The Last Emperor

Every time I mention to someone that I hadn't seen The Last Emperor, the first reaction is disbelief, and the second is `It is such a good movie'. And indeed it was. I'm not sure what the non-director's cut was, because the version I saw was the director's cut, but it was absolutely fantastic. Not once did I think that the nearly four hour run time was too long because the story was so compelling, the direction brilliant and the acting engaging. I find it hard to believe that it took me this long to see this film, and I also find it hard to believe it is not in the IMDB Top 250. Its Best Picture and Director honors were well-deserved, and the Oscar-winning score is amazing. I'll admit that I was left hanging a bit in regard to the Emperor's wife, but that is the only thing that I can remotely find slightly lacking in this film. An outstanding film, The Last Emperor is entertaining, informative and important.

--Shelly

"The Last Emperor" is a near perfect film. It was nominated for nine Oscars in 1987 and it won nine (including the Best Picture Oscar). The movie is about the life of Pu Yi (John Lone), China's last emperor. In spite of becoming emperor at the age of three, Yi's reign was more of a burden than anything else. Yi would ultimately end up living an unsavory life of imprisonment which is heartrending to the viewer. "The Last Emperor" is visually stunning. The minute details are amazing. However, the story stands up high as well. Historically accurate for the most part, "The Last Emperor" is easily one of the top 10 films of the 1980s and overall an exceptional achievement in every cinematic department known to man. 5 stars out of 5.

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.

This to me was a very powerful movie, I loved the story, and the final outcome was how it should be. Somehow we believe that Kings, Queens, Emperors etc are entitled to their power, that somehow they deserve it. This is how this emperor saw himself, he believed he was better, and above the average person, his sense of entitlement and view of reality was so perverted, that he did everything possible to retain and regain his position in life. However from the day he entered the palace he was a pawn, powerless to act, yet he never sees this. Maybe we don't all understand his re-education, but this is what makes the ending so great. There is a fantastic moral to this story. A beautiful story, sad, moving, and somehow, strangely uplifting. Highly recommended. 9/10

Bernardo Bertolucci left a remarkable impression on the Academy with The Last Emperor, taking away nine oscars including one for best film and best director. This film will leave a lasting impression on those who view it as well. Last Emperor provides a strong message through its main character Pu-Yi. Although the film bases its story on the true life accounts of the last emperor of China, Last Emperor shows that life can deal one undesirable circumstances and the way one reacts and handles these circumstances determine one's place in history. Bertolucci's powerful method of storytelling also further enhances the greatness of Last Emperor. The motif of pursuing a forbidden love that remains out of reach presents a tearful message. Who cannot get misty eyed seeing an eight year old Pu-Yi chasing after his beloved nanny or an almost exact similar scene when a much older Pu-Yi chases his insane first wife? Last Emperor will move even the most adamant viewer. "To his majesty, the emperor... Ten thousand years!"