December 14, 1999. Copyright, 1999, Graphic News. All rights reserved

ANNA AND THE KING ATTEMPTS TO TELL A TRUER TALE
By Julie Mullins

LONDON, December 14, Graphic News:  LIKELY TO be popular in cinemas this Christmas is 20th Century FoxÕs ÒAnna and the KingÓ. Starring Jodie Foster and Hong Kong star Chow Yun-Fat, it is the fourth time the story has been portrayed on screen.
English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens has been employed to educate the 58 children of the King of Siam. She knows little about the king, assuming him, in her ÒEast versus WestÓ prejudice, to be uncivilized. King Mongkut suffers in turn from his own preconceptions about western attitudes. 
Anna gradually discovers that Mongkut Ð a scholar and astronomer Ð is a man of vision who is leading Siam to take its place in the modern world, while the king comes to appreciate AnnaÕs influence on his family.
This idea particularly intrigued Jodie Foster. ÒAnna arrives in Siam believing the king is a despot, heathen and barbarian. He, on the other hand, thinks she represents a country that invades other countries and views the British way as the only way.Ó
While there is some controversy about the veracity of AnnaÕs diaries, Foster admired her achievements.
ÒFor a woman of that time to travel, with a young son and independently of a husband, thousands of miles in a ship to start a new life in a country that couldnÕt be more different from her own was a courageous and amazing thing.Ó
Shot in Malaysia after Thailand refused permission for filming, ÒAnna and the KingÓ features enormous sets, thousands of extras and a considerable menagerie of animals.
ÒI knew it was going to be a tough shoot in terms of the heat and logistics,Ó says director Andy Tennant. ÒBut I really had no idea of how difficult. Many times we were working in 120 degree heat, with bugs, elephants, horses, multiple cameras, helicopters. It took some getting used to.Ó
To bring the kingÕs palace to life, Tennant and production designer Luciana Arrighi visited the real palace in Bangkok several times, documenting it in intricate detail. Thai advisors were on hand during construction and production to ensure accuracy to Thai culture and traditions.
A 1,300-strong construction crew worked from dawn to dusk creating the seven-acre palace Ð the largest film set constructed from scratch since ÒCleopatraÓ.
ÒAnna and the KingÓ features one of the most extensive use of elephants ever seen in a motion picture. According to industry veteran animal trainer Rona Brown, ÒOur elephants are doing things never before done in a film. They actually act.Ó
The 19 elephants, ranging in age from one to 57 years, even had their own wardrobe fittings. Their trainers commented that when in costume they would parade past one another, showing off their outfits with obvious pride.
ÒElephants like to work on a film setÓ, observes Brown. ÒThey love to be around people; it gives them a sense of duty and purpose.Ó 
However, the movie looks likely to be banned in the country in which it is set, as was its best known predecessor, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ÒThe King and IÓ. Yul BrynnerÕs portrayal of the King as a clownish buffoon so insulted the Thai people that it was banned in Thailand on grounds of historical and cultural distortions. 
While King Mongkut is treated more honourably in this version, many Thais object to the filmÕs claim that it tells a true story. Evidence exists to support their claim that there was no romance between Anna and the King, and that Anna greatly exaggerated her role at court in order to increase sales of her books, written after she left Thailand in 1867.
/ENDS

Sources: Official website (http://www.annaandtheking.com/), Thai Students Online (www.Thaistudents.com)

Release dates
December 6: Malaysia (world premiere)
December 15: U.S. (premiere)
December 16: Argentina, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore
December 17: Brazil, Finland, UK, U.S.
December 23: Hong Kong
December 24: Taiwan
January 2000: Norway
January 27: Germany
February 3: Netherlands
February 4: Denmark