The Last Emperor - Criterion Collection
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Features
• AC-3
• Anamorphic
• Box set
• Color
• Dolby
• DVD-Video
• HiFi Sound
• Restored
• Surround Sound
• THX
• Widescreen
• NTSC
In Theaters : 1987
DVD Release : 26 February, 2008 |
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The Last Emperor - Criterion Collection description
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 ... review details
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The Last Emperor - Criterion Collection Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥
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Glorious
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"The Last Emperor"
Glorious
Amos Lassen
I had not seen "The Last Emperor", a Bertolucci masterpiece since 1987. I watched the new Criterion edition last night (all 8 plus hours) and I am firmly convinces that it is one of the finest examples of cinematic art. It is a visually stunning film and everything else about it is wonderful as well. It is a near perfect film that won nine Academy Awards in 1987 and it is still relevant today.
Pu Yi (John Leon) was the last emperor of China and was the object of worship by half a billion people. Named Emperor of China when he was just three years old, he died as a simple gardener in the Botanical Gardens of Peking. Using flash forward and backward techniques we learn of his abdication, his decline and decadent lifestyle, his exploitation by invading Japanese and his life as a peasant worker in the People's Republic. His reign as emperor was a burden and he ended up in prison and becomes an object of sympathy. The movie is historically accurate and attention is paid to all of the mirror details of his life. His story is beautiful and sad, moving and uplifting. We see Pu Yi's life as an unlikely person not to be insulated and we see the tragedy that came to him. He might have had a long reign had there been no Mao Tse Tung.
What is impressive about the film (which has been gloriously digitally remastered) are the locations and the costumes. Everything looks fabulous and it is a unique film because of the uniqueness of the story. And watching the film will help people improve their views of others and this is so important.
The Criterion DVD set has a great deal going for it. Aside from the full 165 minutes of the film itself, there is also the 218 minute television version. These are on the first two of the four discs. Disc 3 has a documentary on the director, "The Italian Traveler: Bernardo Bertolucci" which looks at the influence of geography. There are also video images taken by Bertolucci while preproducing the film. "The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo Bertolucci", a 51 minute film revisits the subject and a new 45 minute documentary on the artistry of the film are also included. Disc four contains a 66 minute documentary on the making of the movie from the BBC and a 30 minute interview with Bertolucci and two other interviews--one with composer David Bryne and the other with cultural historian Ian Baruma which examines the culture in the period of the film.
A special treat is a beautiful color booklet comes with the boxed set. The price may be somewhat high, but the Criterion "The Lost Emperor" is worth every penny.
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The Last Emperor - Criterion Collection dvd movie.