The King and I, based on the book by Margaret
Landon, screenplay by Ernest Lehman
Seven out
of 10
The story
of the British governess who travels to work at the court of the king of Siam,
approximately the country of Thailand today, has seen a couple of other
adaptations for the big screen, apart from the play.
Anna and
the king of Siam is reviewed here: http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/08/note-on-anna-and-king-of-siam-with.html
The film
with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr has been so acclaimed that it received five
Academy Awards, 2 Golden Globes and other prizes.
Interestingly,
if the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading role went to Yul Brynner for
his interesting, rather outré performance as the King of Siam, the Golden Globe
for Best Actress in a Leading Role went to Deborah Kerr, the two most popular
festivities appreciating different combatants in the Siam War.
Deborah Kerr
is Anna Leonowens, a brave, educated, determined, proud, emotionally
intelligent, astute, resilient, kind, generous, role model widow that lands in
Bangkok, after the middle of the nineteenth century, where the prime minister
meets her.
This is a half-naked
man though, for customs are very different here, often the opposite of what
westerners would apply, as the woman would soon learn, very often to her
dismay, although she would come to love most of the people she would meet.
When they
reach the palace, Anna and her son, Louis, have to wait for a long time to be
received by the young, rambunctious monarch, who is portrayed by Yul Brynner,
winner of the Oscar for an original, creative, outlandish role of a sovereign
who keeps saying “Ha”! Moreover, he wants to be scientific and his household to
be educated in the Western manner…up to a point Lord Copper
For this
reason, he had hired the heroine, he complains that the sum paid is exorbitant,
although this is in jest at times – this monarch is rather playful, although
also quick to become irate, acting like a child – the governess would tell
Louis at one moment that the sovereign is somehow as young as the son is.
When the
King of Siam talks with the British woman, he is offensive to begin with, due
in part to the difference of culture, but mostly he is used with treating
everyone as inferior, seeing as his position is one of absolute ruler, whatever
he wants he gets without opposition or complaint and that would be a strain in
the communication with the eminent woman.
He asks her
how old is she and the answer is one hundred and fifty – this is from the
beginning of their exchanges a forewarning and a measure of an intense, often
conflictual, but gradually friendlier, warm, estimable, finally loving relationship
between intelligent, gifted, superior, resilient, vivacious and outstanding
human beings.
The King
wants progress for his country, has to fight formidable adversaries that are
intent on subjecting his land, loyal to Siam, but at the same time capricious,
used with cruelty, his new friend has to stop him when he wants to flog a slave
that loves someone else, albeit she is a member of his harem.
This monarch
has more than one hundred children, but as he points out to foreign ambassadors
and envoys who are startled to hear it, this is just because he is new in his
position…otherwise we would probably talk about upwards of one thousand…
When he
learns about the American Civil War, he is intrigued by it, his appointed heir is
wondering why would want to free slaves, and when the sovereign learns more
about Abraham Lincoln and the similitudes they share – both leaders are interested
in educating and bettering themselves – he wants to help.
With the
help of his British consigliere – this is just a joke, he does not want and
does not heed advice, not officially anyway – the Siamese monarch writes to the
American leader and thinks that some elephants would greatly improve his
standing in the war – indeed, when he first learns about the absence of the
majestic beasts he is surprised they are not used in the Civil War.
At one
stage, Siam is in a very dangerous, difficult position, with the Western powers
interested in conquering it, advancing the proposal that his majesty is a
barbarian anyway and he needs advice, even if his excessive pride, the position
of absolute power and the presumption associated with it that he knows
everything and has the best solution always.
Awkwardly,
this is the law in Thailand today, where anyone questioning the monarch, even
remotely suggesting that they are not the best humans can face stiff prison
sentences for lese majeste, in what looks like a retrograde, absurd, medieval instrument
of punishment for those who wish to think freely and enjoy democracy…but then a
junta rules Siam in the present, making the case for liberty, human rights ever
more hopeless.
Cunningly,
his majesty is looking for advice from the woman is now a friend, even if they
keep that somewhat secret, indirectly, by asking her to guess what he is ready
to do to convince the Europeans that he is not a barbaric sovereign and when
she explains that, he continues and prompts her to guess what he would do next,
finally, convincing the Western diplomats that he is both modern and rather outlandish.
The King
loves to read and study, albeit he is intrigued by the statement of the bible,
especially the figure of Moses interests him, and the contradiction with what
science purports, that it took ages to create the world, whereas God is supposed
to have finished it in six, let us say seven days.
However, Anna
Leonowens has a wise, philosophical and spiritual answer to this – it does not
matter how long it took, it is a miracle nevertheless – and the king writes
cards with subjects to approach at the special dinner, where foreign
dignitaries are invited and takes the answer and uses it to impress his honored
guests.
The New York
Times has included this musical drama on its list of Best 1,000 Movies Ever
Made:
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