Last Emperor

Theatrical Release Date: 1987 11 20 (USA)

UPC: 715515033725

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Drug Content]

Summary: The Last Emperor is the true story of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, the last ruler of the Chinese Ching Dynasty. Told in flashback, the film covers the years 1908 to 1967. We first see the three-year-old Pu Yi being installed in the Forbidden City by ruthless, dying dowager Empress Tzu-Hsui (Lisa Lu). Though he'd prefer to lark about like other boys, the infant emperor is cossetted and cajoled into accepting the responsibilities and privileges of his office. In 1912, the young emperor (Tijer Tsou) forced to abdicate when China is declared a republic, is a prisoner in his own palace, "protected" from the outside world. Fascinated by the worldliness of his Scottish tutor (Peter O'Toole), Pu Yi plots an escape from his cocoon by means of marriage. He selects Manchu descendant Wan Jung (Joan Chen), who likewise is anxious to experience the 20th century rather than be locked into the past by tradition. Played as an adult by John Lone, Pu Yi puts into effect several social reforms, and also clears the palace of the corrupt eunuchs who've been shielding him from life. In 1924, an invading warlord expels the denizens of the Forbidden City, allowing Pu Yi to "westernize" himself by embracing popular music and the latest dances as a guest of the Japanese Concession in Tientsin. Six years later, his power all but gone, Pu Yi escapes to Manchuria, where he unwittingly becomes a political pawn for the now-militant Japanese government. Humiliating his faithful wife, Pu Yi falls into bad romantic company, carrying on affairs with a variety of parasitic females. During World War II, the Japanese force Pu Yi to sign a series of documents which endorse their despotic military activities. At war's end, the emperor is taken prisoner by the Russians; while incarcerated, he is forced to fend for himself without servants at his beck and call for the first time. He is finally released in 1959 and displayed publicly as proof of the efficacy of Communist re-education. We last see him in 1967, the year of his death; now employed by the State as a gardener, Pu Yi makes one last visit to the Forbidden City...as a tourist. Bernardo Bertolucci's first film after a six-year self-imposed exile, The Last Emperor was released in two separate versions: the 160-minute theatrical release, and a 4-hour TV miniseries. Lensed on location, the film won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Epic

Awards: Best Picture – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Director – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Picture - Drama – null Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Original Score – null Best Screenplay – null Best Original Score – null Best Original Score – null Best Foreign Film – French Academy of Cinema Special Jury Award – European Film Academy Best Cinematography – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Music Score – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Music Score – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Music Score – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Cinematography – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Sound – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – National Board of Review Best Cinematography – American Society of Cinematographers Best Cinematography – New York Film Critics Circle Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Original Score – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Directors Guild of America

Features: Restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by cinematographer Vittorrio Storaro, with DTS-HD master audio stereo surround soundtrack
Audio commentary featuring director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Italian Traveler, Bernardo Bertolucci, a 53-minute film by Fernand Moszkowicz tracing the director's geographic influences, from Parma to China
Video images taken by Bertolucci while on preproduction in China
The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo Bertolucci, a 51-minute film by Paolo Brunatto revisiting the creation of the film
A 45-minute documentary featuring Storaro, editor Gabriella Cristiani, costume designer James Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri
A 66-minute documentary exploring Bertolucci's creative process and the making of the Last Emperor
A 30-minute BBC interview with Bertolucci from 1989
An interview from 2008 with composer David Byrne
A 2008 interview with cultural historian Ian Buruma examining the period of the film
Theatrical trailer

Last Emperor

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 01/06/2009

Audio: DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo

Runtime: 165 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Region: Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)

Lucia Bozzola

In this unprecedented Sino-Western co-production, Bernardo Bertolucci turned the strange life of final Chinese crown ruler Pu Yi into a sumptuous epic. Shooting on location in China in the first Western production allowed to film in Beijing's Forbidden City, Bertolucci spent $25 million on lavish sets and costumes, as well as a cast of thousands, for a story spanning six decades, from Pu Yi's 1908 coronation to his 1960s life as a poor civilian. The story is structured through flashback memories as Pu Yi comes to grips with existence as a villain and commoner under Communism, and Vittorio Storaro's exquisite cinematography subtly underscores the emperor's rise and fall by shifting from a palette rich in reds, oranges, and yellows for Pu Yi's imperial years to somber blues and grays for his exile and imprisonment. Despite critical complaints that the story was lacking in emotional involvement, many viewers agreed that Bertolucci had created another visual marvel. Nominated for nine Oscars, The Last Emperor scored an unexpected sweep, winning all nine, including Best Picture and Best Director. An hour of footage cut from the release version was restored in the 1998 theatrical reissue reedited by Bertolucci. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Yang Baozong  Actor 
Yang Hongchang  Actor 
Dong Jiechen  Actor 
Basil Pao  Actor 
Cheng Shuyan  Actor 
Huang Wenjie  Actor 
Xu Chunqing  Actor 
Cai Hongxiang  Actor 
Wu Jun  Actor 
Hajime Tachibana  Actor 
Richard Vuu  Actor 
Liang Dong  Actor 
Pan Hung  Actor 
Shao Ruzhen  Actor 
Wu Tao  Actor 
Dong Zhendong  Actor 
Chen Kaige  Actor 
Akira Ikuta  Actor 
Liangbin Zhang  Actor 
Yu Shihong  Actor 
Xu Tongrui  Actor 
Constantine Gregory  Actor 
Zhang Daxing  Actor 
Soong Huaikuei  Actor 
Gu Junguo  Actor 
Zu Ruigang  Actor 
Hideo Takamatsu  Actor 
Jin Yuan  Actor 
Vivian Wu  Actor 
Li Fusheng  Actor 
Lucia Hwong  Actor 
LiDien Lang  Actor 
Luo Shigang  Actor 
Zhang Tianmin  Actor 
Lisa Lu  Actor 
Wu Hai  Actor 
Jiang Xi Ren  Actor 
Zhang Lingmu  Actor 
Chen Shu  Actor 
Michael Vermaaten  Actor 
Wang Biao  Actor 
Luo Hongnian  Actor 
Cui Jingping  Actor 
Martin Reynolds  Actor 
Matthew Spender  Actor 
LiDien Xing  Actor 
Rio Ruocheng  Actor 
Bernardo Bertolucci  Director 
Bernardo Bertolucci  Screenwriter 
David Byrne  Composer (Music Score) 
Mark Peploe  Screenwriter 
Ryuichi Sakamoto  Composer (Music Score) 
Su Cong  Composer (Music Score) 
Jeremy Thomas  Producer 
Enzo Ungari  Screenwriter 
John Lone  Actor 
Joan Chen  Actor 
Peter O'Toole  Actor 
Ying Ruocheng  Actor 
Victor Wong  Actor 
Dennis Dun  Actor 
Ryuichi Sakamoto  Actor 
Maggie Han  Actor 
Ric Young  Actor 
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa  Actor 
Jade Go  Actor 
Fumihiko Ikeda  Actor 
Tiger Tsou  Actor 
Fan Guang  Actor 
Henry Kyi  Actor 
Alvin Riley III  Actor 

Country: China,Italy,UK,Hong Kong