The Last Emperor (1987)
The Last Emperor is a sweeping biographical drama that traces the extraordinary, tragic arc of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi—the boy made Emperor of China and the man who ends up a gardener in the People's Republic. Told through a series of vivid flashbacks and present-day recollections, the film moves from the impossible luxury and ritual of the Forbidden City to the violent upheavals of revolution, the humiliation of collaboration as Japan’s puppet ruler in Manchukuo, and finally to capture, imprisonment, and an uneasy reintegration into ordinary life. Seeing this movie you’ll experience both grand historical spectacle and intimate character study: sumptuous sets and court ceremony that convey the isolation of imperial privilege, tense political maneuvering and moral compromises, and quiet, often painful moments of self-reflection. It’s emotionally powerful and elegiac—part epic history lesson, part meditation on identity, power and loss—leaving viewers with a haunting portrait of a man shaped and finally undone by the forces of his time.
Actors: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Runtime: 163 min
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
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