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| CAST Anna H. Leonownes Jodie Foster King Mongkut Chow Yun-Fat Louis Leonowens Tom Felton Tuptim Bai Ling |
| Director Andy Tennant Producers Ed Elbert Lawrence Bender Cinematography Caleb Deschanel Music George Fenton |
| Based upon the Diary of Anna Hariette Leonowens |
| THE STORY Anna and the King was a 1999 remake of the musical The King and I. It stars Jodie Foster as the headstrong Anna Leonowens who travels to Siam in 1864 to teach the King's (King Mongkut) children. Chow Yun-Fat stars alongside Foster to fill in the role of the strict yet kind King of Siam. The Story itself is derived from Anna Leonowens diaries, without which this story would never exist. After watching this film I felt that I had to read the book, and although what you may call racist at times I found it a very interesting read. The book itself is called The English Governess at the Siamese Court and unlike her other diary is still in print. |
| THE FILM Anna and the King may not be the best film ever made but it is one of the most ambitious films to have been made in the past 10 years. It has been years since our last sweeping epic, and despite being a remake Anna and the King comes very close to achieving this status. The cinamatography is fabulous, every shot carefully thought through making this film asthetiaclly pleasing. The score, nominated for a Golden Globe is faboulous. Ity was written by George Fenton, who allows a true oriental feel. The Anna and the king CD of the film can be bought in any HMV store etc. I seriously recommend it, as it is AMAZING to listen too, with only one exception, the first song. Unlike the rest of the CD the first song is something far more likely to be heard on Top of the Pops than in 19th Century Siam. Overall I give the CD 5 Stars, The Best Film Music in years!!! The performances by all the actors are exceptional and deserve far more credit than they were given. Jodie Foster tackles an English accent well, and although at times she is quite difficult to understand I'd like to see other actresses even English ones pull of an 19th Century British accent. |
| The story itself is very interesting. The film is based on Her diaries which are the recollections of six years at the Royal Palce in Bangkok during the 1860-70's. Anna Leonowens was the governess of 60 plus children and taught English to aThe King's entire royal family. She even took up the place of a translator and scribe for the King himself. Bright, enthusiastic and intelligent Anna Leonowens performed these job efficiently and coped well with the huge amount of tasks before her. In her book she talks much about the Siamese (who still regard her as a meretricious battleaxe), their lives and culture, the rich and the poor. She also tells stories of how she and the King often disagreed and how their relationship was very much Love-Hate! She was the only person who dared contradict the King, a lot of which was to do with her being stubborn, sometimes racist and even rude. Anna Leonowens was very much a feminist and found the idea of Male Domination intolerable. Eventually Anna Leonownes retired due to being overworked and underpaid, yet her stories and unique insight in The courst of Siam offers a fascinating and a much told story. |
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| Anna and the King is a Twentieth Century Fox Production. It is truly a modern classic due to its Wonderful Storyline, Beautiful score, awe inspiring cinamatography and heart warming performances. Unlike The King and I it is not a musical and despite it being a remake it's still fanatstic because focuses soley on the plot It is one of the most Under appreciated motion pictures in recent years and deserves far more praise than it got. In 1999 it was nominated for 2 Acadamy Awards including Best Art Direction and Best Costume design, It was also Nominated for 2 Golden Globes including Best Original Score and Best Original Song. I recommend it to everyone! |
| Jodie Foster as Anna Leonowens in Anna and the King |
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