Thai Fantasy or - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

About This Presentation
Title:

Thai Fantasy or

Description:

Thai Fantasy or The Power of a Travel Narrative For fun: Been to Thailand? What images of Thailand do you have in your mind? Where did they come from? – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:185
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 21
Provided by: DR71
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Thai Fantasy or


1
Thai Fantasy or
  • The Power of a Travel Narrative

2
For fun
  • Been to Thailand?
  • What images of Thailand do you have in your mind?
  • Where did they come from?
  • Best known spot in Bangkok The Grand Palace and
    the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

3
Possible influences
  • News?
  • Travel programs?
  • Tales of friends experiences?
  • No image?
  • The Beach? (1996 novel by Alex Garland, 2000
    Film version directed by Danny Boyle, with
    Leonardo DiCaprio and Tilda Swinton)
  • Or possibly

4
Common intro to Thailand
  • The King and I (Rogers and Hammerstein)
  • Dir Walter Lang, script by Ernest Lehman
  • King portrayed by Yule Brynner
  • Shall we dance?

5
Cultural power
  • Note filmed in LA
  • 5 Oscars (Actor, Costumes, Music, Sound, Art
    Direction)
  • 2 Golden Globes (Best Picture, Best Actress
    (Deborah Kerr)

6
Yule Brynner
  • Russian, part Swiss, lived in Paris before coming
    to US.
  • Won a Tony for portraying the King of Siam (1952)
  • Oscar for the same role (1956)
  • Won a second Tony in 1985 honoring his 5,425
    performances of The King and I!

7
Note
  • Film was banned in Thailand
  • A dancing despot was seen as demeaning

8
Anna Leonowens
  • 1831 (India)-1915 (Canada)
  • Moves with mother and step-father to Arden
    (Yemen)
  • Lived with husband in Australia (son and daughter
    were born)
  • Family moved to Singapore and Malaysia, where the
    husband died of apoplexy
  • Returned to Singapore and resumes teaching

9
Facts
  • Asked to go to Siam to teach Western ideas to
    King Mongkuts 39 wives and 82 children
  • Works as a governess in Siam 1862-1868
  • While she in England for heath issues, the king
    dies the son does not invite her to return to
    court
  • Moves to NY and starts writing travel articles
    for Atlantic Monthly

10
Leonowens the writer
  • The English Governess at the Siamese Court, 1870
  • The Romance of the Harem, 1872
  • Criticism She was only interesting when talking
    about the court. Geographical descriptions were
    disordered and unskillful
  • Available on line from Project Gutenberg
  • http//www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8678

11
Margaret Landon (1903-1993)
  • A friend loans her a copy of the texts
  • Theyve been out of print but shes fascinated by
    them
  • A friend suggests combining the biographical
    parts of both books and omitting long discussions
    and descriptions. They only bore people who
    arent students of Siamese history. Then fit the
    various incidents together in sequence. (Landon
    ix)

12
Landons project
  • She meets someone who knew Anna, so she becomes
    more vested I her project
  • Published 1943
  • But what is it?
  • semi-fictional biographical novel
  • She claims its 75 fact and 25 fiction based on
    fact.
  • But the Thai government bans it

13
Outcome
  • New York Times called it "an inviting escape into
    an unfamiliar, exotic past . . . calculated to
    transport us instantly.
  • How is it labeled?
  • Amazon Memoir Biography
  • UA biography
  • Wikipedia novel

14
Alternate versions
  • Only 3 years after the initial book publication
  • 1946 film version
  • Rex Harrison (first American film)
  • Irene Dunne
  • Directed by John Cromwell
  • Filmed in LA
  • Oscars for Art Direction, Cinematography
  • Trailer

15
Leonowens/Landon
  • How ethical are the authors?
  • How much of their story can we trust?
  • His offspring claim its mostly false.
  • (Note that the king trained for a long time as a
    Buddhist monk, so some plot points seem out of
    character)
  • Does the material do a disservice to Thailand?
  • Whats the result of its popularity?
  • Continuing influence?

16
1999 update Anna and the King
  • Yun-Fat Chow (Hong Kong)
  • Jodie Foster
  • Directed by Andy Tennant
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars, several other awards
  • Tennant speaks about the films intention

17
Changes
  • More straight-forward
  • Director has a vision of what he wants to show
    about east/west divisions
  • Main actor is Asian, but Anna is not British
  • Genuine attempt made to recreate buildings from
    the Grand Palace
  • Attempt to recreate aspects of daily life in
    Thailand (many of which are still seen today)

18
Additional Factors
  • Film also includes a lot of Thai (?)
  • Dialogues amongst king and his officials
  • Townspeople speak Thai
  • Anna attempts to speak some Thai herself
  • Result more authentic eastern quality
  • Dramatic techniques are in full play, but not as
    over-the-top as in previous versions

19
Grand Palace
20
Conclusions
  • If the 1999 version indeed promotes genuine
    cultural understanding, the project seems
    especially worthwhile, but..
  • At any rate, the King
  • and Anna live on.
  • DR 10
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com