Rise and Fall of Idi Amin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rise and Fall of Idi Amin
Directed by	Sharad Patel Christopher Sutton
Produced by	Sharad Patel
Written by	Wade Huie
Starring	Joseph Olita Denis Hills Tony Sibbald
Music by	Christopher Gunning
Cinematography	Harvey Harrison
Editing by	Keith Palmer II
Distributed by	Twin Continental Films
Release date(s)	August 25, 1981 (UK) March 18, 1982 (New York City) May 8, 1982 (U.S.)
Running time	101 min
Country	Kenya / Nigeria & UK
Language	English
Gross revenue	$36 million
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Rise and Fall of Idi Amin, also known as Amin: The Rise and Fall, is a 1981 British bloody exploitation film and biopic released on in the United Kingdom on August 25, 1981, then on March 18, 1982, it was released only in select theatres in New York and finally on May 8, 1982 it was released in the United States. The film was directed by Sharad Patel and starring Joseph Olita as Idi Amin.

The film details the controversial actions and atrocities of the former dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin Dada, during his violent rise to power in 1971 until his overthrow in 1979. The film was a co-production of the U.K., Kenya and Nigeria, with most of filming done in Kenya , less than a year after Amin's exilement. Despite being branded as an exploitation film, it is actually quite accurate with the facts and dates of the events depicted, including Operation Entebbe, the Uganda-Tanzania War (1979) and the capture and imprisonment of British journalist Denis Hills (who portrays himself in the film). It does, however, take certain liberties, especially with the portrayal of Amin as being over-the-top, buffoonish and erratic behavior. It also makes explicit references to Amin being a cannibal, leading many to believe that this film alone was the cause of many of the myths and rumours about the man.

Joseph Olita also played Amin in the 1991 film, Mississippi Masala.

For the most part, the film accurately portrays many real people, including Bob Astles, Amin's U.K.-born white advisor and assistant.

When released to international audiences, including in the United States, most of the voices were dubbed, due to poor sound production. Also, many of the "Americans" in the film were portrayed by British and South African actors who did very little to provide American accents to their roles (this is evident in the theatrical trailer for the film).

[edit] Critical reception

Rise and Fall of Idi Amin came to be a critical and commercial failure, only seeing $20.7 million at the box office in its opening weekend on May 8, 1982, however the following two weeks it only grossed $36 million, making it the tenth lowest-grossing film of 1982.

[edit] External links

• Article with screen captures
• Rise and Fall of Idi Amin at the Internet Movie Database