The Last Emperor

1987
PG-13
2h 43m

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

113K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

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Docudrama Historical Epic Period Drama Biography Drama History

Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatization of China's eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty: Emperor Puyi.Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatization of China's eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty: Emperor Puyi.Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatization of China's eleventh and final monarch of the Qing dynasty: Emperor Puyi.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.7/10

113K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,764

178

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 9 Oscars
- 58 wins & 20 nominations total

The Governor
(as Ying Ruocheng)

Victor Wong

Chen Pao Shen

Dennis Dun

Big Li

Ryuichi 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)

Tao Wu

Pu Yi (15 years)
(as Wu Tao)

Guang Fan

Pu Chieh (Adult)
(as Fan Guang)

Henry Kyi

Pu Chieh (7 years)

Best Picture Winners by Year

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List

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The first Western film made in and about the country to be produced with full Chinese government cooperation since 1949.

Goofs
The emperor was not in the Forbidden City to witness the expulsion of the eunuchs. This action was carefully planned with few people knowing, since the emperor could trust very few of his intimates. The order to remove the eunuchs was received in the City while the emperor was visiting at a friend's home. Also, not all of the eunuchs were dismissed, as the empress dowager (the wife of the late emperor) begged Pu Yi to allow a few of her personal servants to remain.

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.

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.

Connections
Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Last Emperor/Cross My Heart/The Running Man/Sign o' the Times/Steel Dawn (1987)

Soundtracks
Kaiser Walzer (Emperor Waltz) op. 437
Written by Johann Strauss (as Johann Strauss)
Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker (as The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
Conducted by Herbert von Karajan
with kind permission of Polydor International GmbH

User reviews215

Review

Featured review

Once Upon a Time on the East

Best movie about the East I've ever seen.

The credo of many famous western movies (from "Die Hard" to "Truman show") is a lonely hero who challenges fate or numerous "bad guys". He usually wins on the screen. Unfortunately, it rarely happens in real life. Especially, on the East.

Six years ago I thought about this movie as a metaphor of "history-person" relations. Past and present of my birthplace (Russia) is exceptionally rich with biographies of worthy people that have become puppets in the hands of history or some dictator (e.g.Stalin).

Now a "parallel" interpretation arose. We can think also about "fate-person" relations. Our fate is often personalized by the forces of subconscious. Historical and subconscious forces have much in common. Both are very strong and tend to provocation. An attempt to beat them often comes to end in the same way as the attempt of Pu Yi to "use Japan". In both cases, information that we have in our struggle is extremely restricted.

The last remark. We had all been Emperors in early childhood. Then we've been overthrown and it's impossible to return the Kingdom. I wonder, why the Scotland tutor haven't told it to Pu Yi?