The Last Emperor

Name: The Last Emperor
Genre: Biography, Drama, Classic
Released: 1987
Duration: 163 min
Cast: Peter O'Toole, Victor Wong, John Lone, Joan Chen, Ruocheng Ying

Bernardo Bertolucci19872h 43mBiography, Drama, Classic

Why we chose it

Bertolucci’s epic about Pu Yi, the emperor of China who ruled nothing and decided nothing, won all nine Oscars it was nominated for. It was shot in the real Forbidden City, normally off limits to foreign crews, and follows a man moved from era to era and regime to regime like a piece on a board.

Synopsis

When the emperor dies in 1908, the court sends for a three-year-old boy and proclaims him ruler of China. He begs to be taken back to his mother, but the gate of the Forbidden City stays shut, and he grows up among bows and ceremonies knowing nothing of the world beyond the wall. Only in 1919 does a tutor, Reginald Johnston, arrive, and he plants the idea that marriage might be the way out.