Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 297: Sixty Years in China

Usually, coming up with the titles for these posts is an easy enough task as I'm usually able to work off the name of a famous actor, director or theme in the movie. That wasn't the case for The Last Emperor and even now I'm unsure if the title above is quite strong enough. Part of the reason for my writer's block is that I wasn't engaged at all during the two and half hours that the film inhabited. The film itself covers only fifty-nine years (from 1908 to 1967) but I felt it was an interesting fact that The Last Emperor was the sixtieth movie to grab the Best Picture title. The film covers, in some great detail, the life of Puyi who became the last of the Chinese Emperors aged just two years old. The majority of Puyi's reign is marred by the Chinese uprising outside the gates of the Forbidden City which basically sees him lose all of his power. The Last Emperor also chronicles Puyi's two most important relationships one of which was with his Scottish Tutor Reginald Johnston who at times was the only person interested in the Emperor's best interests. Later Puyi is married to the beautiful Wanrong and at first it seems that their bond is pretty solid however outside influences ultimately see their union doomed to failure. Puyi's exploitation by the invading Japanese is also explored in some great detail and this in turn leads him to be banished to prison as a war criminal. The scenes of Puyi's prison stay are interspersed with those of his upbringing as we the audience are able to see why exactly he's been incarcerated. Following the flashback scenes we see Puyi's stay in the internment camp that last almost a decade till his eventual release in 1959. The final scenes, involving his return to the Forbidden City, are quite touching and to me are the best moments that the movie had to offer.

As you can tell from the introduction I wasn't a big fan of The Last Emperor primarily because I wasn't compelled by any of the characters. Part of the reason for this is due to the performances from the young cast, led by John Lone as Puyi, who try their best but ultimately don't make me care about their self-involved characters. The one exception to this rule is the turn put in by the magnificent Peter O'Toole as tutor RJ as he really made me care about his character and in turn the fate of Puyi. Unfortunately O'Toole isn't on screen for long and, by the final third of the film, I was pretty bored by all that was happening. The Oscar-winning adapted screenplay is partly to blame as I feel it's chocked full of exposition and historical detail without ever caring about character development. That being said I can completely understand why The Last Emperor won Best Picture as well as a further seven Oscars. Having now watched almost sixty Best Pictures it's clear that the academy loves a visually-spectacular epic and that's just what The Last Emperor provided. Aesthetically I can't fault the film and the fact that director Bernado Bertolucci was allowed access to The Forbidden City adds a legitimacy to the historical setting.  Bertolucci makes the Forbidden City appear to be a place where the traditions of China are preserved and is a safe hiding place for Puyi and his family. I personally really enjoyed the score which was given a modern touch due to the contributions from Talking Heads' David Byrne. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is breath-taking from the word go and is able to introduce the audience to the crumbling Chinese empire. Additionally the Art Direction and Costume Design are fantastic but ultimately they just contribute to a film that's definitely all style and very little substance. As I already stated I can understand why The Last Emperor won the Best Picture Oscar but that doesn't necessarily mean that I agree with it.

Next time we journey back to the 19th century London for a haunting tale directed by a man whose known for his surreal take on certain subjects.