VINCE'S MOVIE REVIEWS |
 "Most people, do not see the world as it is, but as they are."  |
 
 The newly widowed, Anna and her son, Louis (Tom Felton), arrive in the beautiful, lush country of Siam to teach the children of King Mongkut. She quickly discovers that the King and the country run on their own time at a snail pace. When she finally meets her student she discovers that the King's children number fifty eight and that she will also be teaching some of his many wives and concubines. It does not take long for Anna and the King to be at odds but just as quickly to begin to form an appreciation and respect for each other, much to the chagrine of some of the King's advisors. Anna begins to change her attitude towards the King and Siam as she begins to see that he is a man of vision and Siam is a land of great beauty. She also sees some of what she considers to be barbaric and uncivilized. 
 The worst of these is when a young couple deeply in love are split up so that she can be another of King Mongkut's concubines. Tuptim played by Bai Ling(Wild, Wild West and Red Corner) becomes an unwilling concubine who remains in love with her lover. This love eventually leads to their death. A death that is carefully shown since it involves beheading. It is carefully staged so that the audience does not see any of the gruesome details. This part of the story is one element that really shows what the King is all about as he must carry out an order that he hates. The execution is carried out while we see a tortured emotional King praying for forgiveness of what he must do. You will understand this better when you see the why and wherefores of this situation. 
 While this is all happening the King loses his brother and his chief general to an insidious scheme by his own people to begin a war with the British. By the end we see a brave King and an even braverer Anna in a confrontation with the enemy. This sequence is well done just like most of the movie. The films three hour running time does give us some slow spots but considering the time frame of the story, these spots are very rare. 
 I must say that this is the best version that I have seen as I was never bored with the story, or the setting. There is some excellent interaction between Anna and Mongkut and we can really feel the tensions between them as they realize that there is something between them, a great love and an even greater respect for each other. Due Anna's influence, Siam eventually abolished slavery, brought religious freedom and changed the Judicial System. 
 Chow Yun Fat is excellent as the King Of Siam. His past North American roles are those in violent action films so it was good to see him act as a totally different character. This film should help establish him as more than just an action hero in the North American market. Jody Foster is her usual excellent self and carried out the British accent quite well. I also enjoyed, immensily the acting of Bai Ling who was a lot better here than in WIld, Wild West. She is an excellent actress. Overall this is a film you can take anyone to, but, because of some violent scenes I would not suggest you take young children. Besides the length of the film will make them very restless. I'm sure there will be some Academy Award (c) nominations for this film. Well worth the money. |
   
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Starring: Jodie Foster, Yun-Fat Chow, Mano Maniam, Ling Bai, Randall Duk Kim, Melissa Campbell , Kenneth Tsang & Deanna Yusoff Directed by Andy Tennant Written by Peter Krikes, Steve Meerson, Rick Parks & Andy Tennant Produced by Lawrence Bender & Terence Chang Distributed by Fox 2000 Pictures Rating USA... PG-13 for some intense violent sequences. Rating Canada... PG with some violent and intense scenes Read Another Review Of This Film Read Still Another Review Of This Film |
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vjm@metrocity.com
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