Hidden Affection

The subtle romance between Anna and King Mongkut was developed but it didn’t flourished. To prove that, on the film’s last scene, after they won from the war between Burmeses, King Mongkut asked Anna to dance with him, then he said to her that he didn’t expect that the sayings “Only one woman can satisfy the king’s heart” is true. And she referred that “woman” to Anna. The fact is the acceptance of polygamy in Siam, and of course we knew that, Anna, as a Christian, she believes in monogamy. It’s too hard to unite two different things, in other words, they really differ in many aspects. To avoid any trouble, we keep away from uniting two different things … except in LOVE!

Men and Women have equal RIGHTS!

In the film Anna and the King, Anna proved that men and women have equal rights and opportunities in the society. Anna proved that women are not inferior by just seeing how they act. She earned the respect of Siam through her actions. Here’s a conversation between the king and the Prime Minister when Anna dignified what she really believes.

The Kralahome, Prime Minister: Your Majesty, I believe there has been enough insult caused by this woman who believes herself to be equal of a man.
King Mongkut: Not the equal of a man, Chao Phya. The equal of a king.

Being a woman doesn’t mean that you cannot do what a man does, just like in ruling a society, it doesn’t mean that women are helpless and weak. [Anna proved that by being the teacher of king’s children]

Even if she’s in front of someone, as long as she knows she is right and has the point, she will going to fight of what she believes. Especially in the issue of Tuptim and when she had an argument with the king’s concubine because she set the mistreated servant free. In her situation with Balat, Anna insisted the king to lessen their punishments. Severely, limiting the king’s ability to sanction a lesser punishment of political and cultural concern that would appear as though the king realized the truth because of Anna.

Through Anna, she let the people of Siam to recognize that not only men had the right reprimand in the happenings on their surroundings. She wants the king to know that women, especially the servants, who are both men and women, should have equal liabilities when it comes in ruling the society.

Then there it goes the equality of both sexes. Anna showed it in her own way that as a woman, just like man, are strong and they have their own weaknesses too. Nobody is perfect and God made a woman [according to a quote], using man’s side, to equal, not from his head to control him, not from his feet to become the format of a man, but in his side, under his arm to be protected, near his heart to be loved. This is the greatest thing Anna emphasized.

Perception of Love

“Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see.”

The film Anna and the King with Jodie Foster is the kind of movie that is based on the story of Anna Leonowens, who was an English teacher, came to Siam [Thailand now] and teach King Rama IV eldest child – Prince Chulalongkorn, and to introduce them in Western Culture. In fact, this is a remake of the musical The King and I, which differs a lot from the original motion picture.

King Mongkut: I never danced with an Englishwoman before.

Anna Leonowens: Nor I with a king.

Siam has a cultural heritage that a king can have as many wives as he can, as long that he can support it all. Anna's perception is changed when she saw the other side. She saw the different ideology of everyone and that makes her imagination went wild. Her love and human concern was given a different role on this movie. She was characterized as a fragile woman with a strong determination to prove that woman can become the equal of not just the man but the in terms of making decisions.

"When a woman who has much to say says nothing, her silence can be deafening."

In the film, Anna is like a ‘Cinderella’ there, and she’s not the nationalistic, the factor is that she’s widowed, yet, she show her love for Siam even if she’s a foreigner. She fell in love with the king, but he already has 26 wives, which is known for their culture – term called polygamy. She’s a woman full of strong ideas and opinions. She stands up for her independence and opposes slavery and brutality.

Love Knows No Boundaries

"Love knows no boundaries, no distance, and no fear."

This is the most exciting part of the film ‘Anna and the King’ where we had witness the raveled love between King Mongkut and Anna. Their love story is considered as one of the most discussed odd couples because they came from different races. But that didn’t stop them to be attracted and became closer to each other. The king doesn’t know what really love means until he met Anna.
Princess Fa-Ying, one of King’s Mongkut’s favorite daughters suffered from Cholera, which is a deadly disease. The little princess is one of Anna’s much loved student and both of them is very close to each others. She presented Anna everyday with her own painting which brings them to establish an unconceivable bond. When the princess is going through her illness, she wanted Anna to be on her side and be the last one to see before she passes away. She is on her father’s hand and Anna is on her front while holding her last portrait for Anna. It’s really hard for them to see someone is dying and it is a very painful experience.
The difference of two nationalities is not a hindrance for their feelings. Being a Thai or a British didn’t become a barrier to love each others. The little princess loves Anna like her own mother and vise versa. On the king’s side, we see on his eyes that he’s very affected on her daughter’s death. He cried a lot that it seems he’s not a King.
On the other hand, Tuptim and Balat’s story is also included. Lady Tuptim is the prettiest brood in their family that’s why she is given to the king to be his wife. But, she has a boyfriend, and the two of them still had a secret affair and they were exchanging messages with the help of Anna. Balat assures that Tupim is happy on wherever she is right now as one of the king’s concubine. At this part, we had perceived that even though how dangerous it was and how the situation came very complicated, we cannot stop the two persons in loving. They died together because the palace finds out about their persisting affair. We also see how Anna is awfully concern on Tuptim’s situation, for the reason that the two of them differs in nationality, still, the concern is there. She even confronted the king about this; this is the part where Anna said this, “How many lives you have to sacrifice just to save your face?”

“I believe that two people are connected at the heart, and it doesn't matter what you do, or who you are or where you live; there are no boundaries or barriers if two people are destined to be together.”

How Philippines differ from Siam

The film Anna and the King starts with the arrival of Anna Leonowens with her son Louis in Siam. She has been appointed by King Mongkut to teach his children. She was implicated in the king’s business, from the awful problem of a young concubine in trying to create an agreement with Britain to a war with Burma.
Very impressing movie, as what we had seen in the film, Thai have different and amazing traditions. We like the setting so much, even though it was not taken in Thailand [but in Malaysia], but still the quality is there.
If we are given a chance to compare the different customs and traditions of Siam and the Philippines, perhaps we have plentiful of ideas about it.
There are many ways in which our country and Siam have similarities. The customs and traditions of Philippines and Siam have similarity when it comes to family issues regarding strong family ties and bond. In Thailand, the family bond is quiet strong and also in the Philippines, where Filipinos do really care and spend time with their love ones.
Both Thais and Filipinos display respects when it comes to spiritual aspects. Other thing is that, in marriage, or in seeking partners in life, some chose foreigners from abroad for desire or interest in their culture and of course for financial reason.
In Southern Philippines, where Moslems reside, they can have as many wives as long as they can support it. In Siam, King Mongkut had a big family, in the scene where he presented his family, here’s what he exactly said: “The Royal Family: Twenty-three wives, forty-two concubines, fifty-eight off springs, and ten more on the way ..”
Man is considered as the head in the family.
Politically, Siam and Philippines both have inferior political advisors. They fear too much about there colonial threats.


Although, when it comes to an undesirable difference in beliefs of two nationalities, included there is the topic about reincarnation. In the film, sometime later after the death of Princess Fa-Ying, the king saw that one of the monkeys get his glasses, which her daughter’s used to do, and then the belief of reincarnation bring into being, where not all Filipinos are convinced that reincarnation does exist.
In celebrating holidays, Filipinos celebrated it luxuriously by preparing a lot of foods, by having festivals, which sometimes we invited our closest relatives to celebrate with. While in Siam, they do have some holiday celebrations but they didn’t celebrate it extravagantly, except for the most important holiday in Siam, which they called the Thai New Year.
There is no equality between the two sexes. They consider women as subordinates and are low-graded. In the scene where Anna arrived, an interpreter yells at her because only men were allowed to stand within the presence of the king. One more, when Lady Tuptim suffers from punishments for having an affair with a monk, Anna said, “How many lives do you need to sacrifice so just you can save your face?”, and lastly, they do not ask forgiveness to women.
They have excellent respect for their leaders. In Philippines, we have a democratic type of government, while in Siam, they are monarchy.

These are not only the things which Philippines and Siam differ and alike, in connection with the film Anna and the King, it makes us easier to compare its traditions and practices.

Siam's Inimitable Traditions

Thailand is the only country in Southeast Asia that was never taken over by a European power, thanks to King Mongkut and his son King Chulalongkorn. Ruling successively from 1851 to 1910, they modernized the county and signed trade treaties with Britain and France. It is known as a mystical place bathed in Buddhist philosophy, they do have much rituals and special occasions on their lives.
Siam’s Customs and Traditions presented in the 1998 award-winning film ‘Anna and the King’ starred by Yun Fat – Chow as King Mongkut and Jodie Foster as Anna Leonowens were much more detailed than others.
Siam (Now Thailand) has customs and traditions that are quite hard to understand especially if you’re from a Western Country. This is the main reason why King Mongkut and Anna always clash. Since her first day in the palace, the both of them oftentimes disagree on a certain things.
First thing we had realized is that Siamese believed that elephants are holy animals. In the film, they have a festivity, because according to the palace, someone saw a white elephant and it means something good awaits them or they are blessed. In their country, white elephants also mean a lot to them especially in their government which signifies prosperity, peace, wisdom, and purity. The king is the one who manage to such occasions since he is the most powerful person in the country
Furthermore, no one is allowed to stand within the King’s presence, thus they must bow and their foreheads must touch the floor. Funny part in the film when the palace tries to imitate British style, the servants didn’t know what to do when the king came in and their hands were full of breakable stuffs, they don’t have any choice but to bow their heads and ignore all the items being broken. We can see to it that they really respect their superior in any instance. Servants do really show respect to their king, they obey rules without any complains. For every fault there is an equivalent punishment right away, which means, disobeying the dignity of the king suffers.
Another thing is that the eldest son shall inherit the throne. This explains why Prince Chulalongkorn inherited the throne during the latter part of the movie. It is normal to their King to have as many children as he wanted, though also in having wives (concubines) are included in their tradition.
In their wedding ceremony, instead of an engagement ring, gold is used as a symbol of a marriage as seen in a ceremony for the king and Tuptim.
And during Rice Festivals, the king would bless the crops, thus, the people of Siam sees the king as he is a god.


Only few traditions were presented in the film, but those are very useful and enlightening.