Anna and the King is a 1999 biographical drama film loosely based on Anna and the King of Siam, the story of Anna Leonowens, who was an English schoolteacher in Siam, now Thailand, in the 19th century.

 

The film was directed by Andy Tennant and stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-fat. It was mostly shot in Malaysia, particularly in the Penang and Ipoh region. It was an Academy Award nominee in 2000 for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

 

Plot

The film begins by following the story of Anna Leonowens (Jodie Foster) and Rama IV (although the film uses his other name 'Mongkut') (Chow Yun-fat) as it is usually told; Anna is a widow who has come to Siam with her son Louis (Tom Felton) to teach English to the 68[citation needed] 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. In order to win the favors of Britain, the King orders a sumptuous reception, and delegates Anna to organize it. During the reception, the King verbally spars graciously and wittily with Sir Kincaid (Bill Stewart), of East India Company, who accuses Siam of being a superstitious nation. At the end of the reception, the King dances with Anna.

 

Anna is enchanted by the royal children, particularly Princess Fa-Ying (Melissa Campbell). The little girl identifies with the spirit of the playful monkeys who live in the trees of the royal garden. When she suddenly takes ill of cholera, Anna is summoned to her chambers to say goodbye. She gets there just as Fa-ying dies in Mongkut's hands, and the two mourn together. Sometime later, when the King finds that one of the monkeys has "borrowed" his glasses, as his daughter used to do, he is comforted by his belief in reincarnation and the idea that Fa-ying may be reborn as one of her beloved animals. Lady Tuptim (Bai Ling), the King's new favorite concubine, was already engaged when brought to the court. The King is kind to her, but she is unhappy and at last runs away, disguising herself as a young man and joining the monastery where her former fiancé, Khun Phra Balat (Sean Ghazi), lives. She is tracked down and brought back to the palace, imprisoned, and initially caned along with her Balat. However, because of Anna's outburst during this incident, Tuptim and Balat are beheaded in front of the entire court, despite the well held belief that the sentence is monstrously unfair, in order to save face.

 

The political aspects of the story are completely fictional: Siam is under siege from what appears to be a British-funded coup d'état against King Mongkut, using Burmese soldiers. Mongkut sends out his brother Prince Chaofa (Kay Siu Lim) and his military advisor General Alak (Randall Duk Kim) to investigate. However, it turns out that Alak is the man behind the coup and he turns on and kills Chaofa. He then flees Siam into Burma where he summons and readies his troops to invade Siam and kill the King and his children. With Anna's help, the King manages to hide his children and his wives in a safe place, then he goes with the few soldiers he has to face Alak. The King and soldiers place high explosives on a wooden bridge high above a canyon floor, as Alak and his army approaches. The King orders his "army" to stay back and rides to the bridge with only two soldiers. Alak, in front of his army, confronts the King on the bridge.

 

Anna and Louis then orchestrate a brilliant deception from their hiding spot in the forest: Louis uses his horn to replicate the sound of a bugle charge, as Anna "attacks" the area with harmless fireworks. The ploy works as the Burmese, believing the King has brought British soldiers, retreat in a panic. Alak attempts to recall them, but his efforts prove to be futile. Alak stands alone, but the King refuses to kill him, saying that Alak shall have to live with his shame. As the King turns to ride back to Siam, Alak picks up a gun and aims at the King, but the explosives are detonated, blowing the bridge to pieces, and Alak along with it.

 

At the end of the film, the King has one last dance with Anna, and realizes that it is conceivable for one man to be pleased by only one woman. Anna returns to England with Louis. The King's son takes over, and abolishes slavery.

 

Cast

• Jodie Foster as Anna Leonowens

• Chow Yun-fat as King Mongkut

• Bai Ling as Tuptim

• Tom Felton as Louis T. Leonowens

• Randall Duk Kim as General Alak

• Kay Siu Lim as Prince Chaofa, King Mongkut's Brother

• Melissa Campbell as Princess Fa-Ying

• Deanna Yusoff as Queen Thiang

• Geoffrey Palmer as Lord John Bradley

• Anne Firbank as Lady Bradley

• Bill Stewart as Mycroft Kincaid, East India Trading Co.

• Sean Ghazi as Khun Phra Balat

• Syed Alwi as The Kralahome, Prime Minister

• Ramli Hassan as King Chulalongkorn

• Keith Chin as Prince Chulalongkorn

• Alif Silpachai as Chulalongkorn's brother

 

Reception

Anna and the King received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 51% rating, based on 98 reviews, with the consensus stating that "Beautiful cinematography can't prevent Anna and the King from being boring and overly lengthy." On a $92 million budget, the film grossed $39,263,420 domestically, making it a box office bomb, but its international gross of $74,733,517 and complete worldwide gross of $113,996,937 makes the film a moderate worldwide box office success.

 

Controversy

The Thai government did not allow the film makers to film in Thailand. After completion of the film, the Thai authorities did not permit the film to be distributed in Thailand due to scenes that could be construed as disrespectful towards the King. The filmmakers resubmitted the film to Thai censors.The Thai authorities maintained the ban; The Nation's opinion piece opined that some Thai questioned the state of the democracy due to the film ban; the paper also reported that Americans enjoyed watching the film.