Inspired by news clippings and the Uganda President's knack for publicity, Schroeder set out to film a documentary on this controversial leader who had taken office in 1971 after a coup, removing former president Milton Obote. Assisted in this action in some part by Israel, Dada demonstrated his loyalty by turning to the Arab Republic of Libya in 1972, possibly due to Israel's reluctance to offer greater military assistance. While in office General Dada spent a lot of time sending telegrams to such illustrious figures as Richard Nixon calling him brother, and offering sympathy on Watergate and Kurt Waldheim declaring to the Austrian Secretary General of the United Nations that Hitler had the right idea in regards to the Jews (Waldheim probably kept that one in his back pocket). Not exactly the guy you'd want over for Gefilte fish and matzah ball soup.
In preparing the film Schroeder proposed to Idi that he'd like to make a documentary and to make things a little different this would be a self-portrait, with the General in practically every frame. What resulted was a classic example of the old saying "give them enough rope."
A big loveable lug with a murderous streak, it's hard to know what to feel when watching General Dada, and even harder considering Schroeder's fly on the wall direction. Even though certain atrocities are disclosed via a voiceover narrator, it's hard to connect these atrocities to such a clown, even though he did them and was quite nasty about it. Prone to rambling, a showoff, a bully and pompous to a T, Idi Amin nevertheless is a man of great charisma with an infectious smile, kind of like a Disney villain. His inability to lead a Cabinet meeting or make a speech without degenerating into nonsense Dada is an apt last name (Marcel Duchamp would be proud and sickened) will have viewers bursting at the seams with laughter. While atrocities are mentioned in passing, the biggest concern for Western audiences might actually be how such an obvious lunkhead came to rule a country. Showing off the Uganda Army in all its slapdash glory, Idi speaks of his ragtag collection of recruits as if they had the ability to take over the world. He also speaks glowingly of the Uganda Navy, even if for all intents and purposes none existed unseen frogmen excluded. Yes, it's comical moments like these that will have people going, "He's not so bad, he's like Homer Simpson as president," and forgetting about the thousands upon thousands of people his men chopped up and dumped into the Nile for crocodile snacks.
This is certainly not in the same league as such illustrious documentaries as Frederick Wiseman's TITICUT FOLLIES and D.A. Pennebaker's DON'T LOOK BACK - the film doesn't have those pictures' visual and editorial thrust and persons unfamiliar with the subject may find themselves lost at times. GENERAL IDI AMIN DADA [A SELF PORTRAIT] nevertheless is an intriguing, darkly comical though one suspects this was unavoidable considering the subject matter - look at one of the most brutal rulers of the latter half of the Twentieth Century that warrants repeat viewings. And let me tell you, it just keeps getting funnier and you'll keep feeling sicker. You can even throw General Idi Amin Dada drinking parties last one to get you a Bud gets shot in the head.
Criterion's DVD meets their usual high standards. The print quality is good, but since shooting conditions aren't always optimal in documentary filmmaking there is a certain amount of grain and poor image contrast. The sound quality is in rocking old-Elvis-45's mono.
Included on the disc is a timeline of Ugandan history that is rather cursory and one is better off consulting an encyclopedia than utilizing this for their big paper on Uganda. (Believe me, I know. I'm still trying to figure out how to write the footnote.)
There is a video interview with Barbet Schroeder in which he talks about his reasons for making the film, his inspirations for the film, what happened while he was making the film, and how it might have been possible that some West German and Palestinian terrorists might have seen the film and heard Idi Amin's statement that he would welcome such types... thus the 1976 Entebbe incident was born. (This last part is conjecture on the part of the director.)
In the liner notes is an essay by David Ehrenstein and notes on the cuts made to the film, now restored, as requested by General Dada under the threat that if they weren't made he would harm 150 French citizens living in Uganda. What a joker!
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