The Last Emperor
DVD Release
- Release Date: 1999
- 6:3 Widescreen
- 2.0 Dolby Surround Audio
- Digitally mastered
- Interactive menus
- Scene access
- Theatrical trailer
- Cast and crew information
- Rating:





- Genre: Epic
- Movie Type: Biography, Historical Epic
- Themes: Fall From Power, Crowned Heads, Political Unrest
- Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
- Main Cast: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto
- Release Year: 1987
- Country: HK/UK/IT/CN
- Run Time: 225 minutes
- MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
The Last Emperor is the true story of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, the last ruler of the Chinese Ching Dynasty. Told in flashback, the film covers the years 1908 to 1967. We first see the three-year-old Pu Yi being installed in the Forbidden City by ruthless, dying dowager Empress Tzu-Hsui (Lisa Lu). Though he'd prefer to lark about like other boys, the infant emperor is cossetted and cajoled into accepting the responsibilities and privileges of his office. In 1912, the young emperor (Tijer Tsou) forced to abdicate when China is declared a republic, is a prisoner in his own palace, "protected" from the outside world. Fascinated by the worldliness of his Scottish tutor (Peter O'Toole), Pu Yi plots an escape from his cocoon by means of marriage. He selects Manchu descendant Wan Jung (Joan Chen), who likewise is anxious to experience the 20th century rather than be locked into the past by tradition. Played as an adult by John Lone, Pu Yi puts into effect several social reforms, and also clears the palace of the corrupt eunuchs who've been shielding him from life. In 1924, an invading warlord expels the denizens of the Forbidden City, allowing Pu Yi to "westernize" himself by embracing popular music and the latest dances as a guest of the Japanese Concession in Tientsin. Six years later, his power all but gone, Pu Yi escapes to Manchuria, where he unwittingly becomes a political pawn for the now-militant Japanese government. Humiliating his faithful wife, Pu Yi falls into bad romantic company, carrying on affairs with a variety of parasitic females. During World War II, the Japanese force Pu Yi to sign a series of documents which endorse their despotic military activities. At war's end, the emperor is taken prisoner by the Russians; while incarcerated, he is forced to fend for himself without servants at his beck and call for the first time. He is finally released in 1959 and displayed publicly as proof of the efficacy of Communist re-education. We last see him in 1967, the year of his death; now employed by the State as a gardener, Pu Yi makes one last visit to the Forbidden City...as a tourist. Bernardo Bertolucci's first film after a six-year self-imposed exile, The Last Emperor was released in two separate versions: the 160-minute theatrical release, and a 4-hour TV miniseries. Lensed on location, the film won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideReview
In this unprecedented Sino-Western co-production, Bernardo Bertolucci turned the strange life of final Chinese crown ruler Pu Yi into a sumptuous epic. Shooting on location in China in the first Western production allowed to film in Beijing's Forbidden City, Bertolucci spent $25 million on lavish sets and costumes, as well as a cast of thousands, for a story spanning six decades, from Pu Yi's 1908 coronation to his 1960s life as a poor civilian. The story is structured through flashback memories as Pu Yi comes to grips with existence as a villain and commoner under Communism, and Vittorio Storaro's exquisite cinematography subtly underscores the emperor's rise and fall by shifting from a palette rich in reds, oranges, and yellows for Pu Yi's imperial years to somber blues and grays for his exile and imprisonment. Despite critical complaints that the story was lacking in emotional involvement, many viewers agreed that Bertolucci had created another visual marvel. Nominated for nine Oscars, The Last Emperor scored an unexpected sweep, winning all nine, including Best Picture and Best Director. An hour of footage cut from the release version was restored in the 1998 theatrical reissue reedited by Bertolucci. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie GuideCast
- John Lone - Pu Yi as an Adult
- Joan Chen - Wan Jung, "Elizabeth"
- Peter O'Toole - Reginald Johnston, "R.J."
- Ying Ruocheng - The Governor
- Victor Wong - Chen Pao Shen
- Dennis Dun - Big Li
- Ryuichi Sakamoto - Masahiko Amakasu
Maggie Han - Eastern Jewel; Ric Young - Interrogator; Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa - Chang; Jade Go - Ar Mo; Fumihiko Ikeda - Yoshioka; Tijger Tsou - Pu Yi, Age 8; Fan Guang - Pu Chieh; Henry Kyi - Pu Chieh, Age 7; Alvin Riley III - Pu Chieh, Age 14; Constantine Gregory - Oculist; Lisa Lu - Tzu Hsui, The Empress Dowager; Richard Vuu - Pu Yi (3 years); Vivian Wu - Wen Hsiu; Chen Kaige - Capital of Imperial Guard; Yang Baozong - Gen. Yuan Shikai; Wang Biao - Prisoner; Xu Chunqing - Grey Eyes; Zhang Daxing - Tough Warder; Liang Dong - Lady Aisin-Gioro; Li Fusheng - Minister of Trade; Chen Kai Ge - Captain of Imperial Guard; Wu Hai - Republican Officer; Yang Hongchang - Scribe; Luo Hongnian - Sleeping Old Tutor; Cqi Hongxiang - Scarface; soong Huaikuel - Lung Yu; Pan Hung - Li Shu Xian; Lucia Hwong - Lady of the Book; Akira Ikuta - Japanese Doctor; Jiang Xi Ren - Lord Chamberlain; Dong Jiechen - Doctor; Cui Jingping - Lady of the Pen; Wu Jun - Wen Hsiu (12 years); Gu Junguo - Tang; LiDien Lang - Empress Wan Rung; Liangbin Zhang - Big Foot; Zhang Lingmu - Emperor Hirohito; Basil Pao - Prince Chun; Martin Reynolds - Englishman; Zu Ruigang - Second Warder; Shao Ruzhen - First High Consort; Luo Shigang - Chang Ching Hui's secretary; Yu Shihong - Hsiao Hsiu; Chen Shu - Chang Chinghui; Cheng Shuyan - Lady Hiro Saga; Matthew Spender - Englishman; Hajime Tachibana - Japanese Translator; Hideo Takamatsu - Gen. Ishikari; Wu Tao - Pu Yi (15 years); Zhang Tianmin - Old Tutor; Xu Tongrui - Captain of Feng's Army; Michael Vermaaten - American; Huang Wenjie - Hunchback; LiDien Xing - Li Yu Qin; Jin Yuan - Party Boss; Dong Zhendong - Old Doctor




