Plot
Anna Leonowens, a British widow, has come to Siam with her son Louis to teach English to Crown Prince Chulalongkorn, the heir of King Mongkut. She is a strong-willed, intelligent, valiant and benevolent woman for her time, which pleases the King. Mongkut wants to modernize Siam, thinking this will help his country resist colonialism and protect the ancient traditions that provide Siam its identity. For this reason, he has Anna teach all of his dozens of children, born to twenty-three wives.
Initially, Mongkut and Anna clash due to cultural differences as well as their equally strong wills. He soon sees the positive effects of her teaching methods, especially her determination to treat the princes and princesses as though they were ordinary schoolchildren. Anna's abolitionist views also help to influence Chulalongkorn's views on slavery.
Mongkut and Anna discuss differences between Eastern and Western love, but he dismisses the notion that a man can be happy with only one wife. Hoping to impress Britain's ambassadors, Mongkut orders a sumptuous reception and appoints Anna to organize it. During the reception, the King spars graciously and wittily with Sir Mycroft Kincaid, of the East India Company. The Europeans express their beliefs that Siam is a superstitious, backward nation. Anna powerfully argues that this is not the case. Mongkut dances with Anna at the reception.
Siam is under siege from what appears to be a British-funded coup d'état against King Mongkut, using Burmese soldiers. Mongkut sends his brother Prince Chaofa and military advisor General Alak and their troops to investigate. Alak, however, betrays the prince and poisons his own soldiers, revealing he is actually the coup's leader. The king is brought the news that his brother and general are dead.
Anna grows closer to the royal children, particularly Princess Fa-Ying, who adores the playful monkeys who live in the royal garden's trees. When Fa-Ying falls sick with cholera, Anna is summoned to her chambers to say goodbye. She gets there just as Fa-Ying dies in King Mongkut's arms, and the two mourn together. Mongkut later finds that one of the monkeys "borrowed" his glasses as his daughter used to do. He believes that reincarnation will alleviate his grief, and Fa-Ying might be reborn as one of her beloved animals.
Anna also begins to educate Lady Tuptim, the King's newest concubine, who was already in love with another man, Khun Phra Balat, when she was brought to court. Mongkut is kind to her, but Tuptim yearns for her true love. After Balat becomes a Buddhist monk, Tuptim disguises herself as a monk as well so she can join his monastery and be near him. She is tracked down and put on trial, where it is revealed Balat has been viciously tortured. When Tuptim condemns the judges for their cruelty, she is caned.
Anna, unable to bear the sight, speaks out angrily in an attempt to stop the abuse and threatens to go to the king, before she is forcibly removed from the court. Her outburst prevents Mongkut from showing clemency, because he cannot be seen as beholden to her, though he feels ashamed. Tuptim and Balat are beheaded publicly.
Anna resolves to leave Siam as many others are fleeing due to the approaching Burmese army. Sir Mycroft approaches the Siamese prime minister and reveals that in an attempt to protect his interests in Siam, he's paid a small fortune to discover who is behind the attempted coup: Alak.
Mongkut's army is too far from the palace to engage the rebels, so he creates a ruse - that a white elephant has been spotted, and the court must go to see it. This allows him to flee the palace with his children and wives, and give his armies time to reach them. The prime minister convinces Anna to return and help Mongkut, since her presence in his entourage will corroborate the tale about the white elephant. Mongkut plans to take his family to a monastery where he spent part of his life. Halfway through the journey, they see Alak's army in the distance and realize they can't outrun him. Mongkut and his soldiers set explosives on a wooden bridge high above a canyon floor as Alak and his army approach. Mongkut orders his "army" to stay back and rides to the bridge with only two soldiers. Alak, at the head of his army, confronts Mongkut on the bridge.
Anna, Louis and Mongkut's wives and children create a brilliant deception from their hiding spot in the forest. Louis uses his horn to replicate the sound of a bugle charge, as the others "attack" the area with harmless fireworks. The Burmese, believing the King has brought British soldiers, panic and retreat. Alak's attempt to recall and regroup his troops fails. Alak stands alone, but Mongkut refuses to kill him, saying that Alak will have to live with his shame. As Mongkut turns to ride back to Siam, Alak grabs his gun and aims at his back, but one of Mongkut's guards detonates the explosives, blowing the bridge and Alak to pieces.
The court returns to Bangkok, where Anna tearfully prepares to leave Siam for good. Mongkut shares one last dance with her, marveling that he now understands how a man could be content with only one woman. A voice-over tells viewers that Chulalongkorn became king after his father's death, abolishing slavery and instituting religious freedom with his father's "vision" assisting him.
