#153 - General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait

 
so #153 is a documentary about Idi Amin, the president of Uganda in the 1970's.   The director managed to show the true character of his subject without his subject catching on, and makes it clear in some spots that what's being shown is Idi's stagecraft, arranging audiences, military exercises in 30 year old tanks, etc.   At the same time, we're also seeing a man who honestly, feels a bit over-reaching and in over his head.  He's going to invade Israel with Paratroopers.  He's going to build a radio station to reach all Africa and Europe - We see a man who's ambition is untethered from his actual ability to do things.

It struggled to keep my attention in that regard.   A LOT of the film is Idi Amin talking - generally it seems he's just making stuff up as he goes along.   There is a long scene cabinet meeting where he basically tells his ministers "don't be weak like women" for 10 minutes as if this passes for leadership.  At one point while the Foreign Minister is dressed down, the director inserts a voiceover that two weeks later he will be found dead floating in the Nile River.   This scene had to be cut when Amin held 100 French Ugandans hostage in a hotel and threatened they would not be released without cuts (which were later restored)

but what hit me later, and what hits me now, is the parallels to another President.  Idi Amin was a bit of a dimwit - but could just make stuff up as he rambled.   He clearly loved to cover himself in the trappings of the military, and flipped between presidential suits and his General uniform.   He was a man of humor and joking on the outside, but underneath was responsible for the deaths of thousands of his people.

I can't help but notice the striking parallels to Donald Trump, another pompous over sized man who, once he got into power, had little to no idea of how to actually lead.    It is my sincerest hope we don't see an Idi Amin in the White House, yet the ground is already being laid for his return.   In that regard, this movie is a warning today about the allure of a populist strongman and the consequences of embracing one in an election.