Last Emperor

The Last Emperor Director?s Cut
218 Minutes
Rated NR
1987
Artisan

The Last Emperor is an extremely difficult movie to follow. One minute you are seeing the child growing and another you see the man in prison.

Manchuria 1950
It all begins with prisoners being taken from a train station to the prison, unable to speak. One man is special but why? He hides in the bathroom at the waiting area. Slits his wrists and soaks them in water.

Peking 1908
A boy is given to a woman inside a carrier. My son is now your son. They are both taken inside the Forbidden City, where the Grand Emperess lives. She is old and soon will die. She declares Pu Yi as her sucessor since her Emperor is flying in the sky with dragons. She is moved to the center of the room and then dies. Someone places a large black pearl in her mouth. A ceremony follows and Pu Yi is now Emperor.

Manchuria 1950
All the men from the train are criminals of war. One guard breaks into the bathroom and saves the man inside (who I am guessing is Pu Yi grown up) You will not die before you are judged.

Peking 1908 (?)
Pu Yi is getting a bath, he runs to the woman who brought him to the Forbidden City. She comforts him, since he wants to go home. He does not understand yet he is home forever. She takes him and sings/nurses him to sleep. Somewhere else mothers with newborns are brought together with their babies. Creepy old men missing half of their teeth are milking them. One woman all dressed up is over seeing each woman and finally picks one to be the nursemaid. Her child and all the other mothers are sent away. She stays and becomes Pu Yi?s wet nurse.

Manchuria 1950
All men are given their bedding and clothing and divided up into rooms. The same guard makes sure Pu Yi?s servants are roomed with him.

Peking 1915
Pu Yi?s real mother shows up at the Forbidden City with Pu Yi?s younger brother. They all travel together to where past Emperor?s wives and mothers are kept. Pu Yi gets upset and runs to nursemaid, there she comforts him while he nurses. (Um he was at least 3 in 1908 making him at least 10 here in this scene.) Mother does not approve and nursemaid is sent away. Meanwhile in ?class? his brother informs him he is no longer Emperor, there is a new one who rides in a car. The high Tudor verifies this. Inside the Forbidden City he is Emperor, but outside he is not. Pu Yi runs off to the nursemaid to find her gone, and his mother tells him he is to old to have her as his nursemaid. To him she was his butterfly.

Manchuria 1950
Pu Yi and his 2 roommates are handed a history book of China. According to the real world not his. There he reads that in 1912 The Republic of China is formed.

Formally the movie continues on like this in chunks. Past life to semi-current. Time does pass into years in the prison, it?s just harder to tell since there is no child growing older. RJ, shows up in Pu Yi?s life around 13-17 years old. He becomes his mentor, meanwhile teaching Pu Yi all about western life. Life outside the Forbidden City. Pu Yi moves into a ?normal? lifestyle. As Pu Yi grows up he becomes less of a spoiled rotten brat, thanks mostly to the High Tudor or RJ.

Pu Yi does get married and his wife is very unhappy. So unhappy she snorts opium and sleeps with the chauffer. She is just one very miserable individual. Pu Yi has had just about everything done for him, and he has the hardest time adjusting to living in the prison. Luckily the ?governor? of the facility understands this and makes him adapt to real life slowly. Older detainees have a hard time not treating Pu Yi as who he really is, the Last Emperor. The ending is really a surprise and well worth the 218-minute wait. You do need to be prepared to keep on your toes throughout most of the movie. You could get lost quickly, I did. I even restarted the movie to get the beginning.

Cast & Crew:

Director- Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer- Jeremey Thomas
Associate Producers- Joyce Herlihy & Franco Giovale
Editor- Gabriella Cristiani
Music- Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, and Cong Su

John Lone - Pu Yi (Emperor)
Peter O?Toole - R.J.
Joan Chen -
Ying Ruocheng
Victor Wong
Dennis Dun
Wu Jun Mei
Maggie Han
Ric Young
Jade Go
Cary Tagawa
Ryuichi Sakamoto

My Final Two-Cents:

This movie is a total waste of time. I am sure you have better things to do, like clean the stove or something. I would have rather spent my time doing laundry instead of watching this movie. The movie is stale and lacks umph. The layout of the past of Pu Yi is well done, but all the switching makes no sense until the movie is over. Meanwhile you are lost as to what is happening is the 'present'. Do yourself a favor and toss this aside and do something else fun, and well worth your time. I wish I did.

Other Movies Recommended:
* Echoes Of Paradise
* Year of the Dragon
* Tai-Pan
* Heaven and Earth
* Turtle Beach
* Rainbow Thief
* Wings of Fame
* King Ralph

Not Recommended For:

* Anyone