THE LAST EMPEROR 3D [L'ULTIMO IMPERATORE 3D] [1987 / 2013] [Limited Edition 3D] [3D Blu-ray + 2D Blu-ray] [Italian Release] He was the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, the absolute monarch of China!
‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ is a 1987 biopic about the life of Puyi, the last Emperor of the China dynasty (1644 – 1912), whose autobiography was the basis for the screenplay written by Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci. Independently produced by Jeremy Thomas, it was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures. Puyi's life is depicted from his ascent to the throne as a small boy to his imprisonment and political rehabilitation by the Chinese Communists.
‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ 3D [‘L'ULTIMO IMPERATORE’ 3D] has been remastered with a full 4K restoration, and a conversion to stereoscopic 3D, and sound re-mastering. Director Bernardo Bertolucci supervized the 3D conversion by Prime Focus.
FILM FACT No.1: Awards and Nominations: 1988 Academy Awards®: Win: Best Picture for Jeremy Thomas. Win: Best Director for Bernardo Bertolucci. Win: Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for Bernardo Bertolucci and Mark Peploe. Win: Best Cinematography for Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. Win: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for Bruno Cesari, Ferdinando Scarfiotti and Osvaldo Desideri. Win: Best Costume Design for James Acheson. Win: Best Sound for Bill Rowe and Ivan Sharrock. Win: Best Film Editing for Gabriella Cristiani. Win: Best Music and Original Score for Cong Su, David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto. 1998 Golden Globes®: Win: Best Director for a Motion Picture for Bernardo Bertolucci. Win: Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture for Bernardo Bertolucci, Enzo Ungari and Mark Peploe. Win: Best Music and Original Score for Cong Su, David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Win: Best Motion Picture in a Drama. 1998 American Society of Cinematographers: Nominated: Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases for Vittorio Storaro. 1998 British Society of Cinematographers: Win: Best Cinematography Award for Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. 1998 César Awards, France: Win: Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) for Bernardo Bertolucci. Nominated: Best Poster (Meilleure affiche) for Philippe Lemoine. 1998 David di Donatello Awards: Win: Best Film (Miglior Film). Win: Best Director (Migliore Regista) for Bernardo Bertolucci. Win: Best Screenplay (Migliore Sceneggiatura) for Bernardo Bertolucci and Mark Peploe. Win: Best Producer (Migliore Produttore) for Franco Giovale, Jeremy Thomas and Joyce Herlihy. Win: Best Supporting Actor (Migliore Attore non Protagonista) for Peter O'Toole. Win: Best Cinematography (Migliore Fotografia) for Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. Win: Best Production Design (Migliore Scenografo) for Bruno Cesari, Ferdinando Scarfiotti and Osvaldo Desideri. Win: Best Costume Design (Migliore Costumista) for James Acheson and Ugo Pericoli. Win: Best Editing (Migliore Montatore) for Gabriella Cristiani. Nominated: Best Supporting Actress (Migliore Attrice non Protagonista) for Vivian Wu. 1989 BAFTA Awards: Win: Best Costume Design for James Acheson. Win: Best Film for Bernardo Bertolucci and Jeremy Thomas. Win: Best Make Up Artist for Fabrizio Sforza. Nominated: Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Peter O'Toole. Nominated: Best Cinematography for Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. Nominated: Best Direction for Bernardo Bertolucci. Nominated: Best Editing for Gabriella Cristiani. Nominated: Best Production Design for Ferdinando Scarfiotti. Nominated: Best Original Score for Cong Su, David Byrne and Ryuichi Sakamoto. Nominated: Best Sound for Bill Rowe, Ivan Sharrock and Les Wiggins. Nominated: Best Special Effects for Fabrizio Martinelli and Giannetto De Rossi.
FILM FACT No.2: Bernardo Bertolucci proposed the film to the Chinese government as one of two possible projects; the other was an adaptation of La Condition Humaine (Man's Fate) by André Malraux. The Chinese preferred ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ film. Producer Jeremy Thomas managed to raise the $25 million budget for his ambitious independent production single-handedly and at one stage, he scoured the phone book for potential financiers. Bernardo Bertolucci was given complete freedom by the authorities to shoot in “The Forbidden City,” which had never before been opened up for use in a Western film. For the first ninety minutes of the film, Bernardo Bertolucci and Vittorio Storaro made full use of its visual splendour. 19,000 extras were needed over the course of the film. The Chinese army was drafted in to accommodate.
Cast: Richard Vuu (Puyi 3 years old), Tijger Tsou (Puyi 8 years old), Wu Tao (Puyi 15 years old), John Lone (Puyi adult), Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ying Ruocheng, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Maggie Han, Ric Young, Wu Junmei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Jade Go, Fumihiko Ikeda, Henry Kyi (Pujie 7 years old), Alvin Riley III (Pujie 14 years old), Fan Guang (Pujie adult), Lisa Lu, Hideo Takamatsu, Hajime Tachibana, Basil Pao, Henry O, Akira Ikuta, Michael Vermaaten, Matthew Spender, Hongxiang Cai (uncredited), Xinmin Cui (uncredited), Zhenduo Li (uncredited), Shigang Luo (uncredited), Guang Ma (uncredited), Glen Murphy (uncredited), Biao Wang (uncredited), Baozong Yang (uncredited), Hongchang Yang (uncredited) and Lingmu Zhang (uncredited)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Producers: Franco Giovale, Jeremy Thomas, John Daly and Joyce Herlihy
Screenplay: Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay), Enzo Ungari (initial screenplay collaboration), Mark Peploe (screenplay) and Puyi autobiography "From Emperor to Citizen, The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi") (uncredited)
Composers: Cong Su, David Byrne and Ryûichi Sakamoto
Cinematography: Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1 (Technovision Anamorphic)
Audio: Italian: 5.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Surround Sound English: 5.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Surround Sound
English: 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
Subtitles: Italian, Italian SDH and English
Running Time: 162 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Eagle Pictures S.p.A
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ 3D [‘L'ULTIMO IMPERATORE’ 3D] [1987] is a film that is totally unique and quite unsurpassed visual splendour, and makes for a fascinating trip to another world, but for the most part also proves as remote and untouchable as its subject, the last imperial ruler of China. The prodigious production values stand out in every respect, and Bernardo Bertolucci’s film is an exquisitely painted mural of 20th century Chinese history as seen from the point of view of a hereditary leader who never knew his people and when viewed in the cinema, audiences were seduced by its exotic qualities, and spectacular image qualities.
Bernardo Bertolucci's visually ravishing spectacle ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ is about the life of Pu Yi (1905 – 1967) and is a genuine rarity, meaning it is a blockbuster that manages to be not only historically instructive, but also intensely personal at the same time. Pu Yi, who of course is played by three children at ages 3, 8, and 15, and by John Lone as an adult and remained an outsider to contemporary Chinese history for most of his life, and Bernardo Bertolucci uses his remoteness from China as an objective correlative of our own cultural distance as Westerners and virtually all of the dialogue is spoken in English. Working with visual and thematic rhymes, Bernardo Bertolucci is interested in charting the gradual substitution of the state for the family, though two key agents in this process are the father figures of his Scottish tutor Reginald Johnson [Peter O'Toole] and a governor at a Chinese prison.
The life story recounted here is an utterly singular one without possible equal. In 1908, the 3-year-old Pu Yi is installed as Lord of Ten Thousand Years, master of the most populous nation on earth. Shortly, he is forced to abdicate, but is kept on as a symbolic figure, educated by his English tutor and tended to by a court that includes 1,500 eunuchs and countless other manipulative advisers.
Technically considered a god by everyone, and of course little Pu Yi can do anything he wishes except leave the great Forbidden City in Peking. Except for hearsay and what he learns in magazines, and is ignorant of the convulsions being experienced by his people in China; and of course he is a prisoner in the most glorious gilded cage ever created.
Eventually is expelled out by the new government, Pu Yi, by now in his late 20s, moves with his two wives to Tientsin and lives like a Western playboy, wearing tuxedos at elegant dances while gradually coming under the influence of the Japanese, who eventually install him as puppet emperor of Manchuria, home of his ancestors. After World War II, he is imprisoned for 10 years by the communists, during which time he writes his memoirs, and ends his life as a gardener and simple citizen in Mao’s China.
The shooting of ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ was an epic event in itself and perhaps the ultimate international coproduction, it was characterized as "a film about China produced by an Englishman and directed by an Italian in English with many American actors." The $25,000,000 production, by far the most extensive usage of Chinese locations by Western filmmakers up to that time, required 16 weeks of shooting at places such as the Liaodong peninsula, Manchuria, Beijing and, of course, The Forbidden City. Some 19,000 extras, which many of them were loaned from the Chinese army and 9,000 costumes, were used for the film, figures unthinkable in a Western production with a similar budget. Interiors and the re-education camp scenes were shot at sound stages at Cinecitta in Italy. Finally, acknowledgement must be made of the enormously impressive job pulled off by Jeremy Thomas in organizing such an ambitious production. It was a great adventure to revisit this visually stunning film, with its superb production design from Ferdinando Scarfiotti and costumes by James Acheson. I feel the film’s richness has been highlighted in a totally magical way. But above all, the 3D process has reaffirmed Bernardo Bertolucci’s epic vision and especially Vittorio Storaro award winning cinematography. This 3D conversion could hopefully reach new audiences and find new markets for a cinema classic. It’s important for us to keep films alive, so I am hoping that this won’t be an isolated experiment. Like the recent ‘The Wizard of Oz’ 3D conversion, Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ 3D is well worth checking out.
THE LAST EMPEROR MUSIC TRACK LIST
KAISER WALZER (Emperor Waltz) Op. 437 (1889) (Written by Johann Strauss) [Performed by The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra] [Conducted by Herbert von Karajan]
AM I BLUE (1929) (Music by Harry Akst and Lyrics Grant Clarke) [Sung by John Lone as Pu Yi]
AULD LANG SYNE (uncredited) (Traditional Scottish Ballad) [In the film score when Reginald Johnston says farewell to Pu Yi]
CHINA BOY (1922) (uncredited) (Lyrics by Dick Winfree) (Music by Phil Boutelje) [played by the jazz band after Pu Yi finishes singing "Am I Blue"]
YANKEE DOODLE (uncredited) (Traditional folk tune) [Played by the air-horn of the American tourist guide in the Forbidden City]
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Blu-ray 3D Image Quality – ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ has had full restoration of the 25-year old film was done at Technicolor in Rome, Italy, which was scanned from the original negative to 4K, and colour corrected under cinematographer Storaro's supervision. The conversion was led by Prime Focus in London, where Matthew Bristowe is Senior VP, Production, View-D and Richard Baker is Creative Director/Senior Stereographer. But as to the visual aspect of the film, here you are presented with an absolutely stunning 3D dimensional 1080p image presentation and is enhanced with an outstanding 2.20:1 (Technovision Anamorphic) aspect ratio, which is again helped by the 4K restoration. The awesome colours are rich and natural looking, especially with all the orange red, green, and blue are all totally spectacular with its high definition transfer certainly is very effective overall. What are also very effective are the blacks that look very convincing in every scene, and the delicate grain structure of the film is also excellently presented. But overall I was most definitely pleased with the look of the whole film and the 3D image presentation really enhances the overall look of the film and of course looks even more spectacular than the 2D image presentation, but the 3D image presentation provides more depth to the image and is never intrusive and really adds great depth and really comes to play in the Forbidden City. But of course the whole package on the image presentation is given a boost by the professional approach of the cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (Director of Photography). But overall is the 3D is a brilliant addition to the Blu-ray disc. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – With the film ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ it has of course two languages in Italian and English 5.1 DTS-HD High Resolution Surround Sound really stands out with an enhanced audio presentation, especially with the scene where you hear the large horns in the Forbidden City when the Emperor captures the cricket. As to the dialogue presentation and the musical score by composers Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne and Cong Su are faithfully reproduced integrating well with the visuals, and comes through crystal clear and gives a superb beautiful ambience towards this beautiful classic film and especially gives sufficient dynamics to offer an engaging experience and good separation of sound effects and the film’s music score is nicely balanced into the good audio mix, this was also very crisp, clear and very easy to follow and much appreciated and the sound engineers deserved their awards and nominations for the professional job they really achieved.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Sadly there are no Extras or even a Theatrical Trailer, because you only get one Blu-ray disc, why couldn’t they have given us a 2D Blu-ray with the film and then they could of added special features, still despite this, the film looks totally spectacular in 3D and really makes the film even more impressive.
BONUS: The slip cover has a stunning 3D image that is quite spectacular and well worth the purchase.
Finally, ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ film is a unique, and quite unsurpassed visual splendour, and for a fascinating trip to another world, but for the most part also proves as remote and untouchable as its subject, the last imperial ruler of China. A prodigious production in every respect, Bernardo Bertolucci’s first film in six years since his last film and is an exquisitely painted mural of 20th century Chinese history as seen from the point of view of a hereditary leader who never knew his people. Shown in its world premiere as the closing night attraction at the Tokyo International Film Festival, and the film should deservedly receive serious attention any chance you can to view it. Performance in debut engagements should be strong, but can the key component to recoupment of its $25 million cost, will of course domestic audiences be seduced by its exotic qualities, or put off by its cold virtuosity, and here is your chance to find out. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
