Review of The Last Emperor (1987) by Dan J — 28 Apr 2018

I saw "The :Last Emperor" when first released theatrically during 1987. It's a visually stunning, lavish, beautifully photographed, artistic looking film in every way. There are some weaknesses in the storytelling and the main character of Pu Yi proves to be weak minded as an adult, after China ends thousands of years of monarchy and adopts communism.

We have an Italian director here, an English speaking film, all set and photographed in China.. Mandarin Chinese was the obvious best language choice here, but I understand director Bernardo Bertolucci's decision using English, to make his historical, biographical epic film reachable to a wide mainstream audience.