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| Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Ling Bai,
Tom Felton |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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King
Mongkut (Chow Yun-Fat): When a woman who has much to say says nothing,
her silence can be deafening.
An
English governess arrives at the royal court in mid-19th Century Siam
to educate the king's children.
 This
oddly stodgy third film version of the true story of an English governess's
experiences at the Siamese court represents a well-intentioned but severely
misguided attempt to reinterpret this romantic tale of cultural differences.
It may succeed in recreating the splendor and extravagance of the Siamese
court, but its slow pace and lack of narrative development can make
the film rather hard going. Things aren't helped by the cast, with Jodie
Foster going heavy on that quizzical/angry/befuddled look she does with
her eyebrows, and Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat underplaying the
role of the King. As there is such a minimum of romantic tension built
up during the film, and insufficient background is developed to succeed
as historical/political epic, the point of this vastly expensive and
often tedious endeavor remains unclear. |
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Identical
releases are available for Region 1 and Region 2.
The
anamorphic widescreen image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx.
2.35:1. Though detail levels and brightness are good, color fidelity
is variable at best, with undersaturated reds and blues that sometimes
distract from the movie.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is good but fairly undistinguished. The few
action sequences bring the surround speakers into action all of a sudden,
but otherwise there is fairly little going on.
Director
Andy Tennant provides an audio commentary that deals almost exclusively
with logistical matters from the shoot: how much work it was to build
the sets, what problems there were shooting the film in Malaysia with
actors who didn't speak Thai, etc. It's informative if you want to know
all about how the movie was made, but it will most likely prove too
dull for the casual listener. A 20-minute featurette provides
a more accessible overview of how the film was made, with plenty of
on-set behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew.
The theatrical trailer and a pretty ghastly music video
are also included. The
menu screens have some limited animation and are accompanied by some sweeping
cues from the score.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Anna
and the King.
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