Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
The story of English schoolteacher Anna Leonowen's
experiences teaching the King of Siam's children in 19th-century Siam. With
Jodie Foster, Yun-Fat Chow, Ling Bai, Syed Alwi, Tom Felton, Randall Duk Kim, Kay Siu Lim,
Melissa Campbell, Deanna Yusoff, Mano Maniam and Keith Chin. [2:27]
SEX/NUDITY 2 - Two instances of very mild sexual innuendo. A woman is
"made up" by several others and it's implied that she is going to have
intercourse with a man (we only see him walk in the room and touch her face). We see many
shirtless men and a little cleavage.
VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - A man and woman with blood on their faces and bodies are
carried through a street filled with cheering people (some of whom throw things at the
couple); then they're placed on a stage and beheaded (for a split second we see a blurry
shot of the man's head falling off; we also see blood spray on the woman's hands as they
go limp). A man being shot at jumps out of a window and when he lands we hear a loud snap
and see his very bloody shin; he's later shot in the head (no blood is visible) and his
body falls into a river and floats away. Men enter a house and we hear screams and
gunshots; we also see the shadow of a man being shot (his body hits the window and blood
sprays onto the curtain). Soldiers invade a camp and shoot a few people (no blood is
visible, we just see the bodies fall to the ground); in another scene, a few other men are
shot (again, no blood is visible). Lots of men are poisoned (we see them choking and
falling to the ground). In a village, we see many bodies hanging from nooses and several
dirty and bloody corpses of young children in a pile. We see a woman in chains and a man
with a restraint around his neck and arms; her back is hit with a cane repeatedly (we see
blood on her back) and he is slapped. We see a dirty, bloody woman chained to a wall and
wailing loudly. Crates fall on a man and we see him lying on the ground. Fireworks are
shot at a group of soldiers and a bridge explodes (we see a man on the bridge as it
collapses). Boys shove each other and scuffle. Some threatening with guns.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Siam, Siamese traditions, conflicts between cultures,
concubines, colonization, love, murder, death of loved ones, grieving, betrayal, courage.
MESSAGES - Tradition should not be followed blindly, without thought or
examination; Leadership is about doing the right thing, not inspiring fear or appearing to
be strong.
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
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