Anna is a widowed and intelligent woman who went to Siam with her son, Louis, to teach English to the king's 67 royal children. King Mongkut wants to modernize his country to keep his empire safe from colonialism.
One child that I recognized so much is Princess Fa-Ying. Princess Fa-Ying is so playful that she pretends to be a monkey. One day, Princess Fa-Ying became ill of Cholera and because of her illness, she died. After Princess Fa-Ying died, King Mongkut suddenly remembered her when one of the monkeys took his glasses. He thought that Princess Fa-Ying may reborn on her favorite animal -- the monkey. Awww, King Mongkut is so sweet when it comes to his children.
In order to regain Britain's favor, King Mongkut ordered Anna to organize it. King spars with Sir Kincaid, who accuses Siam as a superstitious nation. After that, my favorite part began, hahaha. King Mongkut danced with Anna.
One day, Lady tuptim, one of the concubine of King Mongkut, was already engaged when brought to the court. The King was kind to her but she is still not happy. Because of her loneliness, she pretends as a man just to join the monastery where her former fiance, Khun Phra Balat, lives. She was found and brought back to the palace to be imprisoned with Balat. After that, Tuptim and Balat were beheaded infront of the court.
Siam is under a military blockade of city from what appears to be a coup d'etat against King Mongkut. King Mongkut sent his brother Prince Chaofa and General Alak to investigate. When Prince Chaofa knew that General Alak is the one behind this coup, General Alak killed Prince Chaofa. He go now to Burma (now called as Myanmar) to get ready for their incoming invasion in Siam and to kill the king and his children.
When King Mongkut heard the news about his brother, he hid his children and wives in a safe place with the help of Anna. Then he face with Alak with his few soldiers. He decided to have only 2 soldiers with him. King Mongkut prepared a trap under the bridge where they will meet. When they saw a huge battalion of soldier, Louis used his horn to replicate the sound of a bugle charge and Anna attacked the air with harmless fireworks. The Burmese believe that the king has brought British soldiers. With this, Burmese retreat with panic. Alak did not surrender and he stood alone but King Mongkut did not kill him. As the king turns to ride back to Siam, Alak picks up a gun and aims at the king but one of the king's soldier blew the bridge with the explosives and Alak was one of it.
At the end, the king danced with Anna once again and after that, Anna and Louis returned to England. The king's son, Chulalongkorn, takes over and abolishes slavery.
Here are the characters of "King and I":
Jodie Foster as Anna Leonowens, an English teacher
Yun- Fat Chow as King Mongkut, King of Siam(Thailand)
Bailing as Tuptim, king's favorite concubine
Tom Felton as Louis Leonowens, son of Anna
Syed Alwi as The Kralahome, Prime Minister
Randall Duk Kim as General Alak, the one behind the coup
Kay Siu Lim as Prince Chaofa, the king's brother
Melissa Campbell as Princess Fa-Ying, the king's daughter
Keith Chin as Prince Chulalongkorn, the king's son
Mano Maniam as Moonshee, Leonowens' Indian servant
Shanthini Venugopal as Beebe, Leonowens' Indian servant
Deanna Yusoff as Queen Thiang, Head wife
Geoffrey Palmer as Lord John Bradley, a British emperor
Anna Firbank as Lady Bradley, wife of Lord John Bradly
Alif Silpachai as Chulalongkorn's brother
Bill Stewart as Mycroft Kincaid, East India Trading Co.
Sean Ghazi as Khun Phra Balat, Tuptim's former fiance
Ramli Hassan as King Chulalongkorn, King Mongkut's son
Of course, this film is very important especially in the history. Their culture is a treasure that remains forever in the history and in the world. It makes their country very special and wonderful in the eyes of every person. If I have time, I want to go to Thailand just to know their culture and the beauty of the country.
This film has something to do with Philippines. Their culture is somewhat the same with Philippines during the old times. Philippines pass their throne from generation to generation just like Thailand before. Just like before, Philippines and Thailand fight with different battles with just swords, spears and bow and arrow. That's the things that makes them similar.
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