I identify very much with The King. He is intelligent, but so confused. He only wants the best for his family and people, but he is frightened of change. I love how he and Anna gradually learn to trust and respect each other. The messages within this film are still very relevant today.
Exactly. This is a love story but not a Love story between the King and Anna but a story of finding mutual respect and understanding of each other despite the fact that the two of them came from different sides of the world.
When I saw this as a young teenager, I was first amused by Yul Brynner’s comically exaggerated yet convincing acting as a Thai Monarch. Now that I’m an adult I find his words surprisingly prescient and profound. Considering that the Thai Kingdom was the only one in Southeast Asia to evade colonialism, this song really demonstrates how wise Mongkut actually was. It’s what I love about Rodgers and Hammerstein- their songs are catchy and appeal to kids, but you grow up and you listen to the lyrics and you realise how complex they really are.
So true! I knew this song as a child and could sing it by heart. Only as an adult did I realize how wise R&H were to establish the king's dilemma. Yes, his words were "surprisingly prescient and profound".
1956 was one of the greatest years in history for an actor, but especially for Yul Brynner. He won the Oscar as the King in "The King and I," but he also was the Pharoah in "The Ten Commandments" and the scheming Bounine in "Anastasia." Three blockbusters in one year!
Yul Brynner commands the screen and commits wholeheartedly to the role from start to finish. The result is one of the most deserving Oscar-winning performances in all of cinema.
I grew up watching this film. At first I used to cry in the end because I felt he was a father figure. Soon I realised I had developed a crush on him we are talking when I was around 8 years old! 😟
I’m 77 now. I must have been about 11 or 12 when I saw The King and I with my parents in the Holland Theater here in Holland, Michigan. The town where Betsy DeVos , our former Secretary of Education.grew up. For many years, movies, make-up and dancing were “forbidden”. What’s called a blue law. Since we weren’t in the Church, I could enjoy films. As a child, my grandfather made sure the National Geographic came into our home. He wanted me to realize that the world was full of many different but wonderful people. This was my favorite song. It was years later I realized why. I ended up marrying a full-blood Tlingit Indian from Alaska. The longer I live the deeper is my puzzlement too. Native Peoples all over the world were singing this song in their hearts as we from Europe colonized these darker skinned people. Not knowing they had as more, if not more, to teach us. As others have said in these comments, a very wise song. Words we need now more then ever.
This is the best song in the movie. It really shows how one can be comfortable not knowing if he knows everything, and being content with the many changes in the world.
I remember now he appeared in connection with a revival of King and I at the Barnes & Noble on 48th Street in New York with his Anna, a well known name that I have forgotten. So I saw him at a publicity appearance. Must have been around 1980.
Yul Brynner commanded the screen in a way i at first didn't understand as a teenager. He must have felt so passionate about the role to play it for 30 years or so!
Even when I was a kid I thought these lyrics were brilliant, just as The King was. I met Yul when he knew he had only a short time left to live and he was just as powerful and fascinating then as he was in the 1950's and 1960's.
I once met a Thai woman and mentioned this movie. She said that everybody there hates this movie because they portray the king as an idiot. I told her I had exactly the opposite impression. He's a guy that was raised in a smaller world where his country was one of the most powerful on the block. All of a sudden these other countries show up with steamships, railroads, and repeating rifles, thoroughly outclassing anything he and his neighbors can muster. He has to modernize his country, but as the monarch it's his job to protect the soul of his country, and there are many who will oppose the modernization. He has to strike an effective balance between the two sides, all while coming to grips with this new world he himself knows as much about as the others in his country do, and he has to do it very quickly, because the west is coming whether he likes it or not. It's a really really difficult position, and I think he- at least how he's portrayed in the film, as I've never read up on the real person- does an extremely good job of finding that balance, preserving his country and its soul while also moving it into the future. I hated this movie as a kid because of how many times my sisters watched it, but as an adult, I would absolutely want this dude leading my country, and would follow him anywhere.
While the King is portrayed as reasoning and intelligent, he also is ridiculously naive. I can understand the Thai people would be annoyed that someone they hold in such high regard would appear to be so ignorant of the world around him.
@@dhochee And that is one of the reasons the Thai people have always hated this movie. King Mongut was anything but naive in reality and they consider that depiction of him as deeply insulting.
Yul "COMMANDS" the screen!! One of the many things i love about the actor. It's NOT an easy feat, everyone doesn't have that kind of, stage presence or screen qualities.❤🙏🏾🙏🏾❤ And Yes Yul, i agree, "Life is, A Puzzlement".🙏🏾🙏🏾❤🙏🏾🙏🏾
Today we saw this wonderful picture on a big screen at senior center. So much more enjoyable seeing the richness in the costumes, the superb acting, wonderful music.
In the 40th anniversary of the film in 1996, American Movie Classics showed "The King and I" for FREE at the beautiful Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA. When the houselights dimmed and the first thing you heard were the drums which introduced the grand 20th Century-Fox fanfare, roughly 5,000 patrons cheered like greeting a long-lost family member. After every song, the patrons applauded like one would if in a Broadway theater. When the film ended, I noticed parents escorting out youngsters who---in 1996---probably had never seen an old fashioned Hollywood musical.
@@williamsnyder5616 Sounds like the crowd I would have wanted to be in. The Wizard of Oz and the King & I made me seek out more Golden Age movie musicals
His masterful performance in Ten Commandments was so powerful. He's what always first pops into my mind concerning Pharaoh characters. An awesome which persists through the ages, truly an immortal king of Egypt.
This song totally speaks to me concerning a faith crisis I've been dealing with for so many years and decades. As well as many other challenges I'm having.
When I was a boy, world was better spot What was so was so, what was not was not Now, I am a man, world have changed a lot Some things nearly so, others nearly not There are times I almost think I am not sure of what I absolutely know Very often find confusion In conclusion, I concluded long ago In my head are many facts That, as a student, I have studied to procure In my head are many facts Of which I wish I was more certain, I was sure Is a puzzlement What to tell growing son? What for instance, shall I say to him of women? Shall I educate him on the ancient lines? Shall I tell the boy as far as he is able To respect his wives and love his concubines? Shall I tell him everyone is like the other And the better of the two is really neither? If I tell him this I think he won't believe it And I nearly think that I don't believe it either When my father was a king He was a king who knew exactly what he knew And his brain was not a thing Forever swinging to and fro and fro and to Shall I, then be like my father And be willfully unmovable and strong? Or is it better to be right? Or am I right when I believe I may be wrong? Shall I join with other nations in alliance? If allies are weak, am I not best alone? If allies are strong with power to protect me Might they not protect me out of all I own? Is a danger to be trusting one another One will seldom want to do what other wishes But unless someday somebody trust somebody There'll be nothing left on earth excepting fishes There are times I almost think Nobody sure of what he absolutely know Everybody find confusion In conclusion, he concluded long ago And it puzzle me to learn That tho' a man may be in doubt of what he know Very quickly he will fight He'll fight to prove that what he does not know is so Oh, sometimes I think that people going mad Ah, sometimes I think that people not so bad But not matter what I think, I must go on living life As leader of my kingdom, I must go forth Be father to my children and husband to each wife Etcetera, etcetera and so forth If my Lord in Heaven Buddha, show the way Everyday I try to live another day If my Lord in Heaven Buddha, show the way Everyday I do my best for one more day But is a puzzlement
I remember watching this as a kid & for some reason,never saw the 2nd half.(it was split in two parts) Years later,when I saw the other half,I was so sad & cried at the end. I know,I'm a sap...I never expected it & like nice endings to a story. I understand his character much better & only Deborah Kerr & Yup Brunner could bring such characters to life. Still cry at the end but enjoy the whole show anyway. Bald is Beautiful!
My boyfriend is bald, and he looks exactly like the King of Siam, except that my boyfriend is also pale, and his facial features match more with the animated version of the King.
I can relate to having seen the first half of the Sound of Music in my home room for 4th and 5th grade and not seeing the second half until two years later
@@manuelorozco7760 I was trying to get an easy "A" so my grade point average would stay above 70. LOL. I didn't think I was going to be hooked. I still watch some of these musicals today.
Spencer Reynolds Unless maybe Pasek and Paul. But R+H are of course the grandfathers of the American Musical. I’ve seen the King & I, South Pacific, Cinderella, Oklahoma, the Sound of Music and the original movie of State Fair. I never seen Carousel in any form or fashion though
When I first saw this on tv as a kid,don't know why,but I never saw the 2nd half(it was shown 2 different days) when I saw the end oh I was so sad,never expected it. As an adult I understand & like the king as I didn't appreciate as a kid. He was outstanding,incomparable as the King..
Yul Brner loved playing the part of the King. He also played the part on stage. One of his last performances as the king was in the west end in London here in the UK. My father was a big fan of the musical and westerns. Yul, for him was great as the king.
I once heard from Deborah's interview from the king and i,that during the filming Yul Bryner was also doing his blood dialysis,now.. that's commitment.
In my opinion, I thought it was charming and cute. It doesn't beat this one, of course, but it made it to my "approval" category for an animated adaption. ...I'm gonna go watch it again now that I've been reminded of it.
"there are times I almost think I am not sure of what I absolutely knowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!" that is, like the most crazy and right and confusing and funny line ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! first comment!!! I got dibs!!!
this is a very good song and it does apply nowadays because no one knows what the other is doing people are MAD but not so bad i love singing along to this
I like this movie more, but I actually like the music more in the animated one. Anna's voice especially is much better for me in the animated one (I might be biased since I knew the animated one first as a child, and only saw the live action one as an adult).
Thanks, my heart is full! It's so close to how i feel whenever i think about our world's people. My opinion, my opinion we are still here because the creator has a reason and we've got a lot of learning before we are even near a hint of what it could be
As I view this gem, l cannot help but be amazed at the absolute relevance to today's complex world! How sad and dangerous that 😢 we seem to be more and more insecure and apprehensive with daily more reason! HATE and LOVE are both four letter words. But oh so different! 😔 This recording is from 1954? But sadly 😥 so indicative of our current world 🌎.
💓💋💋💋🥰 Yul Brynner Hütter meiner Gedanken Meiner Grenzenlose Liebe Immer bist und bleibst du bei mir seit meinem circa 7 oder 8 Lebensjahr ich werde dieses Jahr 57 😊❤
Heard that he has a couple of nationalities in him. I can definitely see the Russian and Mongolian in him. Also he has a French nationality and buried in France.
