Anna And The King (1999)

Two proud people from opposite sides of the world can sometimes teach each other more than either ever expected to learn. Andy Tennant's lavish "Anna and the King," inspired by the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, stars Oscar winner Jodie Foster as a widowed English schoolteacher who travels to Siam in the 1860s with her young son (Tom Felton) to tutor the dozens of children of King Mongkut (Chow Yun-fat). If she arrives with preconceived ideas about the East, the king has just as many about the West. But amid mounting political turmoil and threats to his kingdom, their mutual respect slowly grows into something deeper. The film balances humor and politics in equal measure, and Chow is perhaps the most endearing Mongkut yet: powerful yet tender, commanding yet weighed down by the burdens of leadership. Bai Ling's intense performance as Tuptim, a tragic young concubine in love with another man, adds real emotional depth to one of the most underrated films of 1999. It earned Oscar nominations for its art direction and costumes.