Movie · Biography · Drama

Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece won nine Oscars and remains one of the greatest historical dramas ever put to film. This sweeping cinematic spectacle follows the tumultuous life of Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor, from his elite origins in the Forbidden City - where a new English tutor opens the boy's mind to the outside world - to his forced abdication in 1912 and his return to the throne under Japanese rule. Inextricably intertwined with the history of modern-day China, the story ends with the once-privilege emperor living a working-class life under communist rule.

1987 · 2h 42m

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The Last Emperor

Biography

Bernardo Bertolucci's masterpiece won nine Oscars and remains one of the greatest historical dramas ever put to film. This sweeping cinematic spectacle follows the tumultuous life of Pu Yi, the last Chinese emperor, from his elite origins in the Forbidden City - where a new English tutor opens the boy's mind to the outside world - to his forced abdication in 1912 and his return to the throne under Japanese rule. Inextricably intertwined with the history of modern-day China, the story ends with the once-privilege emperor living a working-class life under communist rule.

COMMON SENSE

Chinese biography trades accuracy for grandeur.

TOMATOMETER
Average 8.2
Reviews 126
Fresh 108
Rotten 18

Information

Studio
The Criterion Collection
Released
1987
Run Time
2 hr 42 min
Rated
PG-13
Regions of Origin
United States, China mainland, United Kingdom, Italy, France
© 1987 DCM

Languages

Original Audio
English, English (United Kingdom), English (China mainland), Chinese, Simplified, Chinese, Russian, Japanese
Audio

English (United States) (AAC)

Subtitles

English (United States) (CC)

Accessibility

Closed captions (CC) refer to subtitles in the available language with the addition of relevant non-dialogue information.