Hollywood Goes to Africa (sort of)

Two of the films that have received Oscar nominations this season are set in Africa. Both Blood Diamond and The Last King of Scotland attempt to deal with aspects of the post-colonial era on the continent. While one of these films is far superior to the other, both illustrate a troubling trend seen when Hollywood tries to delve into Africa’s issues.
As a concept, Blood Diamond seems like a film worthy of attention. Solomon Vandy (played by Djimon Hounsou) is a fisherman who is torn from his family during Sierra Leone’s civil war. Vandy is forced to work in the diamond fields where he finds and hides the film’s titular gem. How Vandy will parlay his find into the reunion and security of his family becomes the most compelling plotline. Through this story the viewer learns about the atrocities being committed by warlords and European businessmen alike in Africa.
The fact that the lessons of this movie are delivered with the heaviest of Hollywood hands (complete with sweeping music and impassioned speechification) is only its minor flaw. The real trouble with Blood Diamond is that it does not stay focused on the Vandy character . Instead Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an Afrikaner mercenary who assists Vandy in the recovery of the diamond, is given too much of the spotlight. In a film that is already attempting to seriously deal with issues as distressing as the inscription of child soldiers, the viewer is supposed to also become emotionally invested in the romance between Archer and an American reporter (Jennifer Connolly). This bogs the film down and makes it, at times, unwatchable.
As a film, The Last King of Scotland is much more successful. It is the story of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) a Scottish doctor who, through a series of events, becomes a close adviser to Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker), the man who ruled Uganda for the majority of the 1970’s. Unlike Blood Diamond, the film allows relationships between the characters to propel the narrative, not the issues the filmmaker wants to be discussed. This less didactic approach stirs more insight and interest in the viewer. At the end of Blood Diamond it is assumed that the film has taught you everything you need to know about the causes of turmoil in modern Africa (in fact the postscript tells you how you can go out and solve these problems as well). When The Last King of Scotland closes, there is a desire to go out and learn about Uganda and the dictator depicted in the film. Compelling performances by the two lead actors, beautiful art direction and costume design pull the film through several unbelievable plot points and an over reliance on arty dream sequences.
Both of these movies should be commended for taking on African issues. There is a sore lack of this subject matter in today’s popular culture. However, why must we be shepherded through these stories by white characters? It is really believed that moviegoers need to see a white face on the screen responding to these issues so that they can do the same? This maneuver keeps us one step removed from the most vital elements of the narrative, Africa and its people. At several points in Blood Diamond when important issues need to be discussed, Danny Archer and other white characters will literally walk into the foreground of a shot, leaving Solomon Vandy to stand silent and stoic in the background. This image illustrates a divide between people the film is surely attempting to break down.
These films do not need white characters to achieve their purposes, be they artistic or political. Instead of focusing on the relationship between Solomon Vandy and his forcibly estranged wife(a romance that would have been inherently engrossing) immense effort and screen time is dedicated to making us care about whether or not Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly will get it on. Idi Amin had a far more terrifiying and facinating relationship with the people of Uganda than he did with this European advisor, why not make that the driving force of the movie? There is an African doctor in The Last King of Scotland who works alongside Dr. Garrigan. By the end of the film it becomes clear that by focusing on the African doctor instead of the European one even greater light would have been shed on the topic.
These films and others in recent years (The Constant Gardener comes to mind) show that the film industry is not quite ready to dedicate itself to stories that are completely and authentically African. Sadly this trepidation mirrors the level of commitment that many in the political arena have for the continent as well.