Bernardo Bertolucci does the nearly impossible with this sweeping, grand epic that tells a very personal tale. The story is a dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the emperors of China. It follows his life from its elite beginnings in the Forbidden City, where he was crowned at age three and worshipped by half a billion people. He was later forced to abdicate and, unable to fend for himself in the outside world, became a dissolute and exploited shell of a man. He died in obscurity, living as a peasant in the People's Republic. We never really warm up to John Lone in the title role, but this movie focuses more on visuals than characterization anyway. Filmed in the Forbidden City, it is spectacularly beautiful, filling the screen with saturated colors and exquisite detail. It won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
John Lone | Emperor Pu Yi |
Joan Chen | Empress Wan Jung |
Peter O'Toole | Reginald F. 'R. J.' Johnston |
Ruocheng Ying | Governor of Detention Center (as Ying Ruocheng) |
Vittorio Storaro | Cinematography |
Victor Wong | Chen Pao Shen |
Dennis Dun | Big Li |
Ryuichi Sakamoto | Amakasu |
Maggie Han | Eastern Jewel |
Ric Young | Interrogator |
Vivian Wu | Wen Hsiu |
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa | Chang (as Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa) |
Jade Go | Ar Mo |
Fumihiko Ikeda | Yoshioka |
Richard Vuu | Pu Yi - Age 3 |
Tsou Tijger | Pu Yi - Age 8 |
Tao Wu | Pu Yi - Age 15 |
Guang Fan | Adult Pu Chieh - Pu Yi's Brother (as Fan Guang) |
Henry Kyi | Pu Chieh - Age 7 |
Alvin Riley III | Pu Chieh - Age 14 |
Lisa Lu | Tzu Hsui |
Hideo Takamatsu | General Ishikari |
Hajime Tachibana | Japanese Translator |
Basil Pao | Prince Chun - Pu Yi's Father |
Henry O | Lord Chamberlain (as Jiang Xi Ren) |
Kaige Chen | Captain of Imperial Guard (as Chen Kai Ge) |
Liangbin Zhang | Big Foot (as Zhang Liangbin) |
Wenjie Huang | Hunchback (as Huang Wenjie) |
Dong Liang | Lady Aisin-Gioro - Pu Yi's Mother (as Liang Dong) |
Zhendong Dong | Old Doctor (as Dong Zhendong) |
Jiechen Dong | Doctor (as Dong Jiechen) |
Constantine Gregory | Oculist |
Huaikuei Soong | Lung Yu (as Soong Huaikuei) |
Ruzhen Shao | High Consort #1 (as Shao Ruzhen) |
Li Yu | High Consort #2 |
Guangli Li | High Consort #3 (as Li Guangli) |
Chunqing Xu | Grey Eyes |
Tianmin Zhang | Old Tutor (as Zhang Tianmin) |
Hongnian Luo | Sleeping Old Tutor (as Luo Hongnian) |
Shihong Yu | Hsiao Hsiu (as Yu Shihong) |
Jun Wu | Wen Hsiu - Age 12 |
Lucia Hwong | Lady of the Book |
Jingping Cui | Lady of the Pen (as Cui Jingping) |
Shi Liang | Republican Officer (as Wu Hai) |
Liang Shi | Republican Officer (as Wu Hai) |
Junguo Gu | Tang (as Gu Junguo) |
Xu Tongrui | Captain of Feng's Army |
Fusheng Li | Minister of Trade (as Li Fusheng) |
Shu Chen | Chang Chinghui (as Chen Shu) |
Shuyan Cheng | Lady Hiro Saga - Pu Chieh's Wife (as Cheng Shuyan) |
Daxing Zhang | Tough Warder (as Zhang Daxing) |
Ruigang Zu | Warder #2 (as Zu Ruigang) |
Yuan Jin | Party Boss (as Jin Yuan) |
Akira Ikuta | Japanese Doctor |
Michael Vermaaten | American |
Matthew Spender | Englishman |
Lingmu Zhang | Emperor Hirohito |