Another film added to my Disney Plus schedule by the arrival of the 'Star' channel, "Anna and the King" is a lavish adaptation of the debatably accurate diaries of Anna Leonowens that had previously been turned into the successful musical "The King and I".
An English Governess and Teacher, Anna (Jodie Foster), heads to Thailand to teach the many children of the wives and consorts of King Mongkut (Yun-Fat Chow). As she struggles with the cultural differences between Siam, as was, and home, she begins a chaste mutual admiration with the King. But Siam and the royal family in particular, are under attack from brutal soldiers looking for a regime change.
There are some bits to admire about the film. The performances are strong, from all the cast, and it's really a sumptuous production. Yun-Fat Chow really went through a spell as a Hollywood darling, and he earns it here with a stern, but magnetic performance. You can see the $92 Million-dollar budget in the set designs and scale of the film and the scenery of Malaysia looks really appealing. (Thailand refused to allow filming there due to its inaccuracies).
But it's long, very long, and doesn't do a good enough job of layering the stories together. There's three main stories; Anna's arrival and acclimatisation to court, the forbidden love affair between one of the Kings consorts Tuptim (Bai Ling) and Khun Phra Balat (Sean Ghazi) and the attacks on the country by troop armies reported to be from Burma. They don't really fit together particularly well and it feels like one of them (probably the forbidden love affair story) should perhaps have been lost completely with more time explaining the effects the 'Burmese' attacks were having.
Nice to look at, but too long and a bit dull.
An English Governess and Teacher, Anna (Jodie Foster), heads to Thailand to teach the many children of the wives and consorts of King Mongkut (Yun-Fat Chow). As she struggles with the cultural differences between Siam, as was, and home, she begins a chaste mutual admiration with the King. But Siam and the royal family in particular, are under attack from brutal soldiers looking for a regime change.
There are some bits to admire about the film. The performances are strong, from all the cast, and it's really a sumptuous production. Yun-Fat Chow really went through a spell as a Hollywood darling, and he earns it here with a stern, but magnetic performance. You can see the $92 Million-dollar budget in the set designs and scale of the film and the scenery of Malaysia looks really appealing. (Thailand refused to allow filming there due to its inaccuracies).
But it's long, very long, and doesn't do a good enough job of layering the stories together. There's three main stories; Anna's arrival and acclimatisation to court, the forbidden love affair between one of the Kings consorts Tuptim (Bai Ling) and Khun Phra Balat (Sean Ghazi) and the attacks on the country by troop armies reported to be from Burma. They don't really fit together particularly well and it feels like one of them (probably the forbidden love affair story) should perhaps have been lost completely with more time explaining the effects the 'Burmese' attacks were having.
Nice to look at, but too long and a bit dull.