The Last Emperor
1987 Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Synopsis
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.
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through 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.
Cast
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On a technical level, "The Last Emperor" is undeniably a major achievement. This is one of the best looking films I've ever seen, with top notch costumes, breathtaking sets and gorgeous cinematography. The film is worth watching at least once for the visuals. But as a whole, the film just falls flat. The decision to have the characters speak in English really doesn't work- it feels unnatural, strange, and really takes me out of the film. I actually thought I accidentally selected a dubbed track at first. Also, by speaking in English, the actors seemed to really lack emotion and I never quite bought any of the performances. And despite nearing almost three hours, I didn't think the screenplay was…
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Flimsy, bloated biopics seemed to be the style of late 80s/early 90s Oscar bait. Like Malcolm X and Chaplin, The Last Emperor feels more like a cliff notes version of Puyi's life brought to life rather than a compelling drama. Every time the film starts to build an interesting plot, relationship or develop a character, it cuts to the "present" briefly before jumping to another time in the past. The film tries to cover so much ground that despite of (or maybe because of) its long runtime I had forgotten most of the events of the first half of the movie until writing this review. Peter O'Toole disappears from the movie for maybe 25 minutes at most, but when he…
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Having been a student of Chinese history, THE LAST EMPEROR was an emotional experience for me. The film tells the story of Pu Yi (who is portrayed as an adult by the charismatic John Lone), China's titular last emperor who ascended to the throne at the age of three, and became a chronic prisoner, first in the Forbidden City, then as a puppet for the Japanese, before finally being "re-educated" by the communists and living his life out as a farmer. The film's director, Bernardo Bertolucci, is a professed communist, and the cooperation of the Chinese government of the nineties in this production, suggests that Pu Yi experienced freedom under communism that he hadn't tasted as the emperor. Yet whether…
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The Last Emperor is filled with marvelous images, set designs, costumes, everything. The whole shebang as they say. A bonafide epic and most likely worthy of all of the Oscar attention it did receive. But is it a masterpiece? I personally don't think so. Bertolucci is a strange director to me, one I cannot crack or get inside to, his visual style is striking but not enough to pull me in. His character developments and stories are not built to be the strong suit in his films, so for most I am left dangling to attach. I want to find a strong grip in his films, something to hold onto. Last Tango did that for me somewhat mostly due to…
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Cold, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted film. Coldness accurately reflected the main character's heart
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On a technical level, "The Last Emperor" is undeniably a major achievement. This is one of the best looking films I've ever seen, with top notch costumes, breathtaking sets and gorgeous cinematography. The film is worth watching at least once for the visuals. But as a whole, the film just falls flat. The decision to have the characters speak in English really doesn't work- it feels unnatural, strange, and really takes me out of the film. I actually thought I accidentally selected a dubbed track at first. Also, by speaking in English, the actors seemed to really lack emotion and I never quite bought any of the performances. And despite nearing almost three hours, I didn't think the screenplay was…
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I know this movie for a long time. The story is very interesting. I understand more the history than textbook now. I felt this movie is a little bit too long. I still like it.
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Super beautiful, sets are awesome, costumes are awesome, but there's no reason this movie needs to be 2h40m. Maybe if there was a bit more told about what was happening politically (which I thought it needed), but as it is there's a lot of slow shots and extended looks that do nothing. They did a great job of "aging" the emperor from childhood to adult; there was no major leap between actors where you had to call bullshit. The kid actors were shit and I had trouble with the bad "Chinese" accents. I understand why it wasn't, but it really should have been in Chinese with subtitles where needed.
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30 Countries Challenge // #15 - China (kind of)
It's never a good sign when you find yourself struggling to stick with a film after half an hour. Unfortunately that was the case for me here, and there was still over 2 hours remaining.
I can appreciate everything that people say makes this a great film - the costumes, the music, the grandeur - but I just can't forgive a film for being this unbearably dull. It's not hard to see why the Academy considered it such a success and gave it awards in 9 categories; it's the kind of film they just lap up. But for a film that spans decades and the entire life of such a notable person in history its remarkable that it couldn't keep my attention.
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The treatment of life as an emperor of China from toddler age to the middle years until the name of the movie becomes real with the rise of the Communist Republic. The way it showed the emperor being an emperor was pretty nice and different.
That spy girl was pretty spunky cool. Thought it'd be interesting if she were in a show or movie of a group of talented crazy people going on adventures.
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This movie was spectacular. Pu Yu ascended the throne when he was 3 years old, and that's how the film begins. The journey you see afterward is incredible. The massive sets and the amazing costume play was almost enough to distract from the story. This is a great movie.
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Winner of nine Academy Awards, this 1987 epic from Bernardo Bertolucci tells the story of the final Emperor of China. Given the title at an extremely young age, his status dominates his life, yet he remains strangely powerless to the changing climate around him. It's a surprisingly conventional film from Bertolucci, whose films, at least those that I've seen (Last Tango In Paris, The Conformist, The Dreamers), are oblique and challenging. The more straightforward presentation of this one was something of a surprise. What wasn't surprising was just how gorgeous the look of the film is, and there are several moments that are pretty spine-tingling just because of the sheer monumental scope of the production. The score by Ryuichi Sakamoto…
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Gorgeous film but the acting and use of English over Mandarin/Cantonese is frustrating.