The Last Emperor
Lately, I've found little time to post anything here (or do much of anything else for that matter), so I think I'll throw out a recommendation for a favorite film that recently enjoyed a twentieth birthday. Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor.
Why do I think it's a great film? A number of reasons. The story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, is a fascinating story. Not only did Bertolucci manage to get permission to film in the Forbidden City and offer a first glipse of the site to the rest of the world (good Discover Channel doc: 1,2,3,4,5), it is beautifully shot, and a number of the scenes are unforgettable .
There's the acting of John Lone, Joan Chen and Peter O'Toole. The soundtrack includes some of Ryuichi Sakamoto's finest work. The director's cut runs twenty minutes short of four hours, but I could still watch more. Nine Oscars, here's the trailer.
Why do I think it's a great film? A number of reasons. The story of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, is a fascinating story. Not only did Bertolucci manage to get permission to film in the Forbidden City and offer a first glipse of the site to the rest of the world (good Discover Channel doc: 1,2,3,4,5), it is beautifully shot, and a number of the scenes are unforgettable .
There's the acting of John Lone, Joan Chen and Peter O'Toole. The soundtrack includes some of Ryuichi Sakamoto's finest work. The director's cut runs twenty minutes short of four hours, but I could still watch more. Nine Oscars, here's the trailer.
posted by metamerist at
8:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home