This incident did not occur out of thin air. It was related to the situation in which Southeast Asia was colonized by Western countries at that time. In fact, long before Rama IV came to the throne, he had contact with missionaries in the United States and France, learning English from them, learning Western history, thought, and science. He read various histories regularly sent from Singapore. Books and newspapers keep up with the world situation. He is the first Siamese monarch who understands the West better. This can be seen from the film. Although Anna and her son discovered that Siam was completely different from the United Kingdom when they first arrived in Siam, and they still could not communicate with the locals, they entered the court, Rama IV and his prime minister. Can communicate with Anna in quite fluent English.
Hiring Anna as a teacher for the children of the royal family, allowing Western culture to penetrate into the palace, this shows Rama IV's determination to learn from the West. After all, what Anna teaches is the future heir of Siam. In fact, Anna's Western education has a profound influence on the reforms Chulalongkorn promoted after his succession. And this is believed to be in line with Rama IV's expectations. Anna taught the prince Chulalongkorn how to let go of the monarch’s excessive pride, taught him respect for rules and principles, and through the abuse of a slave of the royal family, Anna made Chulalongkorn learn to look at Siam from a Western perspective. Luo's traditional system. Through a fictional plot, the film reflects the profound influence that Anna, as a British teacher, has given Chulalongkorn in thought.
The main reason why Anna was able to do all this came from Rama IV's tolerance and respect and appreciation for her. The film reflects King Rama IV’s attitude towards Anna. To a certain extent, it also represents his attitude towards Western countries such as Britain. He maintains his pride and arbitrariness as a monarch in front of Anna, but at the same time he maintains what he deserves. He’s rational, expressing appreciation for Anna’s thoughts and actions, even though her actions challenged his authority as a monarch. He invited Anna to be the tutor of his own children and even his wife, hoping that through Anna’s education, the entire royal family would be fundamentally changed. Rama IV was hovering between learning from Anna and maintaining the pride of the monarch. The contradictions that an autocratic monarchy must experience when learning from the West.
There is a section about the holding of the anniversary party in the film. The foreign policy of Siam is reflected in Rama IV’s words to Anna. He wants to invite British nobles and diplomats to establish a good relationship with the Queen’s minister, so that even France Think twice before attacking Siam. Working with big powers and frightening away strong neighbors, this smart diplomatic strategy is one of the important reasons for Siam's independence in Southeast Asia.
In this paragraph, King Rama IV also chose to deal with British nobles and diplomats in the form of a Western ball. He tried to change the perception of foreigners that he was a barbarian, which is obviously different from other places. In the film, Rama IV not only did not force foreigners to follow Siamese etiquette, but instead chose to let the Siamese royal family learn Western etiquette. We will find that in Siam, there are no issues like the ritual disputes in the Sino-British exchanges, the "boots off" incident in Myanmar's exchanges with the West, and so on. Because Siam has chosen the Western model to interact with the West, he is willing Acting in accordance with the way of communication recognized by the Western world has an important impact on the Western world’s view of Siam, because it embodies Siam’s willingness to integrate with the West through friendly and peaceful ways, and thus has become a Western country. One of the reasons for not using strong force against Siam. Siam’s open mind when facing Western challenges is vital to its reform and survival.
The execution of the concubine of King Rama IV who betrayed him was a manifestation of the fierce collision between the monarchy idea of an authoritarian country and the idea of democracy and equality in Western countries. Anna couldn't accept Rama IV's practice of letting this woman who pursued true love be executed. She went to fight for her and found her powerless. In fact, Rama IV didn't want to save the concubine, it was just this. As a monarch of the kingdom, he has his own way, but Anna's behavior makes him unable to release the concubine in his own way. Although Rama IV was willing to accept Western ideas, he would never lose his authority and majesty as a monarch, because in a country with an autocratic monarchy, the authority of the monarch can shake a country if he cannot maintain it. His own prestige, his status and his country will all be plunged into danger and chaos. And this exactly reflects the dilemma of Siam as an autocratic monarchy transitioning to a modern country, and this transition can only lay the foundation during the reign of Rama IV, even if his son Chulalongkorn carries out reforms. , This country will not change overnight, it is a long process full of obstacles and contradictions.
The film uses the deaths of the Siamese who traded with British merchants as a fuse to bring out the final climax of the whole drama-the real crisis, the rebellion of the forces opposed to reform in Siam. In the first half of the movie, there is already a mention of a village that was killed by the Burmese. At that time, the minister believed that the culprit was the British manipulating behind Burma. Rama IV would be suspicious of this, and then those who traded with British merchants. The Luo’s death once again brought out the contradiction. The setting of this clue came from a situation at the time-the British almost completely mastered the Thai trade, but when all signs were directed at the British, Rama Si The world chose to believe in the British. In order to avoid Siam’s suspicion, the British businessman told the Prime Minister the gossip he had received.
It can be seen that Siam and the United Kingdom have a very close relationship due to their heavy trade dependence. Even the teacher Anna hired by King Rama IV is from the United Kingdom. On the one hand, British businessmen will try to maintain their relationship with Siam. The monopoly of trade, on the other hand, Siam is also trying hard to learn from Britain in order to reform.
In the final duel between King Rama IV and the rebels, there was a very symbolic key turning point-Anna's son Louis blew the British bugle to scare off the rebels and saved King Rama IV. When King Rama IV was victorious, he reiterated the most important diplomatic strategy: working with big powers and frightening strong neighbors. This is exactly the point of view that the film wants to reflect. In addition to learning from the West to carry out reforms, Siam has survived. The most important thing is its strategy of working with the great powers.
However, this rebellion as the climax of the film also reflects another situation. Although Rama IV as the monarch pursues a policy of learning from the West, there are still considerable conservative forces in the country that are disgusted with this, and this opposition His opinions may shake Rama IV’s monarchy status. The reform of Westernization in such a country will face severe tests and dangers.
View more about Anna and the King reviews
