London Film Festival: Day 1

The London Film Festival returns today in fine form and healthier than ever, not bad considering it reaches the grand old age of 50 this year.

Perfectly situated in the festival calendar, London is able to grab all the best bits of the big film festivals - Cannes, Berlin and Toronto for example - and put them on show for all to see. Unlike other international film festivals, London opens its gates to all; anyone can apply for tickets: opening night, closing nights, big galas, you name it, there are tickets available (although by now I expect many of the big-hitters will be sold out). It quite genuinely is an everyman festival.

London might lack the obvious glamour of say the shores of Venice or Cannes, but us Brits can put on a show when needs must and last night was no exception. The Last King of Scotland kicked off the festival in grand style. It's a heavy-weight movie and (like last year's LFF opener The Constant Gardener) a sure-fire Oscar contender.

Based on the novel by Giles Foden and directed by Kevin McDonald - the first fictional feature film from the acclaimed director who bright us Touching the Void and One Day in September - it's a scorching take on the life of charismatic Uganda dictator Idi Amin.

Set during Amin's regime during the 70s, James McAvoy plays young doctor Neil Garrigan, who comes to Uganda for a bit of adventure whilst working in a village surgery. This all changes when an inadvertent meeting with Amin (Forrest Whitaker) sweeps him away from the village and into what appears to be the cushy role of private physician to the president himself.

Living in the luxurious comfort of the President's home McAvoy is at first oblivious to the antics of the man who reportedly murder over 300,000 of his people during his eight year reign. But as he becomes more embroiled in Amin's decision-making he becomes all too aware of the unseen power and destruction that the charming leader can weald.

Forrest Whitaker puts in what can only be described as an incredibly potent performance. He is utterly convincing as the charming, but quite clearly corrupt, leader, whose flippant moods seem to change quicker than a child's, going from euphoric to violent in the space of seconds. Deservedly, Oscar rumours are already doing the rounds, although perhaps this role is too political for that to come to fruition.

McAvoy too plays a complicated role as the anti-hero of the piece. His boyish charms convince for a while, but it is quite clear that his role is not as the heroic white man, his naïve actions prove to be damaging and deadly, a fact that McDonald is not scared to show. It's a difficult to role to play, but McAvoy brings passion to the project even if its lacking in conviction at times.

The Last King of Scotland makes for a sterling opener, the greyness of the film works in its favour and it will no doubt incite debate upon its release in January of next year. It's safe to say the London Film Festival is off to a flying start…

Helen Cowley