The King and I

I was just a few years old when i first watched The King and I, and i loved it. I was enthralled by the ravishing sets, the radiant Deborah Kerr, the strikingly handsome Yul Brynner and of course, the musical's tuneful numbers stuck in my head. Although i was a mere child, the images of the movie never left my mind. Other screen versions of this musical came and went, and somehow never stuck. The original from 1956 remains the best to date. Recently, the classic show was revived on Broadway and the West End to much critical acclaim, so much so that a live performance of this version from the London Palladium was captured on film. And a good thing it was, too. It serves as a nice companion piece to the one from 1956, which was filmed on a sound stage in Hollywood. Thus, they are very different despite being renditions of the same material. While the pairing of Kerr and Brynner remains incomparable, Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe in this version do not disappoint. O'Hara is excellent, and deservedly won the Tony for Best Actress; her singing and acting are flawless. Watanabe does a competent job in his role as the King of Siam; more importantly, he is clearly having fun playing the part and we love him for that. Ruthie Ann Miles delivers beautifully as Lady Thiang while a most pleasant surprise is Jabez Cheeseman as Louis Leonowens; the young Cheeseman acts and sings so well, i really look forward to seeing him in more musical roles in the years to come. The photography here is razor sharp and the sound so clear that the audience can see and hear as if the actors were right in front of them. In fact, watching this movie is like occupying front row seats at the London Palladium, and you are right up there with the performers. Even then, subtitles are provided so you can hear and read every line uttered or sung. This being filmed live, there is an intermission between Acts One and Two, which is not unwelcome as one is then allowed to go for a toilet break at least. I have no complaint over the rendition of the many beloved tunes; the choreography for the March of the Siamese Children happily does not differ from the original which was delightfully adorable. My only beef is with some of the short numbers inserted between scenes, a necessary evil as this was a live stage performance; one in particular, about Western people being funny, comes across as overly patronizing.