The Last Emperor (1987)
The last truly epic historical biography.
Presentation:
An Oscar winning biographical history epic, Bernardo Bertolucci gives us one of the greatest biographies of all time putting Oppenheimer to shame. Despite being over 3 hours long for the extended version, it was riveting nearly the entire time through the smart decision to intercut flashbacks of a young emperor with the political consequences of the present. There are irresistibly seductive moments that only Bertolucci could accomplish alongside the most epic costumes and sets. Itās a wonder China allowed such a film to be made, that is until you understand itās mostly neutral. The color is mainly in-camera through the emperorās garments, contrasted by the dull grey of the prison timeline. The soundtrack is wonderful from Ryuichi Sakamoto and others utilizing an orchestra to appeal to western audience. The main problem I had with this film was the English speaking Chinese characters. This cannot really be classified as a Chinese film, just one about China. This opened the film to the west, but there was strong cognitive dissonance seeing Chinese people speak English the entire film. It's super distracting with egregious dub and accents at the beginning, but as the film progress it becomes a bit more natural. On the bright side, this meant they could use actors from outside China that could deliver more nuanced performances for western audiences. But it ends up losing authenticity and the Chinese style, though never enough to detract from the filmās core. The emperor casting and direction is perfect, delivering a very believable modern aristocrat. John Lone understood the assignment perfectly.
Story:
After seeing the footage of Japanese atrocities like the Rape of Nanjing and Harbin biological experiments, PuYi confesses and expresses regret. If you know of the atrocities this might make sense, but if not, the character epiphany might be unconvincing.
Conclusion:
Was it worth watching this 3+ hour film again? Yes, and even better the second time around when I was able to understand it better. The film doesnāt explain any background of China and expects you to already know its political history, which I doubt most westerners will know. This might make some of the film confusing. It might be too neutral of a biography focusing on character, which benefits the intimate nature of the biography more than any historical atrocities. This is a biography first and historical epic second, which is what makes it legendary. Some may find no critique of certain political parties to be frustrating as a result, though I think it was all presented fairly for you to interpret. Itās just too jarring that this film was in English and the Chinese characteristics and mannerisms are lost. The last emperor, and maybe last great biographical epic.
Recommendations
Is it better to suffer injustice than do it?