The Last Emperor

December 18th, 1987







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The Last Emperor

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The Last EmperorBernardo Bertolucci in The Last EmperorStill of Peter O'Toole in The Last EmperorStill of Joan Chen and Tao Wu in The Last EmperorStill of Peter O'Toole in The Last EmperorStill of Joan Chen and Tao Wu in The Last Emperor

Plot
The story of the final Emperor of China.

Release Year: 1987

Rating: 7.8/10 (33,525 voted)

Critic's Score: 76/100

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole

Storyline
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.

Writers: Mark Peploe, Bernardo Bertolucci

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)

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.

Release Date: 18 December 1987

Filming Locations: Beijing Studios, Beijing, China

Box Office Details

Budget: $23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: AUD 94,231 (Australia) (28 November 1987)

Gross: $43,984,230 (USA)



Technical Specs

Runtime:  | (television version)



Did You Know?

Trivia:
Henry Pu-yi's younger brother, Pu Chieh, and Li Wenda, who helped Pu Yi write his autobiography, were brought in to act as advisors on the film.

Goofs:
Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The tour guide at the end of the film says that Pu Yi was 3 years old at his coronation. Henry Pu-yi 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.

Quotes:
Pu Yi, at 15: [in heavily accented English] I know that you know that I know that you know that that is a dialogue between Confucius and Chuang Tzu.



User Review

A Beautiful Epic

Rating: 10/10

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~





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