I.
Introduction
According
to Haryono (2009: 3), culture is everyday life style of ordinary citizens and
the value belief and prejudices they
share with their fellow within their linguistic and social groups with due
attention to the intragroup differences.
(of social class, for example).
Culture
in an activity and experiences of human being taken from guidance in behavior
studied, made by customs and that represent the result from the nature, and
made as a means of communication and interaction and also represent the way of
the make- up of idea. Behavior of human being is from exercise and experience.
Culture
is the “way of people”. These ways might be highly commended by several people
who share that culture, while for others these might be repulsive, or even
barbaric. There are many cultures in the world, almost every place have an
culture. Based on the condition, many places have an differentiations, examples
the different about their behavior, attitude, style, custom, etc.
Anna
and the King is one of the film That shows the phenomena difference culture
between Anna’s culture and Siam’s culture. Anna and the King is a 1999 motion
picture loosely based on Anna and the King of Siam, the story of Anna
Leonowens, who was an English schoolteacher in Siam, now Thailand, in the 19th
century. The film is a remake of Anna and the King of Siam, but differs in many
respects from that picture and also from the related musical. In this study,
the writer will present about the plot of Anna
The King’s Film.
II.
Plot
The
film begins by following the story of Anna Leonowens and Rama IV as it is
usually told; Anna is a widow who has come to Siam with her son Louis to teach
English to the 58 royal children. She is a strong-willed, intelligent woman and
this pleases the King, who wants to modernize his country to keep it safe from
the threat of colonialism, while protecting many of the ancient traditions that
give Siam its unique identity.
1
She
is greeted, but told she will stay in the palace, although the king promised
her she will have a house. She demands to see the King and does see him. The
King is pleased with her, and takes her to meet his wives and his fifteen
children that live in the palace (he has sixty-seven more).
She
is charmed by the children, and agrees to stay and teach them. Here she meets a
new, young wife - a Burmese girl named Tuptim, who arrived shortly before Anna
did.
She is
unhappy living at the castle, because she is in love with Lun Tha, the man who
had brought her to Siam from Burma.
The
King's wives come to help Anna settle in to her new home, and discover a photo
of her husband. Anna reminisces about her days with Tom, and gives her blessing
to other young lovers, who are like they used to be, ("Hello Young
Lovers").
The
King is troubled - he craves truth, but how can he learn the truth when
different cultures say different things? ("Is A Puzzlement")
As
Anna teaches her lesson to the children, she explains that getting to know
people is her favorite thing to "teach" ("Getting to Know
You"). The lesson goes on and the children start to not believe in the
things she is teaching them, such as snow and Siam's small size. The King
intervenes and scolds his children for not believing her.
Late
one night, the King summons Anna to talk to her about the Bible, and how Moses
says the world was created in six days. The King of Siam thinks Moses is a fool
- he thinks that the world took many centuries to create. They have a small
argument about the Bible in which Anna stands above the King. Due to the Siamese
custom that no one's head should be higher than the King's, Anna is forced to
sit on the floor as the King has her write a letter to U.S. President Abraham
Lincoln, telling him he will send male elephants to America to help with the
Civil War. Anna tries to tell him that the elephants will not last long if only
male elephants are sent, but the King loses interest and tells her to finish
the letter herself. Before this, Anna has to have her head lowered than the
king, which she first refuses, until the king loses his temper, forcing to to
kneel and lie on the floor.
Anna
goes outside, where she meets Lun Tha and learns that he and Tuptim have been
meeting in secret. He asks Anna to fetch Tuptim. Anna refuses at first, afraid
of the consequences if the lovers are caught, but, remembering her own happy
days with her husband, Tom, she relents. The lovers meet ("We Kiss In A
Shadow"), and Lun Tha promises that when he comes again, he and Tuptim
will escape from Siam.
Later,
the King is told that England thinks him a barbaric leader, so he and Anna plan
an English style feast for many European officials. Anna helps to make some of
the ladies' European dresses, and also orders food and teaches the orchestra
European music. She is appalled to find that she only has one week to do this
in, but the King reminds her that according to Moses, the whole world was
created in one week. The king and this people all pray to Buddah in a
ridiculous fashion, grantint a house for Anna, as well as his wishes for those
good things.
Anna
dresses the ladies up in English clothes, but forgets to give them
undergarments. She is horrified on discovering her mistake, and entreats the
ladies to keep their backs to the wall when presented to the Ambassador. But at
the sight of the Ambassador's spyglass, the ladies flee in panic, exclaiming
that he has the head of a goat. The Ambassador arrives, along with his aide Sir
Edward Ramsey, with whom Anna was in love before she met Tom - in fact, Edward
did once ask for her hand in marriage.
He
waylays Anna as she goes to help the King with the seating, and they reminisce
and dance together, which the King walks in on and is highly jealous. The King
offers his arm to her and leads her to dinner, where the guest are entertained
by the King's intellectual observations, and Tuptim's theatrical version of
Uncle Tom's Cabin, which she narrates.
When
the play is over, however, she escapes with her lover. Anna and the King talk
after the feast, and he gives her one of his rings as a present. Anna is quite
taken by this gesture. It is here that the movie seems to show that they have
fallen in love with each other, even though the King rejects the idea. The king
recites a poem, known as the "Song of the King" where he states that
women are "blossoms" and that men are "like Honeybees", and
declares that "honey bees must be free" to "Fly from Blossom to
Blossom", however, "blossoms must not ever fly from bee,to bee to
bee". Anna laughs at the poem, however, She then teaches him how to dance
the polka ("Shall We Dance"). However, they are interrupted by the
Kralahome, who explains that Tuptim has been found and the King is told of her
lover. He decides to whip her, but Anna calls him a barbarian, and says that he
has no heart. He is unable to beat Tuptim and runs off in humiliation, and Anna
gives back the ring and decides to leave Siam. Tuptim is led off in tears after
an official announces that the corpse of Lun Tha has been discovered in the
river. She is not seen again in the film.
Anna,
thinking that she can no longer be of any use, is just about to leave Siam when
she is told that the King is dying. His health has steadily declined ever since
Anna called him a barbarian, and he has refused any help. She goes to his
bedside and he gives her back the ring, pleading with her to wear it and saying
that she has always spoken the truth to him.
She
decides to stay in order to help his young son, the Crown Prince Chulalongkorn,
rule the people. As the prince is making his first statements as King,
declaring the end of slavery in Siam, and stating that the King's subjects will
no longer bow down to him but rather stand at attention, the King dies, only
Anna and the Kralahome noticing. The film ends with Anna laying her head on his
hand.
At
the end of the movie, the King has one last dance with Anna, and realizes that
it is conceivable for one man to be pleased by only one woman. Anna returns to
England with Louis. The King's son takes over, and abolishes slavery.
Note: This Task is present
as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Semester Test of Literary
Appreciation Lesson in English Education Study Program / Bertin Wijayanti "10
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