave.

And good people, completely.

Let me tell you, if I could be anything

instead of a Ugandan, I would be a Scot.

Right. Really?

Except for the red hair,

which I am sure is attractive to your women,

but which we Africans,

we find this quite disgusting.

Thank you, Dr Garrigan. A very good job.

Please.

Would you let me have this T-shirt?

My son Campbell, he would love this T-shirt.

- You've got a son called Campbell?

- Yeah.

Maybe you would take my shirt here

in exchange.

Right. Of course. Yeah.

Thank you.

You see? Now you are a general like me.

Salute, please.

Now I must leave.

I bet you that's worth a few bob.

I still can't believe how you shot that cow.

You're mad.

- Anyway, I...

- Do you fancy a wee drink on the porch?

No, thank you. I'm OK, really.

Nicholas, I have to go.

Look, it's fine, all right?

We're just having a drink.

God.

I can't do this.

What?

My husband is a good man.

Christ. I sound ridiculous.

I guess I just need you

to understand why I'm here.

- It's OK. I do understand.

- No, you don't.

- I'm sorry.

- It's OK.

It's just sometimes,

when you're married to

such a very good man,

it's... it makes you feel...

Like sh*t.

My father's the same.

And...

it's nice to be noticed.

- I can't. I can't.

- Sarah, it's...

- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

- It's fine.

- No, don't, please.

- Sarah, it's fine.

Please.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Peter Morgan

Peter Julian Robin Morgan CBE (born 10 April 1963) is a British film writer and playwright. Morgan is best known for writing the historical films and plays The Queen, Frost/Nixon, The Damned United and Rush. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Last King of Scotland" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_last_king_of_scotland_12262>.

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