The true story of English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens and a Siamese monarch has already been interpreted by Hollywood in three different ways: A glitzy, big-budget 1956 musical (The King And I), a 1946 historical drama (Anna And The King Of Siam) and, finally, a puerile 1999 animated remake of the musical (The King And I).
The main distinction of this new version of the tale is that King Mongkut is played by an Asian actor, Chow Yun-Fat, who bears no resemblance whatever to either Yul Brynner or Rex Harrison. Look closely at the supporting roles you won't find anyone with a name like, say, Gale Sondergaard in the role of a character like, say, Tuptim.
Also, no one breaks into song at inappropriate times. And unlike that vile animated feature, the Siamese prime minister never once conjures dragons to scare Anna from the shores of Siam.
Yet Anna And The King is not distinguished as a serious, authentic version of the story. In fact, the only thing director Andy Tennant seems serious about is exploring the romantic tension between the prim tutor Mrs. Leonowens (Jodie Foster) and Mongkut, a charismatic man who can't help but inspire sexual consideration: he does boast 58 children.
Anna, an imperious product of the British Empire, arrives in Siam to introduce western ways to those children, as well as Mongkut's numerous wives and concubines. (Classroom size was evidently not the issue it is today.)
Anna initially gets her crinolines in a knot because the king has failed to deliver on the promise of a house for Anna and her son beyond the walls of Mongkut's sumptuous palace. He is peeved too; Anna refuses to kowtow to the king. Even more upsetting, Anna's countrymen are suspected of launching murderous attacks on wealthy Siamese merchants.
More trouble: Anna inadvertently becomes involved with Siam's cruel justice system when she befriends the concubine Tuptim (Bai Ling). Forced by familial obligation into a relationship with the king, Tuptim carries a torch for an old boyfriend, setting the stage for a devastating tragedy.
Still, in the tumultuous course of their relationship, Anna and the king not only gain respect for each other, they learn to understand each other's cultures, yadda, yadda, yadda ...
Granted, this latest interpretation benefits from Chow's magnetic presence. His is the most reality-grounded, least theatrical Mongkut you'll ever see, and the actor imbues him with an unprecedented sense of the monarch's humanity.
But in the role of Anna, Foster is -- for one of the rare times in her life -- miscast. She nails the English accent and she weeps on cue, but she never entirely convinces as a stiff-upper-lip Victorian woman. Her entirely American impulse is not to repress emotion but to bleed it.
It's puzzling that the directing assignment here went to Tennant, a director whose last film, Ever After, gives a clue to his penchant for high-gloss, fairy-tale ambience. Sure, he filmed in far-off Malaysia instead of on a studio soundstage. But his film has Hollywood all over it, from a climactic bridge battle scene (reminiscent of The Bridge On The River Kwai) to Bai Ling's see-thru prison attire (very reminiscent of The Big Doll House).
You would hope that the filmmakers would have been inspired by Anna's boldness. Alas, this version of Anna And The King plays it entirely too safe.
(This film is rated "PG")
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