The Last Emperor Reviews (original) (raw)

Emperor is like Full Metal Jacket - uneven, fuzzy, imperfect, and one of the reasons the movies were invented. [20 Nov 1987, p.1D]

The small screen doesn't quite do justice to the rich visuals but with an incredible story and fine performances, it is still a compulsive and moving epic.

Easily one of the greatest, if not the greatest movie I've ever seen. Everything from the music, the cinematography, the visuals, production design, characters, story, symbolism, etc. I really can't think of anything bad to say about this film. Plus it had, in my opinion, one of the greatest ending scenes in movie history.

The first time I had heard about this was on Best Picture Winners from the Academy Awards. I was so amazed at some films that won but this deserves to win from 1987. The first time I watched this, I was blown away by its historical feel because I never learned anything about Chinese history throughout my History lessons in both primary and secondary school and that really pissed me off. So I started to watch documentaries on Chinese history and this was one of them. Puyi, the final Emperor of China. I was very amazed about this film because it really felt true to me and I didn't know all this happened in early 20th Century China, over a whole century ago. It hooked onto me on how the film was made but it was made by mostly the Italians but a British produced film. I became shocked that this was the first ever film to ever be filmed inside the Forbidden City. All of it became true because of how this one person was a prisoner throughout his life and that grabbed me on the edge of my seat every time I watch this Best Picture of 1987 and it deserves more respect because it is very interesting, fantastically directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. Highly recommend this film. 10/10.

The most startling achievement of The Last Emperor is that it accomplishes what seems to have eluded Bertolucci for some time. He has found the small in the large and, in many ways, he has created what many thought impossible -- an intimate epic. [18 Dec 1987, p.95]

The movie's considerable emotional force springs from the splendor of its visual poetry. Mr. Bertolucci allows the sweep of 60 years of Chinese history to unfold around Pu Yi as background noise to his peculiar, poignant role in the emergence of modern China. [25 Nov 1987, p.1]

Bernardo Bertolucci's visually ravishing spectacle about the life of Pu Yi is a genuine rarity: a blockbuster that manages to be historically instructive and intensely personal at the same time.

Stunning opulence dazzles the eye.

The Last Emperor is like an elegant travel brochure. It piques the curiosity. One wants to go. Ultimately it's a let-down.

The Last Emperor is based on Aisin Gioro Puyi who was the 12th and final emperor in the Qing Dynasty and imperial China. Through Puyi's autobiography, Bernardo Bertolucci has crafted an incredibly thematic film dealing with both deception, fear, and imminent loneliness that is felt by the child emperor Puyi. Having been a huge fan of Puyi's autobiography "From Emperor To Citizen," I was unsure how dutifully the movie would play to the incredibly well written book. Rest assured, the movie is brilliant and perfectly pays homage to 末代皇帝 (Henry Puyi) while at the same time captivating the audience with his quite saddening story. By far, the most exceptional part of this film must be its absolutely stunning soundtrack and orchestral score. It's moody and very much sets the tone and theme of The Last Emperor while utilizing both foreign and traditional Chinese instruments. It's art direction is also quite impressive giving a nearly perfect representation of Chinese architecture and wall design. Throughout the movie, you can see this through the 双喜 (double happiness) in the beginning and the use of the 大字报 towards the end of the film. But most importantly, the film delivers with content being a nearly spot on representation of China from start to finish. However, if their is one thing to tweak about this film is the immediate death of empress dowager 慈溪 (Cixi/Tsu Hsi) which diverts from historical knowledge given that 慈禧太后 died after she placed Puyi as emperor in an imperial edict. Overall, this movie is absolutely fantastic and totally deserves a ten out of ten. With a moving protagonist, great art direction, and music to add on to this already impressive story, it's no wonder why it has won so many academy awards back in 1987.

This is my favorite movie ever. It took me a while to wrap my head around it but it has everything. I don't even know if I can go into it all but I'll try. It's one of the best historical dramas because it's profoundly truthful and accurate. Because of that I feel for every moment the film focuses on. It all surrounds a single character - Puyi, the last emperor of China, as he grows up. Reigning over his own ancient world as a teenager, utterly confused as a young adult as to why he no longer has it, going through a magnanimous crisis as a middle-aged man, and finally coming to peace with reality as an elderly man. The ending of the movie is so beautifully symbolic and captivating of China that I dare not spoil it. It has my favorite film scorer in the world, Ryuichi Sakamoto, at his very finest work. It is a historic film in that it's the first western film to EVER film inside the Forbidden City, and it is done with such spectacle. You believe that complex is at least 5x bigger than it probably is. It explores every corridor. Truthfully, every single person in the world needs to see this film. It is the most honest drama I have seen. It portrays perhaps the most difficult topic in the entire world - China in the 20th century. Chinese people refer to it often as "the Century of Shame", and that is what it is. Constant political turmoil and lies define the entire nation, and the reason they are developing out of it now is because of an evil dictatorship at the helm, the Communist Party. This film takes no **** when dealing with the Communist Party of China. It doesn't part their definition to make their country or their government look better. It portrays them exactly how they are – blind, naive, over-powerful and murderous, and only to be reasoned with because they "won the war", even though they really didn't as much as the much cleaner (though certainly not flawless) Nationalist government did. The Chinese government is very corrupt and loves spreading that corruption to other places for primitive causes. But political rant over, I don't want to tarnish the ending of this review too much. One thing I forgot to mention - the entire story of Puyi losing power at a young age? That's a metaphor for modern life. It is what everyone seems to live like and what everyone aspires to live like in their late age. You always lose grip of your life as a teenager. You always lose the fundamentals that you had as a child in your own adult ego. Your life always slips away from your control at some point, and it takes forever to get back. You always hope that you get it back. Sometimes it doesn't even. When it does it is beautiful like this film. TL, DR? Beautifully accurate, heartbreakingly dramatic, and one of the quintessential films you should see before you turn 20. My favorite in the world.

Fascinating for so many reasons. First, that they were allowed to film not only in China but in the forbidden city. Then, they were allowed to film a sensitive political story. Then it won 9 oscars, a movie about China filmed in China, with all Asian actors, essentially a Chinese movie. The photography is amazing, done by Vittaro Storaro, who did Apocalypse Now among others. Then consider that this moment captures when China went form a 5000 year old empire to a communist republic essentially overnight, which is all true. It is amazing. The movie openly criticizes the republic for being corrupt, yet they were allowed to film in the country, wow. I don't think they captured the personality of the guy very well, a lot of stuff just happened to him and he clung to the past, but it's hard to imagine anyone else being much different.

Je m'attendais à pire, à bien pire dans le genre de la fresque désuète d'un empereur devenu pacotille et d'un Empire du Milieu en proie aux divisions qui a basculé dans le communisme, que dis-je, pire encore, le maoïsme ! en effet et contre toute attente, ça se laisse suivre plutôt agréablement, la mise en scène très carrée agissant de concert avec le décorum majestueux des costumes et de la Cité Interdite. Cependant, ce n'est certainement pas le Docteur Jivago malgré l'efficacité indéniable de l'ambiance "fin de règne" et de l'opposition entre les deux états du "Fils du Ciel" aux 100 000 larbins (et deux épouses !) puis du misérable prisonnier dans la phase obligatoire d'auto-critique devant des cocos très vindicatifs. Il faut dire que nous ne sommes pas dans le romantisme ici mais plutôt dans une gentille nostalgie, laquelle ne cache pas la collaboration de l'Empereur avec un autre Empire, celui du Soleil Levant... A cet égard, je ne connais pas les détails et aboutissants mais il semble que Bertolucci tente de dédouaner le personnage du Dernier Empereur, en le montrant davantage comme un pantin naïf que comme un collabo très actif et forcené, voire totalement opportuniste et égoïste. A noter un petit rôle pour Peter O'Toole -toujours aussi grandiose- à côté duquel le reste de la distribution ne démérite pas, loin de là même : John Lone et Joan Chen -entre autres- se révèlent excellents. Finalement, le plus gros problème du film reste sa longueur exagérée et comme un manque de personnalité de ce dernier Empereur qu'on a du mal à cerner. Mais peut-être était-ce en vérité le lot de l'infortuné bonhomme qui s'est trouvé au mauvais endroit au mauvais moment...

A long, delicate meditation on the necessity of a ceremonial public role in the face of several looming, massive cultural revolutions. The Last Emperor is also an essay on the corrupting power of a sheltered life. Tracing the private and public trials of Puyi, who ascended to the imperial throne before his fourth birthday, it's one soul-crunching manipulation after another, spread over the course of several decades. Almost every single member of the cast is either disgustingly entitled or a steadfast, unwavering fanatic to a self-serving cause, including the emperor himself, who often falls into both camps. He's naïve and misguided, a result of his isolated regal upbringing, but also desperately wants to leave a lasting positive mark on the world. It's frustrating to watch his well-intentioned attempts at reform explode on the launchpad, over and over again, due to the oppressive influence of a corrupt group of advisors; a hamstring he's never able to overcome. Though it has a tendency to linger far too long, this film is drop-dead gorgeous while it's set inside China's famous Forbidden City. When later chapters shift to other locales, that exotic sense of life drains away and the already-dreary story really starts to drag. A major downer, it can be powerful at times but suffers from a total lack of resolution.

Production Company Yanco Films Limited, TAO Film, Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Screenframe, AAA Soprofilms, Hemdale Picture Corporation, Hemdale

Release Date Dec 18, 1987

Duration 2 h 43 m

Rating TV-14

Tagline 1500 slaves. 353,260,000 royal subjects. Warlords. Concubines. And 2 wives. He was the loneliest boy in the world.

Academy Awards, USA

• 9 Wins & 9 Nominations

Golden Globes, USA

• 4 Wins & 5 Nominations

BAFTA Awards

• 3 Wins & 11 Nominations