Review of The Last Emperor (1987) by Filipeneto — 19 May 2018

This film tells the life of the last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi. Crowned as a baby, he lived a life of limitless luxury but was eventually expelled from his throne by the revolution of 1911. Imprisoned in his palace like a bird in a golden cage, he saw the decay of his country and the dramatic changes of Republican China from the inside of the Forbidden City.

Expelled by the Communists years later, he spent a good part of his life trying to regain his throne, and the rest of it imprisoned in Chinese reeducation camps that transformed him into an ordinary man.

There is undoubtedly a poetic beauty in the transformation of the main character, and the film can make us feel the changes in his personality, as well as the changes of his former empire. The film suggests several things about him and the imperial family that I do not know if they are truth, like the apparent lesbianism of one of the emperor's wives and their use of drugs.

Bernardo Bertolucci is a director that I normally do not appreciate, but I recognize in this film many qualities. The actors did a very regular and interesting performance. John Lone was perfect in the role of the emperor, but even brighter was Peter O'Toole, in a role that, otherwise, with another actor, could be overly subdued.

The film's set-ups are glamorous and go a long way toward creating a Hollywood-era epic movie feel. Nevertheless, the comparison of this film as "Seven Years in Tibet", by context, time and closeness, is more pertinent than with any other film.