I have to tell you a story: back when DVD players were first released, I had to convince my mother to buy one. The one movie that I convinced her to buy the DVD player with the movie Anna and the King, it was a movie she adored and had beautiful cinematography. She always begged me to watch it, but I never got to it. Unfortunately, she passed away a few years ago and I was going through her movie collection yesterday and decided to watch it for her. There's my touching story of the day. So Anna and the King is basically the non-musical version of The King and I. I never read the book, so I'm not sure how accurate it is with the movie, but from what I understand, a lot of people say it isn't accurate at all. But judging from what I saw, Anna and the King was a good movie.
Anna Leonowens is a widow has come to Siam with her son Louis to teach English to the royal children. She is a strong-willed, intelligent woman and this pleases the King, who wants to modernize his country to keep it safe from the threat of colonialism, while protecting many of the ancient traditions that give Siam its unique identity. Anna is enchanted by the royal children. Siam is under siege from what appears to be a British-funded gang against King Mongkut, using Burmese soldiers. Mongkut sends out his brother Prince Chaofa and his military adviser General Alak to investigate. However, it turns out that Alak is the man behind the coup and now the king is in turmoil on who he can trust; maybe Anna.
My only problem with the film is that it does run a little long making it drag. At two and a half hours long, it does feel like it, especially with the end. But the acting and cinematography really make up for whatever you feel you lost in time. Jodie Foster pulls in a very good performance as Anna. She's beautiful, kind and very intelligent and makes you believe that she could charm any leader easily. Yun-Fat Chow is very dignified as the king and you truly care for him as you dig in deeper into his character. He's a man who not only leads the country, but wants to make it modern with freedom. He wants to remain as a certain strong man that leads his land, but wants to be a good father as well. He has over a dozen wives and over 50 children; you think having 3 kids is more than enough, I'd like to see the King help the kids with their after school assignments.
The cinematography is so beautiful and the lands look stunning in this picture as you feel taken with Anna on this wonderful journey. The colors and scope of the film is grand and epic. The villains of the film are a little basic and you really don't care too much about them. It's the two leads that steal the show and it's their mutual love and respect of each other that carries the film well. The children did a good job and there's a baby Tom Felton in the picture. Now a warning that the film is a bit long, but I think it was over all worth it. Anna and the King, I could see why my mother was convinced to transfer to a better picture and sound over this movie.
7/10
Anna Leonowens is a widow has come to Siam with her son Louis to teach English to the royal children. She is a strong-willed, intelligent woman and this pleases the King, who wants to modernize his country to keep it safe from the threat of colonialism, while protecting many of the ancient traditions that give Siam its unique identity. Anna is enchanted by the royal children. Siam is under siege from what appears to be a British-funded gang against King Mongkut, using Burmese soldiers. Mongkut sends out his brother Prince Chaofa and his military adviser General Alak to investigate. However, it turns out that Alak is the man behind the coup and now the king is in turmoil on who he can trust; maybe Anna.
My only problem with the film is that it does run a little long making it drag. At two and a half hours long, it does feel like it, especially with the end. But the acting and cinematography really make up for whatever you feel you lost in time. Jodie Foster pulls in a very good performance as Anna. She's beautiful, kind and very intelligent and makes you believe that she could charm any leader easily. Yun-Fat Chow is very dignified as the king and you truly care for him as you dig in deeper into his character. He's a man who not only leads the country, but wants to make it modern with freedom. He wants to remain as a certain strong man that leads his land, but wants to be a good father as well. He has over a dozen wives and over 50 children; you think having 3 kids is more than enough, I'd like to see the King help the kids with their after school assignments.
The cinematography is so beautiful and the lands look stunning in this picture as you feel taken with Anna on this wonderful journey. The colors and scope of the film is grand and epic. The villains of the film are a little basic and you really don't care too much about them. It's the two leads that steal the show and it's their mutual love and respect of each other that carries the film well. The children did a good job and there's a baby Tom Felton in the picture. Now a warning that the film is a bit long, but I think it was over all worth it. Anna and the King, I could see why my mother was convinced to transfer to a better picture and sound over this movie.
7/10