On L List of Movie Reviews
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The Last Emperor (1987)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
3/05, 1/06, 6/10
1/06:
The cinematography of The Last Emperor is outstanding, making it a resplendent film.
The tale of Puyi is powerful: how the last emperor of China was crowned at the age of two years and ten months at an
unfortunate timing only to become a common peasant a half-century later. I honestly don't feel sorry for him.
The opening title sequence is brilliant, and I love it. As for the cinematography, it was handled by Vittorio Storaro who won
his third Oscar with the first two being Apocalypse Now and Reds. He deserved it. John Lone is incredible in the
role of Puyi. I wonder why he didn't have a longer career in Hollywood. It's too bad.
All in all, The Last Emperor, the Best Picture winner of 1988 that swept all nine categories for Oscars, is a monumental
achievement by Bernardo Bertolucci.
6/10:
Well, that was a good film, but I'm giving The Last Emperor a rating of '9' which is a point downgrade.
The main reason is that I simply didn't care about Puyi. He was a useless, selfish person who's not worth caring about for
almost four hours. Yet the idea of a man go from an emperor to a commoner is impressive, and that's why I
like The Last Emperor a lot. My biggest gripe is the lack of details because I want to learn more about Puyi.
John Lone gives a nice, decent performance. I wonder why he wasn't given more work for years. Is it just me,
or is it true every time I see a film with an Asian cast, it must always contain Victor "There's Something Wrong with
My Eye" Wong? Peter O'Toole was nominated for an Oscar, but pray tell me, what's special about his performance? I like him,
but he's overrated here. Instead, it should've gone to John Lone.
Among the best parts is the Oscar-winning cinematography, especially when it comes to the inside the Forbidden City. Over
19,000 extras were used. My favorite is the opening title sequence. I know this sounds silly, but it's such a
powerful start for an epic. There are a couple of inaccuracies. One, for instance, shows Puyi engaging in a ménage à trois
when he was in fact a homosexual. Another shows Amakasu committing suicide by a gunshot to the head when he actually
swallowed a cyanide pill.
All in all, The Last Emperor needs to provide more details.