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Anna and the King (1999)

I know this film is not an Asian one, but as a Chow Yun-fat-film, I thought it was only fair to bring you this review of his by far best Hollywood production.

Originally released in 1946 as Anna and the King of Siam, and then again, in the form of the 1956 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical The King and I, this latest version of the tale based on the diaries of Anna Leonowens, tells the tale of the English school teacher who travelled thousands of miles with her young son to Siam, a part of the world that Western civialisation had then barely heard of. Anna has been employed by King Mongkut, the country's ruler, to teach his fifty-eight children.

Anna's upbringing means that although the people of Siam see their king as something of a God, she believes that she should treat him no differently than any other employer. The king in turn feels that this Englishwoman, though good at what she does, does not have an ounce of respect for him, which angers him. Over time however, the pair develop a unique relationship, the likes of which had never been seen before in this country.

The king comes to realise that Anna has not only made him think differently about life, but that she has shone a light on him, his children, his concubines and indeed, the whole of Siam. Anna grows to like and admire the monarch, and believe that he is a true man of vision, ready to lead his country to better times.

The two become close, very close, and although at first they hated the sight of each other, by the end of the film the two have deep feelings for one-another eventually enabling them to put their different backgrounds to one side. Though their two countries can never be the 'finest of friends', they will respect and honour each other.

Anna and the King is quite simply beautiful. At the time I watched it at the theatre, I hadn't been so moved by a motion picture for many years. The whole production is shot so superbly and precisely that it's hard not to appreciate the sheer size of the production. Shot on location in Malaysia, including the beaches of Langkawi Island, Penang Port, and a host of small villages around the southern area of Ipoh, the visuals sweep you off your feet with some of the most interesting and biggest sets ever built from scratch for a film. When director of the movie, Andy Tennant, commented on the size of the production, he said that the biggest challenge was building the king's palace.

The set took almost six months to build and commanded the skills of over 1300 crew, consisting of carpenters, sculptors, labourers and painters, amongst others, who literally took over the whole of Clearwater Sanctury Golf Resort, a property of Ipoh, measuring a huge 350-acres.

Away from the set, you have the cast, a collection of some of the finest talent from across the globe, as well as thousands of extras. Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster tackles the role well, and although the English accent isn't perfect, she is convincing, playing a very weary, though strong and confident character that won't accept anyone treating her badly. Then there is Chow Yun-fat. Fans of Chow will know that he can handle any role, comedy, drama, action, whatever! But the way that he handles the role of King Mongkut is breathtaking, extremely impressive. He is majectic. Standing there, barefoot, in his kingly wardrobe, his hands behind his back, he IS King Mongkut.

Speaking of the wardrobe, the costumes will leave you with your chin on the floor. Anna's costumes are particularly impressive, despite the fact that the character thinks of herself as 'ordinary', and dresses the same way, the costumes produced by the film's designer Jenny Beaven (another Academy Award-winner!) show elegance, and Foster looks exquisite.

MThen there are elephants - and a lot of them are there too! Looked after by fifty-six trainers, apparently these gentle giants enjoyed filming as much as the actors themselves.

Executive producer Terance Chang studied architecture at the University of Oregon and went to Hong Kong to establish himself as one of the finest in his fields, later helping launch careers of Michelle Yeoh and Brandon Lee with his days at Johnny Mak Productions, before joining John Woo to form Milestone Pictures in 1990. It's also worth noting that he also managed Chow Yun-fat at one point!

Beautiful, memorable, revealing and moving, the full-on impact of Anna and the King hasn't been acclaimed enough yet in my opinion. And though Thailand has banned the film, for historic reasons, the rest of the world can be assured that this fantastic piece of cinematic history is one of the films that will make you love it.

Written on July 11th 2004

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