Popular reviews

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  Review by marsh boy ★½ 6

  Watched this for Asian Arts class and we’re to write a reflection about this so i took a few notes along the way to write down my thoughts just like an intelligent student should:

  -The physical and symbolic division of the aristocrats and proletariats
  -Anti-colonialism
  -East and west culture influence
  -The king of Siam played by a Chinese actor. wait what
  -baby tom felton cute
  -Wait, there's still 2:20:00 left??
  -Ah yes let’s talk about the monarchy
  -wow redeeming a slave owner!
  -*gets an idea for a list*: How Low Can You Go?
  -Jodie foster stunning
  -king has 23 wives, 42 concubines and 58 children haha How the f would Jodie Foster fall in love with this man??
  -Cringe at…

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  Review by Zegan ★★★★

  Jodie Foster is a queen.

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  Review by matt lynch ★★½

  Icky orientalism at odds with clunky anti-colonialism. Lots of handwringing both about the destructive influence of the West and backwards Siamese custom. There's a really interesting push-pull to be found there, but it gets mostly bumped aside in favor of a lushly production-designed but generally bland late 90's bit of Hollywood pageantry. And then there's the sticky race-bending of the cast, not too questioned at the time but something that stands out a bit sorely now, creating another weird conundrum in that Chow's most potentially rich American role (he's very good, too) is one in which this great Chinese actor plays a Thai king.

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  Review by steviewigles ★★★½

  DID SOMEONE SAY DRACO MALFOY?

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  Review by BrianNaas ★★★

  Hopefully I have not broken the law here in Thailand by watching this film. Seriously. The 1956 version of this story starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr is in fact banned here and you can get in trouble for watching it. The Thai's take their Royal family very seriously. A tip for you should you ever visit the Land of Smiles - don't talk about the King. Not even a little bit. If you go to a movie theater, stand up when they play the National Anthem, not to do so will get you either thrown out or beat up - it has happened. Don't get drunk and deface portraits of the King. Some nitwits did a few years ago…

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  Review by Melody ★★★★★ 1

  "One way to achieve the impossible is to change the climate."

  "lt is always surprising how small a part of life is taken up by meaningful moments. Most often they are over before they start, although they cast a light on the future and make the person who originated them unforgettable."

  All I really remembered about this was the two main death scenes (as a friend just said, most beautiful beheading ever), Jodie's reaction to them (when she goes that deep she always takes me with her), and (just as the movie began) the thing at the end about the music box being a product of science but still beautiful (something that really took me at the time, it really…

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  Review by Alex Holmes ★★½

  The uh....problematic nature of very recognisable famous Chinese actor Chow Yun-Fat playing a Thai King (still better than yellow face by a country mile) aside, this is a pretty decent film. Foster is fine enough and Chow is (as usual) straight fire, lending nuance and gravitas to (what he makes) a complicated character. 

  Admirably tries to kind of have an anti-colonialist bent but also plays around Foster standing up to the King being great(?) but also the King is great(?) and it all lacks the subtlety and careful craft that would be really required for the story not to come off as thematically flat. Though it lacks a strong core to lend much meaning to the story, the basic narrative and the dual leads (and their chemistry) mean the film is worth a watch if you’re interested.

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  Review by Max ★★½

  Have you ever seen a subtitled movie where literally nothing would feel any different if the subtitles weren't there? That's Anna and the King. I lost interest in this film hardly 20 minutes into it, and not even production design heaven can salvage anything else in the movie.

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  Review by BlakeTourville ★★★½ 10

  Anna: I find myself traveling from place to place wondering where it is I belong exactly. And I find myself here.

  King: Your path is as it should be.

  Anna: My mind has taken me down many roads of late...all of which lead absolutely nowhere. What would Buddha say of that?

  King: That roads are for journeys, mem...not destinations.

  Chow Yun-fat is so good in this movie it's actually insane. Only he has the charisma to make a strong-willed, close-minded (at the start), English woman forget about his many wives and concubines, and his 58 children, and fall in love with him.

  In all seriousness though, it is a little weird seeing Chow Yun-fat play a Thai king, but outside…

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  Review by Matt Curione ★★★★

  An impressive film from all involved. Foster and Chow Yun-Fat are both top tier and the supporting cast is terrific.

  Emotional beats hit way harder than I was expecting. Tbh, Andy Tennant is a weird director. This and a bunch of romantic comedies, but hey, dude obviously has range. 

  Pretty bizarre seeing this having never seen The King and I but I'm glad I finally caught up with this one.

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  Review by Leighton Trent ★★½

  Jodie Foster is terrific even in bad films and this is by no means a bad film, just a tedious, more fleshed-out version of the musical and the original dramatic telling with Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison. Chow Yun-Fat is terrific as well, but while being an amazing production in terms of how it's designed, it's slow and a slog to get through and the two leads' chemistry is touch and go in terms of believability. It could've been so much more.

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  Review by Smoreni Zmaj ★★★★★

  Masterpiece

  Based on the true story of an English teacher who comes in Siam in mid of 19th century to teach the king's children. Clash of two cultures causes many troubles, but also causes many changes in the king's way of thinking and understanding, and mostly influences the king's oldest son who, when he inherits the throne, reforms the country, abolish slavery and reforms judiciary.

  Great acting, very emotional story and just enough of action make two hours of the movie simply whiz through you and leave you with tears in your eyes.

  10/10