The Last Emperor (1987)

The story of the final Emperor of China.

Director:

Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers:

Mark Peploe (screenplay), Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay)

Stars:

John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole

Won 9 Oscars. Another 49 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Ryuichi Sakamoto	...	Amakasu (as Ryûichi Sakamoto)
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)

Storyline

This sweeping account of the life of Pu-Yi, the last emperor of China, follows the leader's tumultuous reign. After being captured by the Red Army as a war criminal in 1950, Pu-Yi recalls his childhood from prison. He remembers his lavish youth in the Forbidden City, where he was afforded every luxury but unfortunately sheltered from the outside world and complex political situation surrounding him. As revolution sweeps through China, the world Pu-Yi knew is dramatically upended.

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Plot Keywords:

china | cricket the insect | forbidden city | 20th century history | chinese history | 

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Taglines:

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.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

UK Italy China France

Language:

English Mandarin Japanese

Release Date:

15 April 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Last Emperor

Filming Locations:

Beijing Studios, Beijing, China

Box Office

Budget:

£23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$149,460, 20 November 1987, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$43,984,230

Company Credits

Production Co:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Hemdale, Yanco Films Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

163 min 219 min (television) 209 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

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

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Lone and Joan Chen would later co-star in The Hunted (1995).

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Goofs

The tour guide at the end of the film says that Pu Yi was 3 years old at his coronation. Puyi was born Feb. 7, 1906 and invested Nov. 14, 1908, aged 2 years 10 months. However, the guide was likely using the Chinese age system, in which a person is automatically aged "1" when born.

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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.

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Alternate Versions

The theatrical version runs 163 minutes. A 218 minute version was released in the US in 1998 under the mistaken title of the "Director's Cut". It was known by this erroneous title until the 2008 Criterion DVD and Blu-ray Disc came out. Bertolucci and DP Vittorio Storaro made it clear while working on the DVD and BD that the shorter theatrical version is without doubt the director's cut. The 218 minute version was an early cut meant only to be aired as a four-part television mini-series by the Italian television network that funded the film.

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek: Voyager: Living Witness (1998)

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Soundtracks

Am I Blue
(1929)
Music by Harry Akst
Lyrics Grant Clarke
Sung by John Lone as Pu Yi
Published by Feldman Music
c/o EMI Music Publishing Ltd.

User Reviews

A Beautiful Epic

The Last Emperor is a truly larger than life film telling us about a life of a human, but not just any human, the Emperor himself. He's also not your normal emperor, he's the Last Emperor of China, his name is Pu Yi. He lives his life however he wants to and he sort has a larger than life persona. In just his late 20s, he stood at the throne ruling over one of the largest nations on Earth, with the most people on Earth. He controls and commands the lives of nearly Five-Hundred Million people. Throughout his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

While the film isn't perfect, it is certainly beautiful and a visual treat for anyone. Bernardo Bertolucci's cinematic biography of Emperor Pu Yi is an emotional, beautiful and astonishing film... And it's a massive production which won 9 Oscars, It deserved every single one of them. The film will always be remembered for its size and its beauty. This Asian Masterpiece tells us a story of not only an Emperor, but of a country, which was and still is the largest nation in the world. The Last Emperor is certainly one the Largest, most beautiful films ever created in Cinema.

A Monumental Achievement. ~10/10~