Word: fostering
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Starring Jodie Foster, Chow...
...such production seeking to capitalize on the free spending and general consumerism of the holiday season is Anna and the King, starring Jodie Foster and international star Chow Yun Fat (A Better Tomorrow, The Killer) under the direction of Andy Tennant, who is last known for his sweet treatment of the Cinderella tale in Ever After. So, in order to entice people into theaters in the winter months, what do studios do? They advertise when most people will be sitting in theatres to hype the next big film season. So, for those who saw Star Wars: Episode I this past...
...evidence to this date, Anna seems like a curious production. Although Jodie Foster's talents have long been well established, Chow Yun Fat's popularity is questionable (he's best known for two mediocre movies in the states, The Replacement Killers and The Corruptor). This not to say that Chow Yun Fat is not a well known commodity in some circles. Aside from Sean Connery and Steve McQueen, Chow is probably the manliest man you would ever want to meet, having collaborated with director John Woo in brutal yet poetic action films like The Killer and Hard Boiled in their...
...work, had all the costumes, pomp and circumstance that you could wish for, and provided some lovely cinematic images, but again, was sorely deficient in any deeper meaning or weight. It seems a shame that Tennant has been selected to guide this project, because with such talented stars as Foster and Chow, Anna could be something special and meaningful in examining two contrasting cultures. However, Tennant's visuals are probably the reason he has been brought in on the project; the studio probably doesn't want to tax the viewers' intellects too much or alienate them from the story. After...
...horde of carpenters and artists were hired to build an ornate five acre replicate of a Siamese palace in Malaysia (the reason not filming in Thailand, of course, is that the Thai government resents the butchering of the story and refuses to endorse the project). Even Jodie Foster--wearing a skirt in a film since what seems like ages--seems to be towing the party line. She relates, in a typical promotional interview, "Anna really is an epic. You see all the beauty, and the architecture and pageantry and landscapes that Siam was at the time." So, above...