The Last Emperor Scene from The Last Emperor (1987), directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. DeA Picture LibraryThe movie begins in 1950 with the arrival of Pu Yi (played by ) at a prison in China, where he attempts suicide but is revived by the prison governor (Ruocheng Ying). The story then unfolds as a series of intercut with scenes of Pu Yi’s reeducation. In 1908, at the age of three, Pu Yi (Richard Vuu) is summoned to the by the (Lisa Lu), who declares him emperor. The confused child undergoes a coronation ceremony and is introduced to the hundreds of palace and maids who are to wait upon him.
The only familiar figure is his nurse, Ar Mo (Jade Go). By the time Pu Yi is eight years old (now played by Tsou Tijger), he has gotten used to court life. His family arrives, and, though he no longer remembers them, his seven-year-old brother, Pu Chieh (Henry Kyi), remains in the Forbidden City to be a playmate and companion to the emperor.
Joaquin Phoenix has won his first ever Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards and delivered a powerful speech about equality, animal rights and his brother, River Phoenix, who died in 1993.
After a revolution overthrows the, Pu Yi learns that he is the emperor only of the Forbidden City; outside of those walls, China is now a republic. In 1919 the Scotsman Reginald F.
Johnston ( ) becomes the tutor of Pu Yi (Tao Wu), and he provides Pu Yi with information about the world outside the Forbidden City. He gives his charge a, on which Pu Yi attempts to escape the grounds. In 1922 a wife, Wan Jung (Joan Chen), is chosen for Pu Yi (now played by Lone), and he also takes a secondary wife, Wen Hsiu (Jun Wu). The Last Emperor Actor John Lone (left) and director Bernardo Bertolucci during the filming of The Last Emperor (1987). © Fabian Cevallos/CorbisIn 1924 Pu Yi and all the other occupants are ordered to leave the Forbidden City. He and his wives take up residence in the Japanese-occupied area within, where they enjoy a relaxed and lifestyle. Pu Yi becomes known as Henry and Wan Jung as Elizabeth.
Sometime after Johnston returns to the West, Pu Yi travels to the Japanese puppet state of in, and in 1934 he is installed as emperor of that state, though he is just a pawn of Japan. After a trip to Tokyo, Pu Yi is required to sign an edict appointing a new, and Wan Jung is sent away. In 1945, after the fall of Japan in, Pu Yi is captured by Russian troops. Intercut with the flashbacks, the prisoner Pu Yi learns for the first time in his life to take care of his own personal needs, and he renounces his cooperation with the Japanese. He is released in 1959 and becomes a gardener. Later, in 1967 during the, he sees a parade in which the former prison governor who helped him with his rehabilitation is being humiliated as an enemy of the revolution. In the final scenes, Pu Yi visits the Forbidden City as a tourist, and 20 years later a tour guide leads American tourists into the palace’s throne room.The Last Emperor was based on Puyi’s autobiography, From Emperor to Citizen (published in English in 1964–65).
It was the first feature film permitted to be filmed inside the Forbidden City. The movie was well received by critics in spite of its having extremely limited distribution in the United States prior to winning the Academy Awards.
It happens often. Director-actor Clint Eastwood drops a last-minute movie into theatres, and the Oscar® race drastically changes. The Academy loves Eastwood’s method of storytelling, so movies like AMERICAN SNIPER (2014), LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (2006) and MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004) arrive late in the calendar year, and then contend for the Oscars.Even when he doesn’t make it into the awards conversation, Clint Eastwood always flirts with the possibility of Oscar success with late-arriving movies like THE MULE (2018), J.
EDGAR (2011) and GRAN TORINO (2008). Eastwood will try to capture Oscar’s eye — and entertain an audience — later this season with RICHARD JEWELL. But will it make Oscar waves? Tickets for RICHARD JEWELL are now on sale, so grab them, and then keep reading.Here’s why the film has a chance. The story is based on true and relatively recent events, meaning it falls into a category genre for Eastwood where he has delivered memorable features such as SULLY, INVICTUS and THE 15:17 TO PARIS.
The director enjoys finding drama in ripped-from-the-headlines narratives, and RICHARD JEWELL has the potential to tap into that same vein.Eastwood’s new movie takes audiences back to 1996, when security guard Richard Jewell (Paul Walter Hauser) saved lives by warning people about an explosive device in the Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Initially, Jewell was hailed as a hero, an everyman who risked his life to save others. Eventually, though, the media needed someone to blame for the device, and when Jewell became one of many suspects in the case, the news vilified this innocent man. Ideal material for Eastwood to explore. And the director has surrounded his lead, Paul Walter Hauser, with a strong stable of supporting players. Kathy Bates is a standout in the trailer as Richard’s supportive mother, Bobi.
Meanwhile, RICHARD JEWELL rounds out with performances from Sam Rockwell, Olivia Wilde and Jon Hamm.This project once was in the hands of Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio, who flirted with the idea after they collaborated with Martin Scorsese on THE WOLF OF WALL STREET. It eventually made its way to Clint Eastwood, and he quietly prepped it so it could be a 2019 Oscar contender.Tickets for RICHARD JEWELL are on sale now, so grab your seats at your local AMCC theatre and get ready to see the drama unfold when the movie opens everywhere on December 13.