So much average

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

Its ok good acting but 9 oscars? Not that good. But sure go watch it if you like movies based on real life events

The poster of "The Last Emperor" shows a chubby little boy in ceremonial dress with the majestic palace of the Forbidden City in the background. While richly evocative, it will probably give the wrong idea to the audiences expecting 'another' costume historical drama, or one of these sweeping Oscar-swiping epics. Not to mention that the last emperor of China doesn't play in the same league than Gandhi or Lawrence of Arabia, as far as historical magnitudes go.But it's precisely because the last emperor of China wasn't exactly an icon or a major history player that his story works on a narrative level, he's passive enough to be a foil to the more turbulent history of China, but strong-willed enough to drive the story within his own 'limited' power. Yes, 'limited' is the word and what an irony for the ruler of the largest and most secular Empire in the world to have spent his whole life powerless. Indeed, summoned to the Forbidden City as a toddler, his childhood coincided with the Republican era where his power never exceeded the limits of the Forbidden City… which didn't prevent him from an imperial upbringing with its gallery of bowing servants and playing eunuchs. These scenes look like your typical history epic material except that Bertolucci makes the right choice by telling the story through flashbacks. It actually opens with the arrest of Pu Yi (John Lone) after World War II and his transfer to Funchu Prison as a War criminal and traitor. One would think that death is the penalty awaiting him, he even tries to precedes his executioners by cutting his wrists, and feeling a washbasin with such a symbolic red, but People's Republic of China has other plans for the last living remain of the old order. Pu Yi is coerced into confessing his crimes, and his collaboration with the Japanese regime whose actions against Chinse people have been overshadowed by the Holocaust.Pu Yi's motives become all murky yet captivating from a narrative level: was he driven by ambition? Was he holding a grudge against the Republic that dethroned him? Bertolucci doesn't take a specific side apart from showing a man who's been out of touch all his life, and one-step behind the march of history. There's a crucial moment during his reign over the puppet state of Manchouko, where he makes a speech meant to assert the independence of the country, the Japanese diplomats leave the place, followed by the Chinese staff. Pu Yi realizes that a ruler of men, he'll never be. This scene occurs at the two thirds of the film but it adds a new tragicomic dimension to all the protocol and ceremonials from the first act.Indeed, what makes "The Last Emperor" such a compelling story is that the film never seems to 'endorse' what it shows, it clearly has a stance over the imperial over-zealous decorum, and as viewers, we can only empathize with Pu-Yi when he transitions from an obedient kid to the rebellious young man who goes as far as cutting his plait. The character of Johnston, Peter O'Toole as the Scottish mentor, is crucial, because he's Pu Yi's window to the Occidental world, literally opening his eyes since he's the one forcing the imperial establishment to buy the Emperor glasses. He also teaches him how to ride a bicycle, which leads to another crucial scene where Pu-Yi learns he can't even leave the City, another eloquent irony. The fascination toward the Occidental world is obvious and Pu Yi, as well as his new wife Wanrong (Joan Chen) grow progressively Occidentalised until they finally get fully rid of their traditional burden after the Republican coup, and their exile from the City. Later, Pu Yi is shown singing Bing Crosby during a reception, which establishes the long road from that 'golden child' of the start. The film shows natural born outcasts, caught in the turmoil of a time that made their collaboration with Japan tragic because it was inevitable. Pu Yi's concubine becomes a Japanese spy and is quite vocal about it, Wanrong becomes an opium addict, and Pu Yi a traitor to his own country.But the film takes an interesting angle toward the end, it doesn't make the Chinese regime more evil than we'd expect, although it doesn't sugarcoat the devastating effects of the Chinese revolution. One of the camp commandants encourages Pu Yi to confess his crimes, as the step for redemption is the awareness of guilt, but for the real crimes. Pu Yi collaborated with the Japanese but he could never have known about the biological crimes. His re-education reaches a new level when the commandant realizes he can't even tie his shoe or do anything alone, he's put in a cell where he must live in community, and learn the hardship of being one-among-the- others, and obeying certain rules, like to pee in silent on the side of a bucket.Finally, we see him at the twilight of his life, as a free, serene gardener who have embraced the spirit of new China, the film comes full circle with his life when he meets a child in the Forbidden city and tells him he used to be the Emperor, and gives him a pet cricket he received when he first sat on the throne. It's quite fascinating that he was the exception to the rule, the one person who could have been positively affected by the Chinese revolution, since he spent all his life like a living anachronism and was the perfect candidate for a re-education, and a life full of such ironies was a perfect candidate for a biopic.And behind its Best Picture prestige facade, "The Last Emperor" is a powerful character study of a man, whose transition echoed his own country, because like China, the Last Emperor had to make his own (r)evolution.

This is a film that is unfairly ignored in the list of the best films ever made. Despite receiving nine Oscars it 1989, it receives little to no attention. There are a few reasons I can think of off the top of my head. The first is that it is a slower and longer movie, and there is not a lot of action or melodrama to break it up, turning off some people. The second is that it was made by Bernado Bertolucci, who is not particularly well-liked in Hollywood for reasons that date back to the movie that made him famous, The Last Tango in Paris, as well as for his hatred of the system.But it is nonetheless one of the most striking and evocative historical epics ever put to film. Some films are ashamed to be connected with actual history. While this is not inherently negative, there is something to be said about a film embracing the history that inspired it. Art and history are often at each other's throats, but they do not have to be. One can piggyback off the other.The only film I can compare to this is Lawrence of Arabia. That film is slightly better than this one, but both are sprawling epics that make you feel like you're in the front of a roller-coaster that's rushing through the past. While that film is more ambitious and better-acted, I actually personally prefer this one more. It's involving and atmospheric and one of the best-shot movies of the century. Every time I pop it in, I am enraptured.There is so much work put into every scene. The makeup, the art direction, the style; this is dedication incarnate. The Last Emperor is like The Lord of the Rings or Titanic: you may not like these movies, but you have to respect how much work went into them on every front imaginable. There are times when I can't believe what I'm seeing wasn't made for quick on the computer, but then I notice how real it all seems.The plot is simple and not the focus. John Lone (as well as a few other actors of varying age) plays Puyi, the titular 'Last Emperor'. Taking the throne as a toddler, Puyi is sheltered from the rapidly changing world around him until he can be sheltered no more and is thrown from power by the Chinese Communists, who take him to a 'political rehabilitation' camp.A lot happens in this movie, but there are not a lot of twists and turns. You just sink in to the movie, sink in to this atmosphere. Breathe in, breathe out. Some people might be bored, but the movie is not boring. Sixty years are covered; sixty of the most interesting years in history. That is not just enough to fill three hours; that is enough to make those three hours interesting. This is the kind of film that you originally only plan to throw on for an hour or so at a time, but grabs you and pulls you in and persuades you watch the rest of it.Interesting fact: this film did not even enter the top 5 at the box office until its twenty-second weekend of release, the weekend after it won Best Picture. That is... really rare. I know this was the eighties, when films hung around the box office as long as that wet smell hangs around a dog, but this was still not common in the least. If not for this unexpected boost, it would be alongside The English Patient, Amadeus, and The Hurt Locker.I cannot believe a film like this was independently funded, but it was. I don't know which is more incredible, the fact that they were able to reach 23.8 million in funds or that a film of this scale was made for that cost. Either way, the fact that this film exists is almost as remarkable as the film itself.Almost.What I love most about this film is how it is able to make you feel a rainbow of emotions by doing very little. The acting and the camera work and the music make you feel what the character is feeling without having to sit through gobs of unnecessary dialogue. There are few better cases for the power of cinema than The Last Emperor.You feel how sheltered he is, and how utopic they are trying to make the palace. You feel how depressed and trapped he is, especially as he grows older. You feel how confused and angered he is when he is forced by his advisors to adopt the old customs even as the world is rapidly changing. You feel his disappointment as he is deprived of a chance to rule just as he is shaped into a good ruler.And without those gobs of unnecessary dialogue, time is freed up for important things, like fleshing out the world in which Puyi lives. With all the clever behind-the-camera work, it doesn't quite feel like a real place but rather like a enhanced, dreamy version of a real place, which I think the effect that they were going for. If it wasn't, then the people who made this stumbled onto genius: this pseudo-surreality makes it seem like a vision that is receding with every passing day, that is quickly fading out of the present into the history books.Kudos to the filmmakers for bringing this story to the masses. Double kudos for going all out and sparing no expense. Triple kudos for making one of the best films of all time.

He was the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, the absolute monarch of China. He was born to rule a world of ancient tradition. Nothing prepared him for our world of change.This is a beautiful film. It looks great, with the scenery and costumes, and they were able to film in the Forbidden City, which is something of a small miracle. (It has the unfortunate side effect of taking some of the mystery out of the City, but that is a whole other thing.) Now, my knowledge of Chinese history is pretty sparse. Other than things like their involvement in the Korean War, I am rather ignorant. I really had no idea that they had an emperor as long as they did... and the level of respect for a two-year old? Wow.