The Last Emperor (1987)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci Starring: Peter O'Toole, Joan Chen, John Lone Genres: Biography, Historical Drama Origin: China Certificate: M Running Time: 156 min

synopsis

Bernardo Bertolucci's epic film tells the incredible story of Pu Yi, who in 1908 at the age of three became ruler of nearly half the world's population. He was the "Son of Heaven", "Lord of Ten Thousand Years" and the last emperor of China.

His reign was short and three years later a revolution ended three thousand years of Imperial rule and a new republic was born. For Pu Yi however nothing changed. Allowed to remain in his palace and the enclosed walls of the Forbidden City, he was still treated as a god by those around him, but was unable to venture further than the city gates. Here he would stay for twelve years, a prisoner protected from, but also ignorant of the outside world. Eventually expelled by a republican warlord, Pu Yi began an incredible journey of self discovery that would span a quarter of a century.

Winner of nine Oscars, The Last Emperor was one of the biggest and most ambitious productions ever undertaken. Director Bernardo Bertolucci and producer Jeremy Thomas spent two years in negations before being granted the unprecedented permission to not only film in China, but within the Forbidden City itself. The result was one of the most visually breathtaking and moving epics ever made.