General Idi Amin of Uganda “was the most famous African in history until Nelson Mandela got out of prison,” says Last King of Scotland director Kevin McDonald. “Literally there was no one who was as well known in the West as [Amin], and I think that is because people always found him compelling. There was quite a seductive element to him that made him more dangerous and more terrifying in the end. I think he was a monster, but I think he was a complex monster, and to see him as complex makes not only for more interesting drama. He’s not just straightforward — someone who killed a great deal of people. There was a charm.” — from a Reuters story in Australian’s The Age.
