Anna and the King
Directed by	Andy Tennant
Produced by	Lawrence Bender Ed Elbert
Written by	Steve Meerson Peter Krikes
Starring	Chow Yun-Fat Jodie Foster Bai Ling Tom Felton
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	6 December 1999 (Malaysian Premiere)
Running time	148 min.
Language	English / Thai / French
Budget	$75,000,000
IMDb profile

Anna and the King is a 1999 motion picture loosely based on the story of Anna Leonowens, who was an English schoolteacher in Siam, now Thailand, in the 19th century. The picture is a remake of Anna and the King of Siam, but differs in many respects from that picture and also from the related musical, The King and I. Anna and the King was a short-lived situation comedy broadcast in the United States by CBS as part of its 1972 fall lineup. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Andy Tennant (born in 1955) is an American dancer, screenwriter, and film and television director. ... Lawrence Bender Lawrence Bender (born 1958) is a film producer and occasional actor. ... Chow Yun-Fat (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born May 18, 1955) is a Hong Kong actor. ... Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Bai Bai Ling (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born October 10, 1961[1]) is a Chinese actress who has also attained fame in the United States. ... Thomas Andrew Felton[1] (born September 22, 1987)[2] is an English actor in films and television shows. ... Twentieth (20th) Century Fox Film Corporation (known from 1935 to 1985 as Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation) is one of the six major American film studios. ... December 6 is the 340th day of the year (341st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... This article is about the year. ... “Moving picture” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... In film, a remake is a newer version of a previously released film or a newer version of the source (play, novel, story, etc. ... Anna and the King of Siam is a 1944 book by Margaret Landon, a play and a 1946 movie directed by John Cromwell. ... The King and I is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with a script based on the book Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon. ...

The film was directed by Andy Tennant and stars Jodie Foster and Chow Yun-Fat. It was an Academy Award nominee in 2000 for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design. Andy Tennant (born in 1955) is an American dancer, screenwriter, and film and television director. ... Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. ... Chow Yun-Fat (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born May 18, 1955) is a Hong Kong actor. ... The Academy Awards are the oldest awards ceremony for achievements in motion pictures. ... This Academy Award was first given for movies made in 1948 when separate awards were given for black-and-white and color movies. ...

Plot

The film begins by following the story of Anna Leonowens and Rama IV as it is usually told; Anna is a widow who 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. King Mongkut (Rama IV), (October 18, 1804 – October 1, 1868) was king of Siam from 1851 to 1868. ...

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. Reincarnation, literally to be made flesh again, is a doctrine or mystical belief that some essential part of a living being (in some variations only human beings) survives death to be reborn in a new body. ...

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's too unhappy and at last runs away, disguising herself as a young man and joining the monastery where her former fiancé lives. She is tracked down and brought back to the palace, imprisoned, and caned along with her fiancé. Anna pleads with the King to be merciful, but he says that if Anna had not come to him, he could have done something; since she did, if he helped Tuptim now it would look to others as though he were taking direction from a woman, which would be unseemly. In front of thousands of witnesses, who clearly believe the sentence is monstrously unfair, Tuptim and her fiance are beheaded. This is a Chinese name; the family name is Bai Bai Ling (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born October 10, 1961[1]) is a Chinese actress who has also attained fame in the United States. ...

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 Chowfa and his military advisor General Alak to investigate. // A coup dÉtat (pronounced ), or simply coup, is the sudden overthrow of a government, often through illegal means by a part of the state establishment — mostly replacing just the high-level figures. ...

However, it turns out that Alak is the man behind the coup and he turns on and kills Chowfa. 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. Siamese 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 alone. Alak takes two soldiers to confront the king.

Anna is waiting in the forest and sounds her horn, sending the Burmese into disarray and retreat. Alak stands alone, and the king shows mercy and rides 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. A horn is a tapered sound-guide designed to provide an acoustic impedance match between a sound-producing device and the characteristic impedance of free space. ...

Cast

Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actress, director, and producer. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Chow Yun-Fat (周潤發, Jau1 Yeun6 Faat3, Pinyin: Zhōu Rùnfā) (born May 18, 1955 on Lamma Island, Hong Kong) is among a handful of internationally recognized screen actors that Hong Kong has ever produced, along with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. ... King Mongkut (Rama IV), (October 18, 1804 – October 1, 1868) was king of Siam from 1851 to 1868. ... This is a Chinese name; the family name is Bai Bai Ling (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) (born October 10, 1961[1]) is a Chinese actress who has also attained fame in the United States. ... Thomas Andrew Felton[1] (born September 22, 1987)[2] is an English actor in films and television shows. ... Thomas Louis Cunnis Leonowens (25 October 1856 - 17 February 1919) was a Siamese royal cavalry officer and founder of an important trading company. ... Randall Duk Kim is a Korean American actor who has played a wide variety of roles in his career. ... Kay Siu Lim or Lim Kay Siu (born 1960) is a Singaporean character actor who has appeared in several Asian films, notably TV films since the 1980s. ... King Chulalongkorn the Great or Rama V (royal name: Phra Chula Chomklao Chaoyuhua; Thai: ) (September 20, 1853 – October 23, 1910) was the fifth king of the Chakri dynasty of Thailand. ... Geoffrey Dyson Palmer OBE (born 4 June 1927) is an English actor, noted mostly for his extensive career in British sitcoms. ... Bill Stewart (7 December 1942 – 29 August 2006) was an English actor best known for his role as Denton Evening News reporter Sandy Longford in the British television program A Touch of Frost. ... His Majesty King Rama V of Siam, with his son, later King Rama VI (portrait in National History Museum, Bangkok) King Chulalongkorn the Great or Rama V (royal name Phra Chula Chomklao Chaoyuhua) (September 20, 1853 - October 23, 1910) was the fifth king of the Chakri dynasty of Thailand. ...

Supporting cast

Afdlin Shauki, also known as Chief Kodok to his fans, is a Malaysian man of many talents. ... Interpreter can mean one of the following: In communication, an interpreter is a person whose role is to facilitate dialogue between two parties that do not use the same language. ... Patrick Teoh (born October 16, 1947) is a well-known actor and radio personality in Malaysia. ...

Controversy

The film implies a much larger role in the development of the Thai nation than Anna Leonowens ever claimed for herself. Even more controversially, it suggests a romance between Anna and the king.

A Thai adviser was hired, as were many Thai actors. The screenplay went through five rewrites in an effort to win approval by the Thai government. However, the screenplay still contained too many inaccuracies, so the production was moved to Ipoh and Penang, Malaysia. The film is banned in Thailand because of its distortions of Thai history and the historically inaccurate portrayal of King Mongkut, whose memory is highly revered in Thailand. However, home-video copies have found their way into the Kingdom and the film has gained a following. ^[1] Nickname: Coordinates: , Country Malaysia State Perak Establishment Around 1880 Government  - Mayor Mohamad Rafiai Moktar Area  - City 643 km²  (248. ... State motto: Bersatu dan Setia (United and Loyal) State anthem: Untuk Negeri Kita (For Our State) Capital George Town Ruling party Barisan Nasional  - Yang Di-Pertua Negeri Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas  - Ketua Menteri Dr Koh Tsu Koon History    - Ceded by Kedah to British 11 August 1786   - Japanese occupation 1942...

The story of Lady Tuptim, and of the slave woman La-ore whom Anna works to set free, are repeated from earlier versions of the film and play, and from Anna Leonowens' own writings. Tuptim's story is not a matter of historical record. It was based on bits of harem gossip, and if it genuinely occurred, may have happened long before Anna got there, or before Mongkut took the throne. In any case, Mongkut's law provided for women who were unhappy with harem life to leave without disgrace, provided they had no children.

References

1. ^ Towira, Pimpaka. September 21, 1999. "Heart of a Patriot", The Nation (retrieved via ThaiStudents.com on October 17, 2006)

External links

• Anna and the King at the Internet Movie Database
• Anna and the King at Rotten Tomatoes
• Anna and the King at Box Office Mojo