Review of The Last Emperor (1987) by Ashley H — 23 Mar 2011

Wow! Beautful, beautiful film to watch. With perfect cinematography, an epic story, and a magnificent musical score, The Last Emperor takes the audience where few films have. An epic, elegant, must-see, film.

My absolute favorite thing about the movie is the cinematography. This film literally transports you into historic China. The settings, costumes, scenery, appearance....it's simply unreal.

It's also interesting that this film is the first film to be given permission to shoot in the Forbidden City. This emphasizes my second favorite thing about the film, the grand scale of the story itself. The story covers over 60 yrs. of Puyi's life. It's important to try to make the film realistic and to include as much history and experiences as possible. Wow, this film delivers.

The pacing of this film is absolutely fantastic. Every scene is just the right length and every scene transitions nicely with the rest, especially the transitions between the past and the present. However, there are times the film drags. It's never boring, but there are definitely moments where I sort of wanted the scene to change or move on.

The acting was not the greatest, but it was mostly do to the child actors needed for the first 90 minutes of the film. However, the second half of the film delivers much better performances. I thoroughly enjoyed John Lone's performance as the adult Puyi. Peter O'Toole also gives a good supporting performance.

The Last Emperor is a film everyone should see! Winner of 9 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Cinematography, this film delivers. Yes, it drags here and there, and the acting is not as finely tuned as I had expected, but I was completely taken in nonetheless. Check out this incredible classic film!