The Last Emperor Blu-ray delivers stunning video and audio in this exceptional Blu-ray release
Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, unexpectedly sweeping
every category in which it was nominated. 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.
Winner of nine Oscar awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, Bernardo
Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" (1987) chronicles the tragic story of Pu Yi, the last of the
great Chinese rulers. Beautifully-lensed and impeccably acted, the picture is regarded by
many as one of the last true epics of our time. Courtesy of the Criterion
Collection. Region-A "locked".
The Emperor
At the age of 3, Pu Yi (John Lone) is taken away from his mother, sent to the Forbidden City
and crowned Emperor of China. He is not allowed to interact with the outside world. As
time goes by, Pu Yi becomes more and more frustrated with the cannons he is
expected to respect.
Outside of the Forbidden City the world is quickly changing. The Japanese Army invades
China and Manchuria; then Mao's forces take over. In the beginning, Pu Yi is spared from
the political turmoil, but he is eventually sucked into it. A British mentor (Peter O'Toole)
arrives to the Forbidden City and inspires the Emperor to begin searching for a new identity. Pu Yi
also marries a beautiful girl (Joan Chen).
Pu Yi abdicates in 1912. Later on he returns to Manchuria, hoping to be an Emperor again,
but is tricked by the Japanese invaders and consequently, after WW2 comes to an end,
captured by the Red Army. The last Emperor is then transferred to a Chinese prison where
the communists begin to question his history with the Japanese.
The Last Emperor is Bernardo Bertolucci's most highly-decorated picture. Visually, it
is a stunning tour de force, which few of its contemporaries, if any, could rival. It is also
Bertolucci's - a passionate Marxist - most elegant yet uncompromising critique of absolute
power.
Despite of the fact that The Last Emperor chronicles an incredibly dramatic story,
referencing to a number of key political events from the beginning of the century,
its tone is notably intimate. In fact, Pu Yi's struggle to adapt to the world he has been kept
away from, and consequently change it according to his vision, seems uncannily subdued.
Not surprisingly, The Last Emperor is filled with a number of protracted close-ups
where Pu Yi's face is examined – pain, joy, disappointment and elation are captured by
Bertolucci without resorting to high-powered lines.
Still, even though Bertolucci spends an enormous amount of time on Pu Yi and his
maturation as a leader, his persona remains a perplexing enigma. There are controversial
decisions the Emperor produces while juggling with the colonial interests of the Japanese,
and later on Mao's communists, that are difficult to fully comprehend. Logically, Bertolucci's
quiet but thorough examination of Pu Yi's history enhances even more the divisive elements
in his legacy.
The Last Emperor has been shown to audiences around the world in two different
versions – a shorter version (164 min), also referred to as the Theatrical Cut, which is found
on this Blu-ray disc, and a longer version (218 min), which was reconstructed for Italian TV.
I've seen both and frankly have a difficult time deciding which is the more compelling one.
The theatrical cut maintains a steady tempo, which given the story's episodic structure is
probably the preferred way to see this film. I would also say that it links a lot of the political
events I mentioned earlier without dramatically widening the gap between Pu Yi's political
and personal lives. On the other hand, the TV version adds substantially more, particularly
in regard to Pu Yi's childhood years. However, here Bertolucci also elaborates on a lot of the
political intrigues from the second half of The Last Emperor. As a result, the intimate
tone of the story I mentioned earlier is substantially weakened.
Nevertheless, The Last Emperor remains a poignant account of a historic figure
whose rise and fall at a time of great political turmoil are unquestionably fascinating to
behold. Furthermore, the film effectively dispels a number of myths about absolute power
that, somewhat ironically, are still alive and well in the Emperor's homeland.
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.02:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p
transfer, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of
Criterion.
Those of you who have already taken a look at Criterion's SDVD release of The Last
Emperor probably have a pretty good idea what to expect from this Blu-ray disc – a high
definition digital transfer supervised and approved by cinematographer Vittorio Storaro.
Overall, this is a notably healthy high-definition transfer. Its color-scheme, for example, is rich and natural-looking. Orange, red, green, and blue are all with prominent roles in The Last Emperor, and the high-definition transfer certainly allows them to be as effective as possible. The blacks on the other hand are also convincing - during the first half of the film they are slightly less saturated than they are during the second half (past the Japanese takeover of
Manchuria), but healthy and solid looking. Furthermore, the delicate grain-structure of the
film is intact. I compared the Blu-ray release with the DVD release and, as far as I am
concerned, heavy DNR alterations have not been applied here. I noticed a bit of shimmering as well as digital noise during some of the panoramic vistas (the desert inauguration of the
Emperor in particular), but overall I was most definitely pleased with the look of Criterion's
high-definition transfer. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing specks, debris, or scratches. (Note:This is a Region-A "locked" release which you won't be able to playback on your Region-B PS3 or SA).
An English, with portions of Mandarin and Japanese, DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix is what Criterion
have provided for their release of The Last Emperor. There is a sizable difference
between the DTS-HD MA track the Blu-ray disc boasts and the audio treatment the DVD
offers. I could list a number of very specific examples in support of this statement but,
suffice to say, you could pick any of the mass scenes from the first half of the film, and
compare them with the corresponding scenes on the DVD release (I strongly recommend
listening to the large horns in the Forbidden City when the Emperor captures the cricket).
The dialog is also crisp and very easy to follow. The English subtitles on the other hand are
very well done and free of grammatical errors (I must note that I watched the film with the
English subtitles on as I still have a difficult time with some of the accents). This being said, I
did not detect any pops, cracks, drop-outs. For the record, the English subtitles are placed
inside the image frame.
Before we discuss the extras found on the Blu-ray disc, allow me to point out to you that
this release of The Last Emperor arrives with a very stylish 16-page booklet
containing the following: "The Last Emperor, or the Manchurian Candidate", an essay by
David Thompson, information about the director's approved transfer, acknowledgments,
special thanks, and production credits.
On the actual Blu-ray disc, we get all of the extras that are found on the SDVD release of
The Last Emperor. These include: an audio commentary featuring Bernardo
Bertolucci, producer Jeremy Thomas, screen-writer Mark Peploe, and composer-actor Ryuichi
Sakamato; "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 production in China; "The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo
Bertolucci", a 51-minute film by Paolo Brunatto revisiting the creation of the film; a 45-minute
documentary featuring Storato, editor Gabriella Christiana, costume designer James
Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri; a 66-minute documentary exploring Bertolucci's
creative process and the making of The Last Emperor; a 30-minute BBC interview
with Bertolucci from 1989; an interview from 2008 with composer David Byrne; a 2008
interview with cultural historian Ian Buruma examining the period of the film; and a
theatrical trailer.
Visually breathtaking, Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor is a fascinating film,
mixing history with drama in a somewhat controversial fashion. The story of Pu Yi, the last of
the great Chinese rulers, is told through a series of flashbacks highlighting key events from
his coronation to his imprisonment by Mao's followers. Criterion's Blu-ray release is an
excellent opportunity to see this Oscar-winning film with a deserving transfer. Very Highly
Recommended.
During the 60th Annual Academy Awards, it was almost unthinkable that an independently produced film would manhandle the top studio films of that year, but that is exactly what happened. Documenting the life of Pu Yi, 'The Last Emperor' won nine Oscars, winning ...
Criterion Collection has announced that they have delayed their first wave of Blu-ray releases by about a month. 'Bottle Rocket', 'Chungking Express', 'The Third Man', and 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' have all been delayed until December 16th, while 'The Last Emperor' ...
All countries
