The Last Emperor
The Plot:
Although it is 160 minutes long and shot with breathtaking scope and sumptuousness, Bertolucci's film is a story about claustrophobia. Pu Yi, the Manchurian emperor of China who ascended the throne in 1908 at the age of three, is a prisoner in the palace he rules over. Outside, real power changes hands with each coup d'etat. Pu Yi grows to manhood, is tutored by a Westerner (Peter O'Toole), and marries a gorgeous princess (Joan Chen). However, the adult Pu Yi (John Lone) is destined for a communist reeducation camp when the war is over. From start to finish, Pu Yi is a passive antihero who can never come to grips with the idea that the absolute power conferred on him as a child was only a mirage. The mistakes Pu Yi made trying to realize that power, especially collaborating with the Japanese during the war, provide Bertolucci with the chance to explore his familiar theme of collaboration and its moral consequences (as he did in THE CONFORMIST and 1900). In the end, Pu Yi seems to have reached a kind of peace, and the terrible waste of a special man's life disappears into a drab, grey-clad Beijing. (From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by O. Anderson)
Surprisingly,
I hadn't wanted to watch this movie at all, because I was forced into watching
it for a school project on the guy it's about, Henry Pu-Yi. It looked really
boring, and really long, both of which it was... but it was amazing. The film
is about this guy, Pu-Yi, who became the emperor of China at the age of two
in 1908. As he grows up, lonely, in the Forbidden City, we also witness the
growth of the Chinese Republic, and Communism. Eventually, the Republicans
force Pu-Yi from his title of emperor, and his home, the Forbidden City. He
then becomes the puppet-emperor of the Japanese state, Manchukuo. After Japan's
downfall in World War II, Pu-Yi was tried by the Chinese as a war-criminal,
considering that he had ruled a Japanese state. The movie begins before his
trial, and facts of his youth are displayed in numerous flashbacks.
Seriously, this is the most amazing movie I have ever seen. Everything about
it was amazing. First of all, I have to give props to the director, Bernardo
Bertolucci, because he is an awesome director, for one, and he did an absolute
amazing job with this movie. Everything works. Flashbacks normally confuse
me, but in this flim, it made perfect sense, and fit in in every way. The
scripting, and acting, all amazing. Pu-Yi is, mostly, actually played by the
guy who plays Ricky Tan in Rush Hour 2, and he really did a kickass job here.
Man, what else... the scenery, setting (hate to sound like Az here, but it's
true), obviously set in China... they just do a great job with it. Something
that I also liked about it was the costumes. Needless to say, they wear some
crazy clothes in China, and the costumes were really well done. Seriously,
I could go on for a long time, just glorifying this film, because it's amazing,
but instead, I'll leave it up to you to see it.
Starring: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole,
Dennis Dun, Victor Wong
Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
Unrated