Changes in the government make for fascinating movie subjects and a great opportunity for a moral tale about the bad old (or new) regime. Whether it be Apartheid, colonialism, the bloody regime of Idi Amin, or communist oppression, the movies at the Toronto Film Festival, which ended last Sunday, shrunk time and distance to make the human stories more immediate.

Communism, while establishing unions and paying lip service to workers' rights, often treated them like slaves in order to meet unrealistic quotas. German director Volker Schlöndorff, in "Strajk", shows one poor, unwed mother, Agnieszka Kowalska, beating the entire Party hierarchy that ran the shipyards in Gdansk, Poland. At the outset she still has faith in the system, but when it becomes clear the "revolution" is entirely corrupt, she is first to face off with the bureaucrats who run the yard. These include her old lover, the secret father of her child. In the end, she convinces him to switch sides. By this time, a friendly guy named Leszek has joined her group and it gradually dawns on us this is the future president, Lech Walesa.

Before the fall of the Wall, the Stasi secret police constantly harassed East German intellectuals. In Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's "The Lives of Others", a professional eavesdropper redeems himself by saving the playwright whose house he is bugging. A well-intentioned man, the spy is in moral jeopardy because of his devotion to a corrupt cause. As in "Strajk", it becomes clear to both men the system serves nobody but corrupt officials.

The same critical point comes for Patrick Chamusso in "Catch a Fire", Australian director Philip Noyce's new movie set at the end of Apartheid-era South Africa. At the outset Chamusso tries to ignore the racism his people are subjected to, keep his head down and support his family. An able man, he has a good job in a huge power plant. But the regime is so paranoid it won't leave bystanders alone. To ensure the survival of the regime, Inspector Nic Vos (Tim Robbins) should be trying to conciliate intelligent, apolitical blacks like Chamusso - and he makes awkward attempts in that direction - but ultimately only ensures Chamusso is radicalised.

I assume Robbins, who is quite political, might overplay his villain, but the portrayal is restrained. He fails to redeem himself, but unlike those working around him, Vos is not a sadistic opportunist. But is he a psychological sadist? In one painful scene he takes Chamusso, now a tortured prisoner, to dinner on his farm. He knows his way of life won't last: it is "thousands versus millions", he admits to Chamusso.

"The Last King of Scotland", set in Uganda, is Vos's bleakest vision of the future come true. This is not exactly a biopic, but Uganda's political brutality, contradictions and rivalries are embodied in the central character, Idi Amin. Forest Whitaker gives a tour de force performance as the dictator - he will no doubt be up for an Oscar - terrifying for its nuanced humanity. He has tremendous range, managing both the sometimes-childish bumpkin amazed at his good fortune, and the ruthless soldier bent on consolidating power whatever the appalling human cost.

In the beginning, pale Dr Nigel Stone has an uncomplicated relationship with the dictator. In Uganda as a volunteer, he is appointed Amin's personal doctor. Adopted by the local elite and seduced by their beautiful women, it is only when Amin's cruelty becomes apparent that Stone realises he's in way over his head.

Two documentaries from the Caribbean were strong at the festival. "Made In Jamaica" - exploring the murder of reggae singer Bogle - is colourful, rhythmic and sexy, but it's "The Ghosts of Cite Soleil" that has a real edge. Paranoia is the theme of Asger Leth's portrait of Haiti's famous slum. This incredible documentary examines Jean-Bertrand Aristide's brutal troops, recruited from Port-Au-Prince's seaside slum, La Cite du Soleil. Aristide's power is waning and in "Sun City" gang leaders vie for superiority like feudal lords. Brothers 2Pac and Billy are haunted by the blood on their hands and in terror for their lives. For 2Pac it all starts to go wrong when Aristide flees the country.

North Africa made a few good contributions this year. In "Indigènes", Morroccan troops are drafted into the French army to fight during World War II. The troops start out fairly neutral towards their antagonists, but they too are politicised as the system discriminates against them and treats them as cannon fodder. The Muslim soldiers' feelings change as they bear all the risks of battle but reap no reward.

Morocco is also at the heart of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's new movie, "Babel". Inarritu's characters are caught in an attenuated, ghostly web of cause and effect. We know the connections are real, however, when Kate Winslet, the mother of an American family - gets shot in an isolated corner of the Atlas region. The four threads of the movie take place in Morocco, the US, Mexico and Japan. A Mexican nanny in LA gets a call from Morocco. Her employer tells her she'll have to continue looking after the kids in her charge, even though her son's marriage is south of the border the following day. In Japan, we learn that an amateur hunter, widowed by his wife's shooting herself, has given his rifle to his Moroccan guide and sworn off the sport. In Morocco, their father gives two shepherd boys a rifle to scare off jackals. They want to see just how far their new firearm can reach.

Inarritu's approach recalls Thornton Wilder's "Bridge At San Luis Rey" - or Kukrit Pramoj's "Laay Chiwit" - but unlike those classics there is no real point of convergence: the four threads are inter-cut slightly out of sync.

North Africa - this time Chad - is also the setting for "Daratt", a moral tale about the illusory nature of revenge and the limitations of charity, love and kindness. It is a hard desert tale but not completely ruthless and dispiriting.

"Daratt" is part of a series of films made by young directors from around the world as part of the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna, in honour of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth.

"Syndromes and a Century", the Thai entry in the series, is my favourite film of Apichatpong Weerasetakul so far, perhaps because it is his most conventional. This is a slow atmospheric love story - heterosexual this time. The first segment, set in a country hospital, is particularly dreamy. It was a relief to immerse myself in that sunny, meditative world.

Also set in Thailand was Werner Herzog's "Rescue Dawn", featuring Christian Bale as Werner's aviator friend Dieter Dengler, escaping from the Pathet Lao. Jia Zhang-Ke's "Dong" is about a portrait painter who travels around China painting men, and then goes to Bangkok to paint women. Jia's "Still Life", about China's Three Gorges Dam, won the Golden Lion in Venice last week and was hurriedly included at Toronto towards the end of the programme.

Nick Palevsky

Special to The Nation