The Last Emperor (1987)

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Enzo Ungari (initial screenplay collaboration)
Mark Peploe (screenplay) ...

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 | Japan

Awards:

Won 9 Oscars. Another 39 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

John Lone	...	Pu Yi - Adult
Joan Chen	...	Wan Jung
Peter O'Toole	...	Reginald 'R. J.' Johnston
Ruocheng Ying	...	The Governor (as Ying Ruocheng)
Victor Wong	...	Chen Pao Shen
Dennis Dun	...	Big Li
Ryûichi 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 - 3 Years
Tsou Tijger	...	Pu Yi - 8 Years (as Tijger Tsou)

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

163 min | 219 min (television version)

Country:

China | Italy | UK | France

Language:

English | Mandarin | Japanese | Russian

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 | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | Italy:T | 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:

Hemdale Film

Trivia:

This was the first western film made in and about the country to be produced with full Chinese government cooperation since 1949.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the time when he next sees his mother, Pu Yi says, "My mother has not seen me for seven years." That would make the year 1915, but it is wrong. He should say, "My mother has not seen me for four years," which makes the year 1912. In the spring of 1912, the new republican government divided the Forbidden City by constructing a wall, thus restricting the emperor's domain. Assuming that it is that dividing wall on which Pu Yi and Pu Chieh climb, one must reasonably assume that, since the wall is clearly under construction, the date is mid-1912 at the latest. If so, then Pu Yi has just turned six, not eight, and has been separated from his family for four years, not seven.

Quotes:

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: Words are important.
Pu Yi, at 15: Why are words important?
Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: If you cannot say what you mean, your majesty, you will never mean what you say and a gentleman should always mean what he says.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Kaiser Walzer (Emperor Waltz) op. 437

Impressive

'The Last Emperor' tells the story of Pu Yi, as an adult played by John Lone, the last emperor of China. He was three years old when he first sat down on the Dragon Throne. He didn't know anything. The movie tells his story from that moment in flashbacks. We also get to see Pu Yi when the Chinese Communists have the power and he is imprisoned. Because people have taken care of him the rest of his life, from three years old to the moments inside the prison, it still feels he knows nothing.

To tell you about the life of Pu Yi would be a mistake. You have to see this movie to learn more about it. The strange thing is that Pu Yi can not do and decide much for himself. He is a hero of a movie where he is controlled by rules and other people. That is one of the reasons not many real things happen. We see the emperor grow up, we see him take an empress and a concubine, and then he has to leave the Forbidden City because the enemy is at the gate.

The impressive thing here are the locations and the costumes. Everything looks fabulous and it is not a surprise to find out that the movie was shot on location. With all the extras in those beautiful costumes there are a lot of very impressive scenes. May be the movie is a bit too long for some, it didn't really bother me. Director Bernardo Bertolucci has made a terrific movie.