Having cut his teeth on documentaries, Kevin Macdonald acts as if a shaky-cam aesthetic alone is enough to fuel dramatic tension.

The horror, when it finally moves to the centre of the screen, gives us Amin's barbarity in close-up -- and he's still smiling.

Hard to believe that an actor previously renowned for his gentleness could play such a monster, but the transformation is seamless.

Neither overly political nor overly intellectual, The Last King of Scotland is a powerful, accessible biopic of one of history’s recent madmen.