Anna and the King

directed by Andy Tennant, USA, 1999

genre: Historical Drama

This film features Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Tom Felton, Syed Alwi and Bai Ling.

It involves British and Thai cultures.

In 1862, Anna Leonowens, a widowed British schoolteacher moves with her son, Louis, to Siam (today's Thailand) to educate the King's eldest son – and as we find out later, his approximately 58 offspring and numerous wives and concubines. She finds herself in a culture very different from her own and with many alien traditions and values. It is especially hard for Anna to understand Siam's extremely hierarchical society, its polygamy and its chauvinist view of females.

After a phase of adjusting to each other, Anna and King Mongkut build up a friendship based on mutual respect, which, later on, even turns into affection.

However, there are many incidents in which the cultural values and personalities of the two protagonists clash. A conflict occurs when Tuptim, one of the King's concubines, is accused of having betrayed King Mongkut and sentenced to death. As a consequence Anna wants to leave Siam.

The King's aim is to modernise his country and intensify its relations with the Western colonial powers. This is rejected by many of his subjects, especially by his military advisor General Alak, who is planning to overthrow the King and kill the royal family. The coup d'état is foiled with the help of Anna and her son. In the end Anna and her son Louis return to England.

The film is based on the earlier films "Anna and the King of Siam" (1946) and "The King and I" (1956), which were themselves derived from Anna Leonowens's two autobiographical books "The English Governess at the Siamese Court" (1870) and "Siamese Harem Life" (1872) and on the 1945 biography of Anna by Margaret Landon.

Due to historical inaccuracies the film is prohibited in Thailand, where many regard it as a libel on the memory of a great reforming monarch who was the founder of the modern Thai kingdom.

The following scenes showing aspects of intercultural matters have been analysed:

• Meeting the Prime Minister – power distance, task vs. person orientation
• Presentation to King Mongkut – power distance, ascribed or achieved status, formality
• The Royal School – ascribed or achieved status, masculinity/femininity, power distance
• Slavery – traditionalism (incl. religious/secular), universalism/particularism (rules and relationships)
• The dinner – power distance
• The trial – universalism/particularism (rules and relationships), power distance

analysed by Janina Hasse (U. of Hildesheim, Germany) and Rieke Kratz (U. of Hildesheim, Germany)