1987 The Last Emperor

1987 The Last Emperor

The real Emperor Pu Yi.

"The Emperor has been a prisoner in his own palace since the day that he was crowned, and has remained a prisoner since he abdicated.  But now he's growing up, he may wonder why he's the only person in China who may not walk out of his own front door.  I think the Emperor is the loneliest boy on Earth."

The Last Emperor is about the last Emperor of China, Emperor Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi.  He is crowned at the age of three inside the Forbidden City, a strange city from another time, enclosed by a wall and functioning like its own peculiar little world.

This is a guy who went through a lot of upheaval throughout his life.  One moment he is like a god, the next nothing.  I think he was a mostly good guy whose behavior wasn't always the best -mostly because he had a bizarre upbringing and a life that would leave any person confused.  And in spite of his regal title, he never really has much control over his own fate.

Pu Yi's life is first turned upside down when he is taken from his mother as a small child to be made Emperor.  A nanny, wives of the former Emperor, and eunuchs raise him, though he in charge, and can run wild if he chooses.  Often he opts to misbehave, tormenting his caregivers, bossing people around, and throwing tantrums -one time instructing one of his servants to drink ink to prove a point.

The Forbidden City.

When he is older, his nanny is taken from him, which is very traumatic, especially as he has no friends, and can only rarely receive visits from his younger brother and mother.

He also finds out that, despite what he has been brought up believing, he has no real power in China -only within the Forbidden City.  This is devastating to his young mind, as it goes against everything he has been made to to believe:

Pu Yi: Am I still the Emperor?
Tutor: You will always be the Emperor...inside the Forbidden City.  But not outside.
Pu Yi: I do not understand.
Tutor: Outside China is now a Republic with a President.
Pu Yi hires an Englishman teacher (Reginald Johnston, played by Peter O'Toole, who is great), who teaches him more about the outside world.

Reginald Johnston and Pu Yi.

He can do whatever he likes, except leave the Forbidden City (not even when his mother dies, which sends him into hysterics: "I'm going to see her, and my brother...Open the door.  Open the door.  Open the door...I want to go out!  I want to go out!").

Though desperate to leave, he is distracted by his marriage to two girls: the Empress, and the Second Consort:

Pu Yi: Not just one wife.  One Empress and one Secondary Consort.  Two wives.
Johnston: But, who did you choose to be the Empress?
Pu Yi: They chose her, she's very old, Johnston.  She's seventeen.
Johnston: That's not so old, Your Majesty.  What does she look like?
Pu Yi: Old-fashioned.  I want a modern wife, Johnston.  Who speaks English and French.  And who can dance the quickstep.  I'm going to escape, Johnston.  I've got a suitcase and a ticket to English.  I'm going to Oxford University.
Johnston: Your Majesty, if you get married, you will become the master of your own house.  A wedding might be a more practical way to escape.

Though chafing against the idea of an arranged marriage, he likes both girls.  With a new sense of independence, he begins to take more control within the Forbidden City, expelling the eunuchs he believes have been stealing from him.  He also begins to dream of having real power restored to him:

Empress Wanrong: What is his Majesty thinking?
Pu Yi: I was thinking if I was a real Emperor, I would become the ruler of China now.
Wanrong: And what would the Emperor do if he could really rule?
Pu Yi: I would change everything.  Even the way we get married.
Wanrong: Is the Emperor against arranged marriages?
Pu Yi: It is humiliating not to choose whom you marry.

Evicted with his two wives.

Outside the Forbidden City, changes are running rampant throughout China.  Frequent revolutions and coup d'etats shake up the country, and with one of these, Pu Yi and the royal family are ousted from the Forbidden City.  Now a young man, Pu Yi finally gets his wish to leave his secure bubble of a world for the first time since he was three years old, though this is no longer as attractive to him as it once seemed: "I always thought I hated it here.  But now I am afraid to leave."

The Japanese take them in, and he and his wives begin living a stylish, Westernized existence in exile.  His Second Consort, Wen Hsiu, becomes unhappy with her new status, as her position means nothing outside of the Forbidden City.  To the great unhappiness of Pu Yi and and Empress Wanrong, she leaves.  Empress Wanrong is devastated to lose her only friend, and turns to opium as she sinks further and further into depression.

The Japanese, conquering Manchuria from the Chinese, instate Pu Yi as puppet ruler of that region.  Again he is an Emperor, but again he is basically a prisoner, this time of the Japanese, with no power of his own.  To make matters worse, his wife is impregnated by another man, and her baby is killed by her doctors at birth, which drives the Empress to insanity.  Pu Yi indicates later, when he is in prison, that he had some knowledge of this, as he mutters "I let it happen," to himself in dismay while remembering.

With the defeat of the Japanese by the Americans in WWII, his reign is over, and he is captured by the Soviets and turned over to the Chinese authorities as a traitor and a war prisoner.  He tries to kill himself, but is saved against his will.  While serving out his sentence, he is forced to live like the other prisoners, taking care of himself, taking shifts cleaning, and being reeducated by the Communist prison guards.

He learns to become very humble, taking on all the blame of the mistakes of his life and more:

Prison Commander: Perhaps you think we're here to teach men to lie in a new way?  Why did you sign every accusation made against you?  I didn't stop you from killing yourself to see you like this!  Someone who will sign anything to please his enemies... to please me!  You knew about a lot of things in Manchukuo -even the secret agreements.  But you couldn't possibly have known about the Japanese biological warfare experiments in Harbin!  Could you?  So why did you sign these papers?
Pu Yi: I was responsible for everything.
Prison Commander: You are responsible for what you do!  All your life you thought you were better than everyone else.  Now you think you're the worst of all!
Pu Yi: Why can you not leave me alone?  You saved my life to make me a puppet in your own play.  You saved me because I am useful to you.
Prison Commander: Is that so terrible?  To be useful?

The movie ends with him having completed his sentence, and living as a poor gardener.  China has again undergone political change with the Cultural Revolution, and he sees his old prison commander, whom he had come to respect, being led down the street as a prisoner.  Pu Yi tries to defend him, telling one of the guards, "Comrade.  This must be a mistake, I know this man.  He is a good man...He is a teacher.  He is a good teacher.  You cannot do this to him!" but he is thrown aside.

The final scene shows Pu Yi visiting the Forbidden City, and telling a young boy that he used to be Emperor.  He sits on his old throne, produces a cricket he received as a child from a hidden compartment, and hands it to the boy, who looks up to find Pu Yi has vanished.

It was a really interesting movie, but like many movies showing the end of an era, it is sad.

Though in some ways Pu Yi needed humbling, you feel sorry for him when you see how far he's fallen, and how much he has lost.  Throughout his life, he is a puppet and a prisoner to other people's whims and plans.  The people he loves are torn away from him, and his life is never really his own.

Wen Hsiu (left) and Queen Amidala from Star Wars (right).

 The customs and costumes shown in the Forbidden City are pretty amazing.  We certainly see where George Lucas got his inspiration for Queen Amidala's look.