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

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Summary: The true story of Pu Yi, who at the age of three toddled to the Imperial Throne to become 'Lord Of 10,000 Years', China's very last Emperor. Filmed entirely in China, this is the first western film to be made about modern China with the full co-operation of the Chinese Government. Two versions - the original theatrical version and the Director's cut.

The story of Pu Yi, who ascended to the Imperial Throne in China at the age of three and became the country’s last Emperor. Although it is 160 minutes long and shot with breathtaking scope and sumptuousness, Bernardo Bertolucci's film is a story about claustrophobia. Pu Yi 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 re-education 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 realise 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.

WIN DVDs by rating this DVD

Average User Rating:

Reviewed by: davybozal24-7
Posted on March 18, 2006 8:56 PM

Filmed on location in China , Bertolucci and producer Jeremy Thomas were the first western film - makers to be allowed access to hitherto forbidden locations . Together with a cast that includes John Lone , Joan Chen and Peter O'Toole , they made a film loved by audiences and critics alike . Following Pu Yi , the last of the Emperor's of China , from his birth in 1908 , through his childhood in the fortress - like Forbidden City and his later misguided collaboration with the Japanese in World War 2 . Tells the story of the man brought up to believe he was a divine ruler.

WIN DVDS by being amongst the first to review this DVD. Reviewing DVDs earns you bonus entries and lets you WIN DVDs!Please login before reviewing this DVD. If you're a new user, register for free and enter to WIN FREE DVDs!

Bernardo Bertolucci does the nearly impossible with this sweeping, grand epic that tells a very personal tale. The story is a dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the emperors of China. It follows his life from its elite beginnings in the Forbidden City, where he was crowned at age three and worshipped by half a billion people. He was later forced to abdicate and, unable to fend for himself in the outside world, became a dissolute and exploited shell of a man. He died in obscurity, living as a peasant in the People's Republic. We never really warm up to John Lone in the title role, but The Last Emperorfocuses more on visuals than characterisation anyway. Filmed in the Forbidden City, it is spectacularly beautiful, filling the screen with saturated colours and exquisite detail. It won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Bernardo Bertolucci An Indepth Making Of Documentary, Commentary By Bernardo Bertolucci And Jeremy Thomas And Composer Ryuichi Sakomoto, Postcard From China Trailer
Year:	1987
Release Date:	May 24, 2004
Runtime:	450 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	O P T D 0062
Keywords:	Last, Two, Version, General, Cut, Wide, Screen, Emperor, Original, Drama, Discs, Theatrical, Director's
Genre:	Drama