# Anna and the King (1999)

### reviewed by
Berge Garabedian

    ANNA AND THE KING
    RATING: 7.5 /10 --> Very Good Movie

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And believe you me when I tell you that I was NOT looking forward to seeing this movie featuring a British Jodie Foster going over to Siam to teach some King's spoiled brats to speak English. Somehow, it didn't tickle the JoBlo fancy. But I went, I saw and by golly, I'll say it, I liked it. I really, really liked it!

PLOT: A widowed British schoolteacher is summoned by the King of Siam to his country in order to teach his children about the language of English and the world outside their own. The independent woman begins her teachings with reluctance, but shortly settles into her own, and inevitably learns much about herself as well. No songs. No dance numbers.

CRITIQUE: A beautifully photographed motion picture. Wow. This is the kind of movie that makes you want to travel the world's most exotic places, until you realize that you will most likely bunk in two-bit hotels with no indoor plumbing, as opposed to Jodie Foster in this flick, who was put in a King's palace. It's only then that you will also start to realize that she's a rich Hollywood actress, while you're just an overweight, pseudo-movie critic who's still afraid to walk down his own street. Uhm, but I digress. That aside, this film was wonderfully shot in all of its majestical glory, exquisite cinematography, lush locations with plenty of exotic flair and original costumes. Truly of epical proportions. The actors in the movie were also right on, with a surprisingly rock-solid performance by Chow Yun-Fat. My God, who ever thought this dude could act? I've seen him roll down a stairwell with two guns blazing without losing the toothpick from his mouth, but go head to head with Jodie "I can make you cry at the drop of a hat" Foster, and kick arse? Yup.

Of course, that's not to take anything away from Foster, who as per her usual talents, comes through with all kinds of colors-a-blazin'. Much like Meryl Streep, Jodie always seems to be a consistent hitter, batting 1.000 whenever called upon. Even more importantly for the audience, the chemistry between the two thespians works in this film and that is extremely important for this tale, when you consider that much of the film is essentially a character study between these two strong individuals. Add to that some funny moments, some touching moments and a bit of history for ya'll, and this is one fine film. And what didn't I like? Well, I didn't think the story was rich enough to take up the entire two and a half hours that it filled, with a couple of ho-hum moments here and there. I also didn't appreciate the clean ending and the way everything was so simply resolved, but you know, after the visual feast that accompanied my eyes during the film's first 120 minutes, I was willing to forgive even that. All in all, a very good picture worthy of attention by the man named Oscar in at least a couple of his nominated categories at the end of this fine year in film. Oh yeah, in case you're not "into" subtitles, this film is loaded with them! I had no problem with this, in fact, I thought it helped further my appreciation of the story's authenticity (even though I know that many of the facts in this interpretation were slightly tweaked, but that's another story altogether.) Think SOUND OF MUSIC without Julie Andrews, maaaaaaany more kids and no songs :)

Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: Jodie Foster's full name is Alicia Jodie Foster. Besides an overly accomplished career as an actress, Jodie also majored in literature at Yale and graduated magna cum laude in 1985. Fun trivia includes the fact that Jodie is fluent is French and was apparently the second choice for the role of Princess Leia in STAR WARS. She reportedly received $15,000,000 for her role in this film. One really tragic moment in her life came on March 30th, 1981 when John Hinkley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan. Hinkley claimed to be obsessed with Jodie and the movie TAXI DRIVER (9/10) in which Travis Bickle, played by Robert DeNiro, tried to shoot a presidential candidate. Hinkley is rumored to have said that he was doing it in order to "impress" Jodie Foster. Well, it turns out that Chow Yun-Fat does have some experience in receiving praise for his acting chops as his three Won Hong Kong Academy "Best Actor" Awards have shown. He received his awards for his roles in 1987's A BETTER TOMORROW, 1988's CITY ON FIRE and 1990's ALL ABOUT AH LONG. Furthermore, CineAsia, the Asian Theatre Owners Convention, recently named Chow the "Star of the Decade". Director Andy Tennant's last two films were EVER AFTER (7/10) and FOOLS RUSH IN (5.5/10) respectively. He began his career as a dancer moved on to become a writer and now likes to direct. Interestingly enough, two of his bigger roles as an actor/dancer were in the two GREASE movies. He played a "dancer" in the original GREASE and a "boy greaser" in the second. And yes, you are right, that is producer Laurence Bender's name in the credits of this film. The man behind such movies as RESERVOIR DOGS, PULP FICTION, KILLING ZOE and the DUSK TILL DAWN trilogy, also likes to do some "normal" films every now and then as well. He also played a "young cop" in Quentin Tarantino's first film RESERVOIR DOGS.

    Review Date: December 9, 1999
    Director: Andy Tennant
    Writers: Peter Krikes and Steve Meerson
    Producers: Lawrence Bender and Ed Elbert
    Actors: Jodie Foster as Anna
    Chow Yun-Fat as King Mongkut
    Genre: Drama
    Year of Release: 1999
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    (c) 1999 Berge Garabedian

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