A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: Anna and the King

Date Viewed: 12/27/99

Details:

Jodie Foster

Chow Yun-Fat

Syed Alwi

Bai Ling

Tom Felton

Keith Chin

Director: Andy Tennant

Score: 1/2

The Review:

In the 1860's, Anna Harriette Leonowens spent several years in Siam (now Thailand), and published her experiences in two autobiographical volumes: The English Governess at the Siamese Court (1870), and The Romance of the Harem (1872). These were considered incendiary and decried by the Siamese government even into the 1920's, when Margaret Landon was introduced to them. Landon subsequently merged the personal stories spread across both volumes, removed some of the more tedious political observations, and completed her (somewhat more well-known) book Anna and the King of Siam in 1943. This was the basis of both musicals (multiple editions of The King and I), feature films (the 1946 Anna and the King of Siam with Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison), and even a recent full-length animation.

This latest entry is an historical period piece set in 1862 Siam during a particularly obnoxious bout of British and French imperialism. The then current King Mongkut (Chow Yun-Fat) has sent for a British schoolteacher (Foster) to be a tutor for his eldest son and heir, in order to educate him in the ways of the English ("...for they are the ways of the world"). Without being compelled to break into song at the drop of a hat, the (non-musical) movie more fully develops the peripheral characters and their interactions, along with a view into the historical context and internal wars. Very well illustrated are the polarization of society (women, slaves, and squalor), a dissatisfying and brutal legal system, and an offensive British colonialism. .

The interaction between Foster and Chow works quite well. In his favor, Chow's Mongkut is significantly less overbearing and egotistical, and more wry and balanced, than is Yul Brenner's too-amplified rendition. Notable is Syed Alwi as his Excellency the Prime Minister, and the stunning Bai Ling as Tiptun. Although I have not been able to find her name, the actress playing the King's favorite young daughter will steal your heart. .

Filmed almost entirely in Malaysia, some of the scenery is spectacular. The matte-work seems brief and unobjectionable. Both opening and closing voice-overs are done from a retrospective perspective of the adult eldest son, the successor to the throne. .

Decent acting; shopworn plot; unexciting.

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