Word: well
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...miles of rich cloth. The largest set constructed from scratch since Cleopatra, including a seven-acre palace. Thousands of extras, amongst them children you'd love to take home. A gilded barge gliding through the waters of an enchanted jungle. Well-behaved elephants. All of this headed by the regal, charming, sexy Chow Yun-Fat. Sounds better than the Greatest Show on Earth. However, the shaky basis, unnecessary length and wobbly storyline of Anna and the King denies it a place amongst epic love stories like Ben-Hur and The English Patient...
...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...
...case, the East-meets-West dynamic that emerges is forced. Anna's character, though played well by a strong and elegant Jodie Foster, is flat. She enters the film a fearless Amazon who shows so little fear that a scene in which she picks up a lantern and scurries to investigate strange howling noises in the dark of the night causes one to laugh at the incongruity of the situation. Her characteristics are anachronistic; the film blunders and attributes to Anna the characteristics of a steely Scully-like character instead of a confused widow desperately trying remain brave...
...message may not be clear, what is obvious is the talent of Chow Yun-Fat and his ability to carry a film. He perfectly complements and is at home amongst the rich sets and lush landscapes. Despite that neither English or the Siamese he speaks in the film are well-known languages to him, his words are infused with a range of convincing emotions. Chow is the perfect man to help illustrate traditional Thai customs, sensibilities and statecraft. Without being overly dramatic, he pulls off the role of the wise, strong, kind, compassionate ruler. Perhaps more famous for his killer...
...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...