Anna and the King | | Cast : | Jodie Foster, Yun-Fat Chow | | Director : | Andy Tennant | | Studio : | Twentieth Century Fox Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | December 17, 1999 | | DVD Released Date : | February 04, 2003 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 28, 2005 | | Summary | A Story of Love Heart and Soul. | Content
 | If you like Oscar and Hammerstein's The King and I, be aware that this is different. Jodie Foster may have trouble with the English accent, but I think only she could fulfill the part of the lovely, but lonely school teacher Anna. Chow Yun Fat shines in his role as King Mongkut of Siam. Together they make a love story that streches across the world. Could it be possible that two different people from two different world's could find out that they're hearts are forever intwined with each other? Should they think of the social concept of husband/ wife in the 1860's, or follow they're hearts? A true love story for any age, and a great family film. |
| Rating | | | Date | February 13, 2005 | | Summary | DESPITE ITS QUIXOTIC VENEER, AN EXQUISITE ODE TO SIAM | Content
| This modern rendition of the 'The King and I' is not without its cinematic lacunae, but it's so captivating you'll gloss over most of them.
It's 1862 and King Mongkut of Siam (Thailand) has hired a certain Mrs Anna Leonowens to be an English teacher to his 58 children. She stays there for five years and in 1870 publishes a book about her experiences, which predictably scandalizes British high society, and is considered a great betrayal by the Thai government and people.
The film may be based on these diaries but sure it'd have been blasphemy to rely merely on barebone facts, so it liberally splices action, drama, romance, suspense, even fullfledged battles into the fray.
We follow two broad arcs -- the platonic emotional connection that develops between the king and Anna, and the political backdrop against which this bond is set -- but the leitmotiv is one of change. Both our principals find themselves transformed beyond their own contexts by virtue of their acquaintance.
Jodie Foster is clearly uncomfortable with her British accent as she mumbles her way through three-quarters of the movie, but it is probably her customary detachment in expressing emotion that befits Anna's charm in this film (if one could describe it thus) -- a certain air of arrogance, a misplaced conviction in her own superiority, the 'uncommon richness' of the British way of life, so on and so forth. The film doesn't patronize her character and the few crevices in her personality do come across as cultural idiosynchrasies that can now be looked upon as such, with the benefit of distance.
Chow Yun Fat (a popular Hong Kong actor, you may know him from Crouching Tiger) is majestically imperious in his portrayal of the King caught between the throes of attraction and the cross he must bear as a conscientious ruler.
Their romance is zestful but dignified, their chemistry palpable. His rueful admission of her as an equal and his tender submission to his own feelings of love towards her is masterful. There's even a waltz.
One does wonder about his 26 concubines and 58 children though; they come across chiefly as garden props, we see them and they're there and that's all they do, part of the landscape. An unrelated sequence where a young daughter succumbs to ill health is quite plainly a tear-jerker thrown in for that sole purpose.
Things then get dodgier on the political front. Anna's heroic rescue of Siam seems heavily contrived. No king with a couple brain cells or more would find himself mired in the sort of military faux pas that occurs here. Let's not spoil the suspense but there's a goofball insurrection that culminates in a positively cartoonish battle. Little surprise to me that Thai government chose to ban the film, not for groveling love of their monarchy but out of basic self-respect.
These quibbles aside, the film is stunningly produced and well-worth seeing for the rest of us if only for the luxurious mantle in which it comes cloaked. The scenery is spectacular, with lush green mountain fields, grand palatial foyers draped in red silk, pillars etched in gold, even a long sweeping view of the royal steamboat on the river between the banks of a dense rain forest. The set and costume design are so sumptuous they'd have won Bertolucci's grudging admiration.
Without doubt a heartily made epic and recommended with equal intensity if you're willing to go easy on the rigours of historical or cultural accuracy. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 28, 2004 | | Summary | Not as great as I hoped, but still pretty good | Content
| The acting and story in this were very good, but it was lacking something for me. Maybe I'm just too used to the musical version (it's called The King And I.) I've seen the movie countless times and even saw the play at my local theater. It was the touring company of the Broadway play. Jimmie Walker starred as the King and he was brilliant!
Getting back to this movie, like I said, it was good. It's worth seeing. Of course, anything starring Jodie Foster is worth seeing. I've been a fan of hers ever since she was in Zapped with Scott Baio. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 18, 2004 | | Summary | Accuracy? | Content
| I started out reading the book, Anna and The King of Siam y Margaret Landom. It was a decent book, I fell asleep reading it on occasions. I read it for a school project, not byu choice. I am a freshman at High School in New Jersey. I am in an English 1 Honors Course - so basically I am doing projects that are long, annoying, and overall things I don't want to do. Anyway, anfter reading the book I had to watch the movie based on the book.
MY MOVIE REVIEW:
This movie was completely inaccurate. It is based on the musical, The King and I, which is based on the book I read (Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon). My book was based on the two memoirs Anna Leonowens, herself, wrote. Much of what Anna wrote in her memoirs was false. "Her memoirs were so full of mistakes that no one who reads them now and knows something of Thais in hose days can take them seriously" I read that quote in a book I was using to research her. Basically, her memoirs were so false that people who knew of Thais couldn't take the novels seriously. So even though the movie is good, it's accuracy is completely horrible. The movie makers, from what I have researched, have claimed it to be a real story. But in reality, it's not. It's all fiction!
Movie makers lied. The movie is not true, and honestly, I am glad it isn't. In reality King Mongkut was in his 60s when Anna came. Now, think about Anna falling for a 60 year old? And she was in her late 20s early 30s, if I remember right. I could further this noting all the real facts, but if you want real facts about Anna Leonowens, you can check out this website:
www.thaistudents.com/kingandi/owens.html
It is one of the sources I will be using on my report.
In conclusion, movie was good, but completely false.
I spent what, 2 hours watching this inaccurate movie?
I WANT MY 2 HOURS BACK! Come on, I have better things to do than waste my time watching a non-fiction movie that's not even true. Thank you very much for wasting 2 hours of my life. I could have better spent my time increasing the number of obeast people in this world by eating a bag of potato chips and other unhealthy foods. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 14, 2004 | | Summary | Just watch it | Content
| I remember watching trailors for this film when it came out - at the time I thought it looked hammy and over-done. Perhaps it was the trailor that let it down - a very "hollywood" trailor for what in my opinion was quite an "un-hollywood" film. By this I mean that it wasn't all glory and fairy-tale endings and over-the-top. Half way through as events were unfolding I found myself begging my television (I watched this on DVD recently) for this not to be a true story because I realised how heart-braking it was going to be if it was. There is dispute over the "truth" of Anna Leonowens' story but this is irrelevant - the film is nothing short of an epic in its own right and if you want to study the facts of history then do so. It is beautfully directed - there is one of the most powerful montage scenes I have ever seen (spoilers) in the execution sequence.
Speaking as an Actress and an accent coach and an English woman, Jodie Foster's accent is rather good. I have never heard an American actor/actress be as accurate. She was believable, spoilt and charming all at once. Chow Yun Fat is my favourite actor and I cannot write about him objectively. He is what the Oscar was made for. If you are also a fan you cannot miss this one. (You shouldn't miss anyhing he does!) His performance in this film is nothing short of inspiring - to other actors, and frankly to other human beings as his insight into human behaviour can teach us all. The film is worth watching for what he does alone. But it is so much more. If you are looking for a film to rent then this is the one - this is something you should see for its production values (costumes all made from scratch - along with an entire palace which they built) cinematography, direction, the performances, and especially the morals which arise from it all. Go to it.. |
|
Picture 01 (20)
