Anna and the King

Rating:
Summary: Accuracy?
Review: I started out reading the book, Anna and The King of Siam y Margaret Landom. It was a decent book, I fell asleep reading it on occasions. I read it for a school project, not byu choice. I am a freshman at High School in New Jersey. I am in an English 1 Honors Course - so basically I am doing projects that are long, annoying, and overall things I don't want to do. Anyway, anfter reading the book I had to watch the movie based on the book.

MY MOVIE REVIEW:

This movie was completely inaccurate. It is based on the musical, The King and I, which is based on the book I read (Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon). My book was based on the two memoirs Anna Leonowens, herself, wrote. Much of what Anna wrote in her memoirs was false. "Her memoirs were so full of mistakes that no one who reads them now and knows something of Thais in hose days can take them seriously" I read that quote in a book I was using to research her. Basically, her memoirs were so false that people who knew of Thais couldn't take the novels seriously. So even though the movie is good, it's accuracy is completely horrible. The movie makers, from what I have researched, have claimed it to be a real story. But in reality, it's not. It's all fiction!

Movie makers lied. The movie is not true, and honestly, I am glad it isn't. In reality King Mongkut was in his 60s when Anna came. Now, think about Anna falling for a 60 year old? And she was in her late 20s early 30s, if I remember right. I could further this noting all the real facts, but if you want real facts about Anna Leonowens, you can check out this website:

www.thaistudents.com/kingandi/owens.html

It is one of the sources I will be using on my report.

In conclusion, movie was good, but completely false.
I spent what, 2 hours watching this inaccurate movie?

I WANT MY 2 HOURS BACK! Come on, I have better things to do than waste my time watching a non-fiction movie that's not even true. Thank you very much for wasting 2 hours of my life. I could have better spent my time increasing the number of obeast people in this world by eating a bag of potato chips and other unhealthy foods.

Rating:
Summary: Just watch it
Review: I remember watching trailors for this film when it came out - at the time I thought it looked hammy and over-done. Perhaps it was the trailor that let it down - a very "hollywood" trailor for what in my opinion was quite an "un-hollywood" film. By this I mean that it wasn't all glory and fairy-tale endings and over-the-top. Half way through as events were unfolding I found myself begging my television (I watched this on DVD recently) for this not to be a true story because I realised how heart-braking it was going to be if it was. There is dispute over the "truth" of Anna Leonowens' story but this is irrelevant - the film is nothing short of an epic in its own right and if you want to study the facts of history then do so. It is beautfully directed - there is one of the most powerful montage scenes I have ever seen (spoilers) in the execution sequence.

Speaking as an Actress and an accent coach and an English woman, Jodie Foster's accent is rather good. I have never heard an American actor/actress be as accurate. She was believable, spoilt and charming all at once. Chow Yun Fat is my favourite actor and I cannot write about him objectively. He is what the Oscar was made for. If you are also a fan you cannot miss this one. (You shouldn't miss anyhing he does!) His performance in this film is nothing short of inspiring - to other actors, and frankly to other human beings as his insight into human behaviour can teach us all. The film is worth watching for what he does alone. But it is so much more. If you are looking for a film to rent then this is the one - this is something you should see for its production values (costumes all made from scratch - along with an entire palace which they built) cinematography, direction, the performances, and especially the morals which arise from it all. Go to it..