Word: siam
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...story of King Mongkut and Anna Leonowens is known to most, having been visited in the 1946 movie Anna and the King of Siam as well as the catchy and charming Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I (starring the unforgettable Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr). The story is simple: the king of Siam hires a foreign schoolteacher to teach his court (including his 58 children) English and give insight into the ways of the West. A clash of traditions and customs ensue, but so does a growing relationship between the stern ruler and the headstrong schoolteacher...
...could be argued that the East-meets-West dynamic is an original facet to this movie. In fact, what is interesting at times is the introduction of the sub-plot of violent turmoil within Siam. However, the film has mixed ambitions--should it polish up the love story between a schoolteacher and king? Or should it present a clear story as to what is historically accurate and what is not? The film is touted as the true story of a daring British woman of Victorian times who traveled alone to a faraway land; while Leonowens may have done...
...said about the movie. Though its vignettes are charming and picturesque enough, they lack a unifying, moving message. This is not a bad film--it is entertaining enough to watch the schoolchildren, their instruction by Anna, the arguments between Anna and the king, the revolutionary elements in Siam wreaking havoc, as well as the breathtaking scenery. But it falls short of what it so desperately desires--to be a "moving" epic, even though those two terms are becoming mutually exclusive...
Certain properties in popular culture fasten their fangs on our pants leg and never let go, no matter how we kick and yell. The story of Anna Leonowens, British tutor to the numerous progeny of testy King Mongkut, ruler of 19th century Siam, is perhaps the most persistent of these terriers...
...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 all, in the broken English of Chow, "it's a tremendous romance, big epic, love story," and don't you ever forget...