Anna and the King (1999)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 99
Fresh: 50 | Rotten: 49
Beautiful cinematography can't prevent Anna and the King from being boring and overly lengthy.
Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 29
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 19
Beautiful cinematography can't prevent Anna and the King from being boring and overly lengthy.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 74,613
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Movie Info
The true story of Anna Leonowens' experiences as a governess to the children of an eccentric Asian king has been adapted into a book of memoirs, a biography, a stage play called Anna and the King of Siam -- which was adapted into a 1946 film, a stage musical called The King and I -- made into both the live-action The King and I (1956)) and the animated The King and I (1999) feature films, and a short-lived 1972 TV series. Now the story is brought to the screen yet again, as Jodie Foster stars as
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Cast
-
Jodie Foster
Anna Leonowens -
Yun-Fat Chow
King Mongkut -
Ling Bai
Tuptim -
Tom Felton
Louis -
Syed Alwi
The Kralahome -
Keith Chin
Prince Chulalongkorn -
Randall Duk Kim
General Alak -
Lim Kay-siu
Prince Chowfa -
Melissa Campbell
Princess Fa-Ying -
Deanna Yusoff
Lady Thiang
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All Critics (116) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (49) | DVD (17)
A simple, no-frills story.
Top CriticThe new movie offers old-fashioned kinds of pleasures.
Anna and the King is nothing but old-fashioned but it's old-fashioned in a glorious way.
Holds its own against the beloved 1956 musical The King and I.
A richly satisfying mix of history, drama and romance.
Intense, mature version of The King and I.
Handsome and well-appointed ... but still one of the most boring films in recent memory.
A grand retelling of an iconic story.
The third major screen version of the story, has much to recommend it.
A deliberate retelling of 'The King and I' without the musical interludes. 'Anna and the King' is a slow, but ultimately rewarding period drama.
... the pacing of the film is slow enough to make the typical Merchant-Ivory production feel like a Nine Inch Nails video
Classic tale gets a beautiful -- and unnecessary -- retelling.
Audience Reviews for Anna and the King
Super Reviewer
This is lush costume drama, full of all the pomp and circumstance and majestic panning shots that you would expect. Occasionally the cinematography actually reminded me of The English Patient which is no small compliment. And Jodie Foster is a premier actress, especially when it comes to playing vulnerability and her character's attempts at overcoming vulnerability. She has that pout and fearful but determined look in her eye on full display in many of her scenes.
However, I think the film is quite muddled and uneven. First, there is a great deal of talk about colonization. After all, one of the principal conflicts in the film is internal to the king's educative mission: how does he push for modernization when the definition of modernity is to be like his oppressors? How does he resolve the contradiction of tradition and modernity? These are compelling questions, both academically and cinematically. But they are not adequately explored. For example, Anna travels with two Indian servants, and their objections to colonization's evils are restricted to a single look they share during the first ten minutes of the film. What is more, the king has few scenes taking this conflict on head-on, and the one character who does is later villainized.
Second, the film is uneven because there are several dramatic, heart-tugging scenes that are immediately followed by sprawling shots of beautiful scenery or teaching sequences in which everybody is smiling and laughing as though nothing of consequence happened just five seconds ago.
Overall, despite Foster's classic performance -- the type that has made her famous -- there are still too many structural flaws to ignore.
Super Reviewer
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- King Mongkut: I never danced with an Englishwoman before, mem.
- Anna Leonowens: Nor I with a king.
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Foreign Titles
- Anna und der König (DE)
