Anna and the King (1999)

I saw this movie thrice and realized how hard it is for the other side of King to accept legal judgements in his own court as a human and level of sacrifices that has to be made against his personal desire....Marrying so many women following the custom, Hand tied and Not even able to propose someone(Anna) he loves. Admired the entire setup in this movie and the places were like fairy tale. Background sound track was excellent that gives a real feel of the story and characters...Well performed by Anna & the King especially the scenes around the killing of Tuptim for deciding a noble path via Buddhist Monk...Great lifetime Movie

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

Leaving aside the question of historical accuracy, whatever that may be. First-rate cinematography and soundtrack with sumptuous sets and costumes.Outstanding acting from all the players.Jodie Foster is stunning to behold and delectably demure behind her breathy, somewhat clipped, English accent. In probably her best performance after Nell she brought a vulnerability to the character that was at times charming and at times heart-breaking to see.Chow Yun-Fat was splendid in his role and, as Crouching Tiger subsequently showed, a consistently solid actor. Everyone involved with this film did a superb job.An utterly charming, deeply moving and beautiful film.

I knew nothing about the history of Thailand or the king portrayed in this film based on a true story when I watched it, so I approached it from a purely entertainment angle. It delivers as an entertaining, artistic and engaging film. The story line is interesting, the leading actor and actress are credible and the scenery is stunning.Since then I have found out a bit more about the historical value of the king and his impact on the country. The teacher's influence on the king has understandably been exaggerated to suit the film's needs, but what I was disappointed with was the wasted opportunity to capitalise on the richness of the history and the significance of the events that played out.The act of betrayal that the king experiences, the simply beautiful location, the spirituality of the king and his people and the political motives of the aggressors were all present, but the film tried to relate them all to the romance between the king and the teacher. They should have been tapped into in their own right and the romance shouldn't have been the primary focus of the film. I do understand that was the point of the film, but I think Hollywood's habit of looking for romance in everything meant they missed what would have been a great film without the need to rely on tried and tested method. I guess romance sells and film makers nowadays want to produce safe films that will sell, rather then genuinely explore interesting events, but this is one of those films where the director should have been braver and respected the audience's intelligence.Still, as I said, it's an entertaining enough film, but I did not enjoy the, at times, cringe-worthy romance. Could have been an epic in my opinion but shame.