Anna and the King Articles - Page 4

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The King And Us

Publication: The Nation
Date: 29th November 1998
Writer: Manote Tripathi

A more accurate depiction of life in King Rama IV's court is in the offing if the script can make it past the National Film Board.

IF Anna Leonowens' two books on life at the court of King Rama IV could be described as historical fiction laced with the occasional fact. And the process by which these few facts were further distorted by two Hollywood films and a Broadway play (all based on a summary of her books by Margaret Landon) could be likened to a game of Chinese Whispers.

Then 20th Century Fox's attempts to get approval for shooting a new cinematic treatment of the Anna books here is the stuff of soap opera: a saga of contemporary Thailand, if you will. Since Laurence Bender produced the first draft, the script for Anna and the King has gone through umpteen rewrites. This first was rejected by the National Film Board (NFB) on Oct 15 on the grounds that certain scenes were factually inaccurate or culturally implausible or potentially insulting to the Royal family, the institution of Buddhism or Thai people in general.

''I think it [the original draft] was unfair to Thailand,'' said MR Supinda Chakrabhand who heads Oriental System of Communication and Research, Fox's local coordinator. ''It was a total defamation of Thai royalty,'' she added.

So local historian Paothong Thongchua and other scholars were called in and given carte blanche to extensively revise the text. Which they did. Three times.

This script was submitted to the NFB who, last week, turned it down giving a detailed list of objections (for a summary of these see the box story).

Sciptwriter Rick Tarks and producer Andy Tennant have now been roped in to revise the script aided by five (unnamed) Thai historians. MR Supinda hopes to submit the fruits of their labour -- the fifth major rewrite -- to the NFB ''soon''.

In the meantime, Fox executives, worried about missing tight deadlines, have taken the precaution of sending a pre-production crew to an alternative location in Malaysia. But no shooting has yet taken place there and MR Supinda is insistent that Fox will not shift to Malaysia unless the NFB rejects the Tarks/Tennant script.

Tennant himself was reportedly very impressed by the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and is anxious to shoot there. ''Andy told me he can't use US$2 million to make the set that looks as ornate and beautiful as Wat Phra Kaew,'' said Manop Udomdej, a leading local filmmaker and adviser to Supinda.

Fox does seem to be sincere about righting blatant errors in the script. In a letter to the NFB dated Nov 4, Mike Moder, vice president of Feature Production, writes: ''We are not doing a remake of The King and I, where the king was portrayed foolishly. We want King Mongkut to be in our film as he was in life, a strong, compassionate leader ...'' And an unsigned Fox press release notes: ''It's been a primary goal of the studio and filmmakers to ensure the cultural and historical accuracy requested by the local government.''

Said Kraisak Chonhavan, son of the former premier and an another adviser to MR Supinda: ''The fifth script is totally different from the version rejected previously.''

''Personally I think the king was a serious person who cared about the future of Siam. That's how he is portrayed in the fifth script,'' said MR Supinda, adding that flaws in the fourth script have now been corrected.

''King Mongkut will now be shown as a far-sighted person who used diplomacy, not military force, to keep threats from the colonial powers at bay.''

In a recent exchange of views on local TV programme Fang Khawm Rob Khang, NFB member Sombat Bhookan said the board could not accept scenes which intimate that a romance is developing between the Anna and King Mongkut especially one where the pair are shown camping alone in a forest. While Supinda acknowledges that this scene has no basis in fact, she did not indicate whether or not it will be cut.

''The historians are working closely with ... Tennant to improve the script in the interests of authenticity and historical accuracy,'' she said.

Sombat also described as ''misleading'' and ''unacceptable'' a scene where, during a visit to London some years after King Mongkut's death, King Chulalongkorn presents Anna with a ring which once belonged to his father.

Manop said NFB members may have misinterpreted this gesture because they are not sufficiently au fait with Western culture. He pointed out that a man giving a ring to a woman does not necessarily imply that he and she are romantically involved (''Maybe they're just friends'').

''The NFB must not try to force Fox into doing a documentary. They must keep in mind that Hollywood is making a movie,'' said Manop.

Kraisak is pessimistic of a getting a positive response this time around. ''This is a golden opportunity for us to correct what went wrong in the books and previous films. But I think the NFB will still be reluctant to give permission.'' While Supinda is putting a brave face on things (''I'm sure the fifth script will be approved by the NFB'') she hinted that the NFB will be in a rather invidious position if it were to reject the script a third time.

''If somebody thinks the film should be shot outside Thailand, it will look like that somebody is allowing our history to be abused outside the country.''

And to conclude in true soap-opera fashion ...

Next week: Warner Brothers seek permission to make an animated version of The King and I (it's true!).

The grounds for rejection

SPECIFIC reasons given by the NFB for rejecting the second script of Anna and the King. (''p'' refers to the page number in the script).

Dialogue which humiliates Siam and Buddhism

p3: The captain of the steamer on which Leonowens arrives in Bangkok tells her that ''Siam is uncivilised, unlike Bombay and Singapore.''

p14: Louis (Anna's son) compares the sound of Buddhist monks chanting to that of bees in a beehive.

p96: Anna's Hindu nurse laments that if King Mongkut were to pass away, her fate would be in the hands of a 12-year-old child (Prince Chulalongkorn).

Inappropriate dialogue and acting

p26: The king's daughter is seen climbing a tree and then begin dropping fruit directly onto his head.

p29: The king addresses his children as look jaa (dear child).

p52: The king's daughter addresses Anna as ''dear ma'm [madam]''.

p41 -- There is eye contact beteen Anna and the king in a romantic scene.

Inappropriate characterisation of King Mongkut

p26: The king compares Anna's crinoline to a ''moving snail''.

p38 -- The king speaks in broken English without the use of verbs and articles but then attempts to use big words like ''scientific'' and ''endeavour''.

Other inappropriate characterisation concerning Louis

p28: Louis makes fun of the king's way of walking and speaking.

p29: Louis comments on the number of the king's concubines and children and makes a deliberate comparison with Queen Victoria.

Inappropriate characterisation concerning the king's daughter

p27: the princess is described as a ''monkey girl'' and ''baboon''.

p44: the princess speaks English inaccurately, using the past tense with words like ''tomorrow'' and the future tense with words like ''yesterday''.

Inappropriate characterisation concerning the young Prince Chulalongkorn

p25: the prince uses big words children his age (11 at the time) would not use; for example ''imperialist'' and ''school teacher''.

Inappropriate setting and atmosphere

-- An assassination attempt against the King is carried out in a temple.

-- Street vendors are shown selling reptiles like crocodiles.

-- Rubber trees are seen in a scene set in a northern city (they only grow in the warmer South).


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