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Last Emperor, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Foreign
Written by:
Mark Peploe
Bernardo Bertolucci
Henry Pu-yi (autobiograhy From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi)
Directed by: Bernardo Bertolucci
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 18, 1987
DVD: February 23, 1999
Running Time: 160 minutes, Color
Origin: China / UK / France / Italy
Language(s): English / Mandarin / Japanese / (English Subtitles)
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for material that may be inappropriate for children under 13
Starring John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Maggie Han
The story of Pu Yi's life from his reign as Emperor to his last days as a peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Also On Metacritic
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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It probably is unforgivably bourgeois to admire a film because of its locations, but in the case of The Last Emperor the narrative cannot be separated from the awesome presence of the Forbidden City, and from Bertolucci's astonishing use of locations, authentic costumes and thousands of extras to create the everyday reality of this strange little boy.
Read Full Review >Empire Giala Murray
The small screen doesn't quite do justice to the rich visuals but with an incredible story and fine performances, it is still a compulsive and moving epic.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)
This grand and powerful biography begins in 1908 when, at the age of three, Pu Yi was named emperor of China and follows him through a tumultuous life inextricably intertwined with the history of modern-day China, one that that ended with the once-coddled emperor working quietly as a gardener at Peking's Botanical Gardens.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
Emperor is like Full Metal Jacket - uneven, fuzzy, imperfect, and one of the reasons the movies were invented. [20 Nov 1987, p.1D]
Time Richard Schickel
Very simply, Bertolucci has found an elegance of design and execution that few of his contemporaries could even dream of. [23 Nov 1987]
Boston Globe Michael Blowen
The most startling achievement of The Last Emperor is that it accomplishes what seems to have eluded Bertolucci for some time. He has found the small in the large and, in many ways, he has created what many thought impossible -- an intimate epic. [18 Dec 1987, p.95]
Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon
The movie's considerable emotional force springs from the splendor of its visual poetry. Mr. Bertolucci allows the sweep of 60 years of Chinese history to unfold around Pu Yi as background noise to his peculiar, poignant role in the emergence of modern China. [25 Nov 1987, p.1]
Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson
If you want the true, jaw-dropping details of Pu Yi's life, try the biography by Edward Behr, Newsweek International's cultural editor. If you want a staggering and certainly singular movie experience, The Last Emperor will do very nicely. [20 Nov 1987, p.1]
Washington Post Desson Howe
That Bertolucci -- with his momentous visual choreography, and Vittorio Storaro's velvety cinematography -- manages to touch on all of this makes The Last Emperor a remarkable achievement. The politics and pageantry tend to overrun the story at times, but it seems appropriate -- Emperor Pu Yi was overwhelmed by such things.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Bernardo Bertolucci's visually ravishing spectacle about the life of Pu Yi is a genuine rarity: a blockbuster that manages to be historically instructive and intensely personal at the same time.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr
A hesitant, conservative approach that yields great elegance and a rhythm that carries the viewer along. Yet the film is haunted by a sense of opportunities not taken, of an artist deliberately reining in his artistry. [9 Dec 1987, p.2]
Washington Post Rita Kempley
Pu Yi's personal tragedy has become Bertolucci's three-hour epic of obsolescence, opulently visualized. It's docudrama that dazzles, but basically Pu Yi was a bore.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott
The reign of the last emperor, a reign in name alone, was an exercise in style over substance; it is perhaps fitting that his cinematic biography should follow the same incarcerated course. [20 Nov 1987, p.D1]
The New York Times Vincent Canby
The Last Emperor is like an elegant travel brochure. It piques the curiosity. One wants to go. Ultimately it's a let-down.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Leonardo P. gave it a9:
It is an unforgivable movie. It has a lot of captivating moments. Congratulations to Bernardo Bertolucci. I really recommend this movie.
