A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Cinematography
Vittorio Storaro's amber-gold decay is genuinely unmatched.
Production
First Western film shot in the actual Forbidden City.
Acting
John Lone's thousand-yard stare through three decades.
Director
Bernardo Bertolucci
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Chinese government granted unprecedented access to the Forbidden City, then banned the film for 'portraying Pu Yi too sympathetically.'
The real Pu Yi's autobiography was written under Communist supervision—Bertolucci essentially made a film about a man performing his own confession.
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