The Last Emperor (1987)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Mark Peploe (writer) and
Bernardo Bertolucci (writer)

Release Date:

18 December 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History

Tagline:

He was the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, the absolute monarch of China. He was born to rule a world of ancient tradition. Nothing prepared him for our world of change.

Plot:

The story of the final Emperor of China.

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | China | Forbidden City | Gardener | Japanese

Awards:

Won 9 Oscars. Another 39 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

John Lone	...	Emperor Pu Yi / Henry
Joan Chen	...	Empress Wan Jung / Elizabeth
Peter O'Toole	...	Reginald F. 'R. J.' Johnston
Ruocheng Ying	...	Governor of Detention Center (as Ying Ruocheng)
Victor Wong	...	Chen Pao Shen
Dennis Dun	...	Big Li
Ryuichi Sakamoto	...	Amakasu
Maggie Han	...	Eastern Jewel
Ric Young	...	Interrogator
Vivian Wu	...	Wen Hsiu (as Wu Jun Mei)
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Chang (as Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa)
Jade Go	...	Ar Mo
Fumihiko Ikeda	...	Yoshioka
Richard Vuu	...	Pu Yi - Age 3
Tsou Tijger	...	Pu Yi - Age 8 (as Tijger Tsou)

Also Known As:

L'ultimo imperatore (Italy)
Le dernier empereur (France)
Modai huangi (China: Cantonese title)

Runtime:

160 min | 219 min (director's cut)

Country:

China | Italy | UK | France

Language:

English | Mandarin | Japanese

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1999) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Germany:12 (director's cut) | Germany:12 | UK:15 (director's cut) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:Livre | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-11 (re-rating) | Finland:K-14 (original rating) | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 | Netherlands:12 (director's cut)

Filming Locations:

Beijing Studios, Beijing, China

Company:

Yanco Films Limited

Trivia:

Two thousand soldiers had the front of their heads shaved in order to play Qing banner men. They were persuaded to do so by their officers who convinced them that it show friendship to the Italians and British. They were given a bonus of $3.50.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the Director's Cut of the film there is a scene, just before the Emperor cuts his hair, in which the consorts are dancing to a song being played on a violin. While this scene takes place some time before 1924, the song is "Ol' Man River" from the musical "Showboat" which did not have its first performance until 1927.

Quotes:

Pu Yi, at 15: [in heavily accented English] I know that you know that I know that you know that that is a dialogue between Confucius and Chuang Tzu.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: War of the Colossal Beast (#4.19)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Auld Lang Syne

A great artistic achievement

Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" is a monumental, perfect film, and stands as one of the great artistic achievements in any artistic medium.

Told in a complicated flashback/ flash-forward style, it's the story of Pu Yi (born 1906) who was the last absolute monarch of China. During his lifetime he falls from the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, the emperor/God of billions of Chinese, to an anonymous peasant worker in communist China.

Pu Yi was the child emperor from 1908 until the Chinese revolution in 1911 when he had to abdicate. He was allowed to remain in the Forbidden City but was stripped of his power by the communists. He was expelled from the city in 1924 by a warlord. In 1932, Puyi was installed by the Japanese as the ruler of Manchukuo, a puppet state of Imperial Japan. At the end of World War II, Pu yi was captured by the Soviet Red Army and turned over to the Chinese communists. Considered a traitor, he spent ten years in a reeducation camp until he was declared reformed. He voiced his support for the Communists and worked at the Beijing Botanical Gardens.

This film vividly portrays the change from the imperial and religious traditions of ancient China to the godless totalitarianism of modern communist China, so the film is, on one level, the story of China's revolutionary transition from imperialism to communism.

Visually the film is stunning especially the scenes in the Forbidden City. It was the first film to receive permission to film in the Forbidden City.

The film can be enjoyed on the first viewing but really demands more than one viewing and some knowledge of history. In this respect it resembles Akira Kurasawa's masterpiece "The Seven Samurai.

The cast includes John Lone as emperor Pu Yi, Joan Chen, and Peter O'Toole.

The film won 9 Oscars including best director and best film. A must see on DVD widescreen or in the theater.