9 / 10
The Last Emperor is Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 Italian-Chinese-British biographical drama depicting the life of Puyi, the last emperor of China. The film traces Puyi from his ascension to the throne at age two in 1908 through his decade-long reign as Manchurian puppet emperor under Japanese occupation, his subsequent imprisonment by Chinese Communists, and his eventual rehabilitation as ordinary Beijing gardener before his death in 1967. John Lone plays the adult Puyi. Joan Chen plays his wife Empress Wanrong. Peter O’Toole plays his Scottish tutor Reginald Johnston. Ying Ruocheng plays the prison governor who supervises Puyi’s reeducation. Victor Wong plays Chen Pao Shen. Vivian Wu plays Puyi’s secondary consort Wenxiu. The screenplay was written by Bertolucci, Mark Peploe, and Enzo Ungari. The film was produced by Yanco Films and TAO Film on a budget of approximately 23.8 million dollars and grossed approximately 44 million dollars worldwide. The work won all nine Academy Awards for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The film is the first Western production granted access to film inside the Forbidden City and one of the classic biographical epics. Bertolucci’s access to Chinese locations and personnel resulted from extensive negotiations with the Chinese government during the late 1980s reform period under Deng Xiaoping. The production employed approximately 19,000 extras for particular sequences. The Beijing Film Studio provided crew and equipment. The Chinese government read the screenplay before production and required certain changes but allowed substantial creative independence. The result is a film that combines Western directorial sensibility with Chinese locations, performers, and historical material in ways previous productions had not achieved. The work won every Academy Award for which it was nominated, becoming one of the few films to achieve perfect Oscar performance.
The Forbidden City Access
Bertolucci was the first Western filmmaker granted permission to shoot inside the Forbidden City. The complex of palaces had been closed to most public access for decades and had never been used as functional film location for major foreign production. The negotiations required Bertolucci to convince Chinese officials that the film would treat Puyi sympathetically and not insult Chinese sovereignty. The Chinese reading of the screenplay produced specific changes including the removal of scenes that depicted certain political content unfavorably.
The access produced distinct visual material no previous production could have generated. The throne room scenes occur in the actual throne room. The coronation sequences use the actual coronation locations. The architectural authenticity produces dramatic weight that studio reconstruction could not match. The compromise required to obtain access has been criticized as creative concession to political authority. The compromise also produced material that no alternative production approach could have generated.
For Writers
Access to source materials may require concessions that production planning did not anticipate. Similar logic applies to creative work. The cost of unique access is sometimes significant compromise that the resulting work must justify.
John Lone as Puyi
John Lone plays the adult Puyi from approximately age fifteen through his death at sixty. The character must persuade as Manchu prince, puppet emperor, Japanese collaborator, Communist prisoner, and rehabilitated gardener across the runtime. Lone delivers all five registers without inconsistency. The performance carries the film through identity transitions that conventional acting would have struggled to manage.
Lone was Chinese-American and played Puyi in English with appropriate accent. The casting choice reflected the picture’s international financing structure that required English-language dialogue for global distribution. The compromise produced occasional awkwardness when Lone’s English-speaking Puyi interacts with Chinese characters who would historically have spoken Chinese among themselves. The film treats the language choice as production convention rather than realism. Audiences accept the convention because Lone’s performance succeeds at the character level even when the language situation is implausible.
For Writers
Casting requirements can produce conventions audiences accept when performances succeed. The same applies to fiction. Implausible elements survive when other elements compensate sufficiently.
The Reeducation
The film depicts Puyi’s decade-long imprisonment and reeducation under Chinese Communist authority. The prison governor played by Ying Ruocheng treats Puyi as a man requiring rehabilitation rather than as enemy of state requiring punishment. The reeducation process is depicted with considerable sympathy. Puyi gradually accepts his historical position, learns ordinary skills including gardening, and eventually becomes a contented worker. The treatment has been criticized as politically convenient to the Chinese government’s preferred historical narrative.
The film makes a particular argument that the reeducation succeeded in producing a man capable of ordinary contentment after a life of extraordinary deformation. The argument carries genuine emotional weight without endorsing the political system that conducted the reeducation. Puyi finds peace in tending chrysanthemums in a way he never found while serving as emperor. The film treats the personal outcome as positive while leaving the political mechanism that produced it ambiguous. The combination has divided critics. Some find the treatment morally serious. Others find it politically compromised.
For Writers
Politically complex material can produce divided reception that all positions can defend. The same applies to creative work. Material that audiences disagree about is sometimes operating effectively rather than failing.
Craft Note
Bernardo Bertolucci had directed The Conformist (1970), Last Tango in Paris (1972), and 1900 (1976) before The Last Emperor. His Italian-Marxist background influenced his approach to political and historical material throughout his career. The Last Emperor represented the apex of his international success. His later directors including The Sheltering Sky (1990) and Little Buddha (1993) extended the Asian-set epic mode he developed in The Last Emperor. Bertolucci died in 2018 having produced one of the most distinctive directorial bodies of work in European cinema.
Verdict
The Last Emperor is the first Western production granted access to film inside the Forbidden City and one of the defining biographical epics. The architectural authenticity produces dramatic weight studio reconstruction could not match. The John Lone performance carries the character across five distinct life phases without inconsistency. The reeducation depiction has divided critics in ways the political complexity produces. Recommended for anyone interested in biographical epic cinema, in Chinese historical material, or in films whose access compromises produced material that alternative production could not have generated.
FAQ
Is the film historically accurate?
Substantially. The major events occurred as depicted. Specific dialogue is invented. Bertolucci consulted historical advisors throughout production.
How accessible is the film for viewers unfamiliar with Chinese history?
The film provides necessary context for general audiences. Familiarity with Qing dynasty history and twentieth-century Chinese political development enriches the experience but is not required.
Should I watch the theatrical or extended cut?
Both versions exist. The theatrical cut runs approximately two hours forty-three minutes. The director’s cut runs approximately three hours forty-eight minutes. The longer version provides additional context but is not required for the film’s basic effect.
How does the film handle the Cultural Revolution?
The film addresses the Cultural Revolution briefly through scenes that occur after Puyi’s release from prison. The depiction is critical without being extensive. Bertolucci treated the period as backdrop rather than primary subject.
What is the cultural impact of the film?
Substantial sustained impact through Chinese-Western co-production practice, Asian-set epic filmmaking, and ongoing approach to the historical subject.
Should I watch Bertolucci’s other films first?
The Conformist (1970) and 1900 (1976) provide context for Bertolucci’s political and historical concerns. Neither is required for The Last Emperor to function. The Last Emperor stands alone as accessible work.