The Last Emperor (1987) - The Criterion Collection

Synopsis

Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, unexpectedly sweeping every category in which it was nominated—quite a feat for a challenging, multilayered epic directed by an Italian and starring an international cast. Yet the power and scope of the film was, and remains, undeniable—the life of Emperor Pu Yi, who took the throne at age three, in 1908, before witnessing decades of cultural and political upheaval, within and without the walls of the Forbidden City. Recreating Ching dynasty China with astonishing detail and unparalleled craftsmanship by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti, The Last Emperor is also an intimate character study of one man reconciling personal responsibility and political legacy.

Cast

Pu Yi	John Lone
Wan Jung	Joan Chen
Reginald Johnston	Peter O'Toole
The governer	Ruocheng Ying
Chen Pao Shen	Victor Wong
Big Li	Dennis Dun
Amakasu	Ryuichi Sakamoto
Eastern Jewel	Maggie Han
Interrogator	Ric Young
Wen Hsiu	Vivian Wu
Chang	Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Ar Mo	Jade Go
Yoshioka	Fumihiko Ikeda
Pu Yi (3 years)	Richard Vuu
Pu Yi (8 years)	Tsou Tiger
Pu Yi (15 years)	Tao Wu

Credits

Director	Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer	Jeremy Thomas
Screenplay	Bernardo Bertolucci and Mark Peploe
Cinematography	Vittorio Storaro
Editing	Gabriella Cristiana and Anthony Sloman
Production Design	Ferdinando Scarfiotti
Art direction	Maria-Teresa Barbasso, Gianni Giovagnoni and Gianni Silvestri
Music	David Byrne, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su
Set decoration	Chunpu Wang
Costume designer	James Acheson

Disc Features

AVAILABLE IN BOTH FOUR-DVD AND BLU-RAY EDITIONS:

All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer of the extended television version (NOTE: not included in the Blu-ray edition)
Audio commentary featuring director Bernardo Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screenwriter Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi Sakamoto
The Italian Traveler: Bernardo Bertolucci, a 53-minute film by Fernand Moszkowicz tracing the director’s geographic influences, from Parma to China
Video images taken by Bertolucci while on preproduction in China
The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo Bertolucci, a 52-minute documentary that revisits the film’s making
A new, 47-minute documentary featuring Storaro, editor Gabriella Cristiani, costume designer James Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri
A 66-minute BBC documentary exploring Bertolucci’s creative process and the making of The Last Emperor
A 30-minute interview with Bertolucci from 1989
A new interview with composer David Byrne
A new interview with Ian Buruma examining the historical period of the film
Theatrical trailer

Blu-ray edition includes a booklet featuring an essay by critic David Thomson

Four-DVD set includes Thomson’s essay, as well as interviews with production designer Ferdinando Scarfiotti and actor Ying Ruocheng, a reminiscence by Bertolucci, and an essay and production-diary extracts from Fabien S. Gerard

ALSO AVAILABLE IN A SINGLE-DISC DVD EDITION, FEATURING THE THEATRICAL VERSION OF THE FILM, AUDIO COMMENTARY, TRAILER, AND THOMSON’S ESSAY, FOR THE CRITERION STORE PRICE OF $23.96!

From the Current

The Sounds of The Last Emperor

Jan 11, 2009

Emperor 2.0

by Peter Becker Feb 25, 2008

We’re getting a huge amount of mail about our edition of The Last Emperor, specifically about the aspect ratio, which is 2:1. Some people seem to believe that we’ve lost our minds, forsaken our mission, and taken it upon ourselves to crop the sides off the picture. Others assume we just...

The Last Emperor, or The Manchurian Candidate

by David Thomson Feb 25, 2008

In the first few moments of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor, we get extreme versions of China, done in the film’s rigorous yet electrifying color...