Idi Amin: Famous for the Wrong Reasons

Idi Amin: Famous for the Wrong Reasons

2013, History  -   4 Comments
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Ratings: 7.18/10 from 51 users.

Some viewed him as an instantly relatable man of the people. Others believe he is the truest embodiment of evil. A thoughtful portrait of a multi-faceted monster, Idi Amin: Famous for the Wrong Reasons peels back the layers of this controversial Ugandan leader with insights from those who knew him best.

When Amin seized power following a military coup in 1971, the people of Uganda were euphoric for the possibility of change. In the earliest days of his regime, his flamboyance and spontaneity were interpreted by many to represent a charming connection to the common man. He was often shown mixing and conversing with the people, and his lack of formal education made him appear more accessible and less elitist than most world leaders were presumed to be.

According to several insiders to the Amin regime who are interviewed in the film, those same qualities made him singularly unfit to serve as president. Little could he understand the delicacies and nuances of global politics, and these intellectual shortcomings inspired his most aggressive impulses. "The more he felt insecure, the more ruthless he became," one interview subject explains.

The remnants of that ruthlessness can still be felt nearly 40 years after his reign. We visit the torture chambers where members of his opposition were brutally slain. We hear stories of bodies being dumped into the Nile River by the truckload. We learn of Amin's belief in witchcraft, and his casual thirst for human blood. By the end of his eight-year rule, it is estimated that he took the lives of close to 300,000 citizens.

Others in the film - including Amin's own children - speak admirably of the leader's tenacity in the face of great struggle. We're told of his early rise through the ranks of the Colonial British Army, his nine-year stint as a light heavyweight boxing champion, and the voracious appetite for women that lead him to take five wives and father over 40 children. Acts that others view as barbaric, such as Amin's Asian population ban which effectively crippled the economy of Uganda at the time, is now viewed by some as an embracing of new African entrepreneurship.

Thoughtfully produced by CCTV Africa, Idi Amin: Famous for the Wrong Reasons reminds us that the most notorious figures in world history are often among the most complex.

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Nix
Nix
6 years ago

A nightmare of a psychopath. He follows the idealization, devaluation, discard/disengage cycle. He enjoyed his retirement WTH? A bleak contrast to those suffering whose hand prints of blood remain in the torture rooms while he enjoyed the quiet life and his Turkish coffee. A sickening, evil spirit in a human body suit. His poor wife, the son has come to terms with his mothers murder, how very amenable of him. The woman's life cut short at 30, how tragic. Still that crazy madman is still presented with shades of romanticism as a fast moving leader full of charm who could mingle with the people. This was his facade and once his mask dropped...well, the rest is history.

Earl
Earl
7 years ago

Evil at its worst but not any worse than the US has done in the Middle East

Peter Chabanowich
Peter Chabanowich
7 years ago

Mr. Voluntaryist: If only you weren't right. . . but you are, and those who know you are correct in your assessments must never, never let up. Never.

voluntaryist
voluntaryist
7 years ago

The interviews of people who suffered under this dictator show no enlightenment as to the source of their suffering. That source was their acceptance of the monopoly of violence that all so-called leaders share, the world over. All are rulers, not leaders as their propagandists claim. All use violence, threat thereof, and fraud to maintain rule. All justify the monopoly as necessary to protect their subjects, but the statistics show 100 times more deaths from their protectors, over the millennia, not to mention the unseen harm done from suppression of commerce and rights. Everyone acknowledges the more free a people, the more peaceful/prosperous. But everywhere that freedom is sacrificed for the illusion of protection. In all nations, the majority force their desire to be ruled on all the citizens who just want to freely enjoy their rights, to live and let live, without an authoritarian society dictating, taxing, regulating their life. But out of fear of personal sovereignty and the responsibility that implies, the majority self-enslave by choosing rulers and forcing that slavery on all who would live in a voluntary society.

Fear and self doubt lead to willful self deception and sanction of exploitation by govt.

To the extent the myth that rulers protect is worshiped, and that superstition is forced on all the independent thinkers, war, political corruption, poverty, and economic ruin will plague humanity.