Secondly, I am going to talk about the setting of the film. The setting of a movie is very important that “ it provides a ‘landscape’, or backdrop, for what happens in the story” (Valasek, 1992, p.9). It often reveals essential information about a character’s personality and “ discloses as much about a character as action and dialogue can”(Valasek, 1992, P.7). So, setting is important to convey the theme of the movies. In Anna And The King, the major setting is Siam’s palace. As the story was happened in palace, at the beginning of the film, audiences know that a king and his royal members live in it. They also know that a king is someone with great power and is quite supercilious. So when Anna, a foreigner comes to Siam, audiences understand that cultural conflicts are bond to occur between them. The setting provides a clue to what will happen in the story.
The points of view also help to convey the theme. In Anna And The King, it showed contrast views between the East and the West. Anna represented the views of West and the King represented the views of East. In most western countries, it believed that all human were equal. But in Siam, it believed that men were more superior to women and they should obey men. In the film, the king said that ‘ woman should obey man.’ (Anna And The King, 2000). He also criticized Anna by saying that ‘ she believed herself to be equal to the men, the equal of a king’ (Anna And The King, 2000). This showed their different views on human rights. For marriage, the West believes that a man and a woman should share a relationship, which is sacred unto them. But in 17th century Siamese believed that one man could have many wives and all the wives should obey their husband no matter what he said. So, King Mongkut had 23 wives, 42 concubines and 58 children. When the King found out one of his concubines, Tuptim, loved another man, the court punished her with death penalty. In social aspects, Siam had slavery system and believed that slaves had lower status than their master. But the West believed that all human were equal, so Anna’s servants had friendly relationships with her. In political aspects, in 17th century, Siam was a feudal society while most of the western countries were capitalist countries. The different point of views between East and West brought out the theme of the film and left many questions for the audiences to think about.
Cook comments that “ film is significant not because it was a picture with synchronized sound but because it was a talking picture” (cited in Valasek, 1992). Cook states the significance of dialogues in the film. Without the dialogues, film can not convey their main messages to the audiences. I am going to extract some dialogues from the film to show that how conversations convey the theme of cultural differences. Louis, Anna’s child, asked Anna why the King needed her to teach his royal children if nobody in Siam spoke English. Anna replied ‘ because the way of England are the ways of the world. It is a wise man who knows that.’ (Anna And The King, 2000) This reflected that Britain was a nation with big political powers. The King wanted his children to learn English and the Science of the West so as to reform Siam and match with the West. The king said ‘ in my country, man never tell woman he is sorry about anything. Ever’ (Anna And The King, 2000). He also accused Anna ‘ you shall obey’ (Anna And The King, 2000) at the beginning of the story. This reflected that women’s position was lower than that of men in Siam.
The implicit meanings of the film mean the profound or relevant messages that convey through the film. Maxfield said that “film is not just a reflection of society, but the creation of ‘ a society with unique values, stereotypes and expectations that can be made to seem as authentic as or even more authentic than reality’” (cited in Karriker, 2002, P.xviii) What are the implicit messages of the film Anna And The King in relation to social, cultural and personal life issues? Do the messages reflect the reality? My answer is yes.
In social aspects, the film shows that there are existences of racism. In the film, Anna said ‘ I do not recall anyone being given the right to judge whose cultural customs are superior. Especially those judging have frequently done at the point of a gun’ (Anna And The King, 2000). British thought they were more superior and the Siamese were no match with them. In reality, racism exists between the West and the East too. Worse, racism had created many conflicts between them. The film wanted to convey the message that humans did not have any right to judge whose nations and racial were more superior.
Also, the film shows that there are great divisions of social classes in Siam. The King was revered as God and the slaves were being treated as non-human. The film ended in showing some words on the screen. It said that ‘ thanks to the vision of his father, King Mongkut and the teachings of Anna Leonowens, King Chulalongkorn not only maintained Siam’s independence, but also abolished slavery, instituted religious freedom and reformed the judicial system’ (Anna And The King, 2000). This meant that King Chulalongkorn had narrowed the social divisions of Siam. The film wanted to convey the message that all men should be equal. Societies should narrow the division of social classes by all means.
Moreover, the film reflects the low position of women in society. The Siamese called Anna ‘sir’ instead of ‘madam’. In Siam, women did not stand in the presence of the King. But Anna stood in front of the King. This shows that the film wants to convey the message, through heroine Anna break down the customs of Siam, societies should raise the position of women and both men and women should be treated equally.
In cultural aspects, the film reflects the important role of educators. In the film, Anna as a schoolteacher ‘had shined a light on Siam’ (Anna And The King, 2000) and saved the destiny of a nation. It led her student, Prince Chulalongkorn, became a good king and he turned Siam into modern country successfully. In reality, teachers may not have the powers to save and change the destiny of a nation, but the contribution of teachers are significant. They may change students from bad to good and change the destiny of students’ lives.
In personal life aspects, “ some viewers approach a film expecting to learn lessons about life” (Bordwell et al, 2001, P.47). The film Anna And The King can teach the audiences something about life. At the end of the film, when Prince Chulalongkorn saw Anna and his father waltzing, he made such comment.
It is always surprising how small a part of life is taken up by meaningful moments. Most of them, they are over before they start, although they cast a light on the future and make the person who originated them unforgettable (Anna And The King, 2000).
From the points of view of the film, it is sending a message that we need to treasure our friends and family members; If we do not treasure them now, we will feel regret later.
In conclusion, I have analyzed the explicit and implicit meanings of the film. The explicit meanings are the surface meaning of the film. It tells the audiences what the story is about. The implicit meanings are the deep meaning. I have analyzed the implicit meanings thematically in social, cultural and personal life aspects. I have also showed that how the theme was conveyed through characterization, setting, points of view and dialogues. After reading this piece of writing, the readers may have a better overview and deeper understanding on the film Anna And The King.
References
Anna And The King. (2000). Beverly Hills, Calif: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Bordwell, D., and Thompson, K. (2001). Film Art: An introduction. New York: McGraw Hill
Karriker, A.H. (Ed.) (2002). Film studies: women in contemporary world cinema. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.
Sobchack, T., and Sobchack, V.C. (1987). An Introduction to film (2nd Ed). Glenview, Ill: Scott, Foresman
Valasek, T.E. (1992). Frameworks: An introduction to Film Studies. Dubuque, IA: Wm. C. Brown
