This DVD item from Live / Artisan was reviewed on 16-Oct-2008. The Last Emperor - Director's Cut Reference DVD. Classifications : China By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Video General AAS Hong Kong By Country Art House & International Genres DVD Video General AAS Italy By Country Art House & International Genres DV . Click the following link to view the cover of The Last Emperor - Director's Cut. Related topics: 1987-12-18. China. By Country. Genres. DVD. Video. General AAS. Hong Kong. By Country. Genres. DVD. requestid: 68485592-4d81-4b84-b7b2-1934aae5f55a
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1) DVD DVD The Last Emperor - Director's Cut by Live / Artisan. If you enjoyed this movie as much as I did you will want it in you DVD library, however, be aware of the fact that there is a Chinese version which is in Mandarin. I ordered the Chinese version by mistake because at the time it was not clear that it was not in English.¤ 2) DVD DVD The Last Emperor - Director's Cut by Live / Artisan. I agree 100% with Nix Pix. He said it all. I only wish to reiterate here. Amazing film but world´s worst DVD transfer. Shame on ARTISAN for releasing such an inferior product. DO NOT waste your time or money on this version. Even if you find it in a bargain bin for 99 cents, leave it alone. Unless you need a new coaster or something.
Instead buy the new Criterion 4 disc remastered version. A little more expensive but well worth it. The preservation of excellent cinema alone justifies the expenditure. Better picture, better sound and finally the correct aspect ratio. Criterion is where it´s at.¤ 3) DVD DVD The Last Emperor - Director's Cut by Live / Artisan. It comes out at the end of February and well worth the wait. Search it out!¤ 4) DVD DVD The Last Emperor - Director's Cut by Live / Artisan. "The Last Emperor" tells the amazing true story of Pu Yi,the Middle Kingdom´s last emperor. From its gripping opening sequence in which the young Pu Yi is torn from his mother´s arms to his life as a nobody in the gray blandness of Communist China, it is a powerful spectacle. Ryuichi Sakamoto&David Byrne´s soundtrack captures the epic sweep of the movie. Bernardo Bertolucci´s direction is superb&his international cast is perfect.
"The Last Emperor" begins with Pu Yi being taken to the Forbidden City. He grows up under the shadow of the menacing Empress Dowager; he is incredibly dependent on his voluptuous wet nurse,who still breastfeeds him when he´s older. Eunuchs surround him. When he is enthroned as emperor,he´s worshipped as a living god. All very heady stuff for a young child. Growing up,he is naive to the eunuchs robbing him blind;he´s as much a slave as his own slaves are. Reginald Johnston (Peter O´Toole) comes into Pu Yi´s life as the first father figure he´s ever had,instructing him in Western culture. In accordance with royal norms, Pu Yi takes a wife Wan Jung (the luminous Joan Chen) and a concubine. When the Chinese Empire is overthrown, Pu Yi is vulnerable to Japan´s offer of Manchukuo. They prey on his weakness,his desire for power. Pu Yi´s life crumbles around him. His concubine is impregnated by his taxi driver (she gets a forced abortion);his wife carries on a passionate affair with a beautiful female Japanese spy&succumbs to a fatal opium addiction. Pu Yi´s life goes from one form of imprisonment to another. From being imprisoned in the Forbidden City,he goes to being a prisoner of Communism. Communist China is just as oppressive,though it proclaims uniformity&equality. Instead of spectacles of lamas sounding horns, Pu Yi beholds the spectacle of the Red Army dancing as they wave Mao´s Little Red Book. A kindly jailer befriends Pu Yi-only to be killed arbitrarily during the Cultural Revolution. Pu Yi survives Communism; it doesn´t save him.
"The Last Emperor" succeeds in painting the portrait of an era. It shows how much China changed over the course of nearly a century. However,there are some interesting details that got lost,for logical reasons. Bertolucci depicts Pu Yi as a passionate heterosexual man,joyously making love to his wife&his concubine. In fact,Pu Yi never consummated any of his marriages,abandoned his Empress on their wedding night&there´s compelling speculation that he was in fact gay. Reginald Johnston is depicted as a celibate bachelor. It´s true Johnston never married. However,when he returned to Scotland,he had two different girlfriends there,one of whom burned his letters to her after his death.
"The Last Emperor" is a ravishing,sensual spectacle. It inspired me to write an "alternate history" in which Wan Jung finds solace&love in Reginald Johnston´s arms instead of getting addicted to opium. One can only wonder what sort of rating this movie would´ve had if Ang Lee had choreographed love scenes between Peter O´Toole and Joan Chen. Lust,caution indeed. "The Last Emperor" is a powerful,superb spectacle. Enjoy!¤ 5) DVD DVD The Last Emperor - Director's Cut by Live / Artisan. This is the AUTHENTIC ARTISAN RELEASE of "The Last Emperor". The other DVD listings are for CRAPPY Korean and Chinese Counterfeit R1 Imports. Asian Regions do not Manufacture legitimate Region 1 for Export. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! I can´t figure out why Amazon allows the other illegal counterfeits to be listed on their website!!?? Is Amazon turning into FakE-BAY?¤ 6) DVD DVD The Last Emperor - Director's Cut by Live / Artisan. Everything that was good about the 163-minute theatrical release of Bernardo Bertolucci´s The Last Emperor in 1987 is even better in this new 218-minute director´s cut. By contrast, much that was peculiarly distant and lifeless the first time around isn´t really better or worse in this edition. Conclusion: the net gains are considerable if you invest time to appreciate Bertolucci´s full feeling for the odd story of Pu Yi, China´s final monarch. You remember the saga: taken from his mother at the age of three, Pu Yi is brought into the enclosed walls of the Forbidden City to replace the real emperor. There he becomes a pampered prisoner and hollow symbol of an older monarchy that has since given way to a ruthless, 20th century republic. With his pining loyalists beheaded or kept at bay by armed soldiers outside the City´s walls, Pu Yi is tutored by an English gentleman (Peter O´Toole) and wed to a kindred spirit (Joan Chen). Eventually cast from his gated paradise, Pu Yi (wonderfully portrayed in adulthood by John Lone) becomes, by turns, a playboy, a dupe to the Japanese, and a victim of China´s cultural reforms and re-education programs. This longer cut largely top-loads the film with greater reason to feel compassion for the emperor, with his often wordless sense-adventure in the mysteries that could only be known to one little boy plunged into indecipherable alien decorum, robbed of self-determination and common sense by his infinite privilege. Added scenes (including some in the political rehabilitation camp where Pu Yi is held for a decade) fill out not so much added facts as density of experience. This improved The Last Emperor is richer in soul and a pronounced sense of Bertolucci actually directing this film in the most personal and profound sense. --Tom Keogh¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 13-Nov-2008, 6305261032012236049609, 326-PTB-9UB-COB-UAB-OAB-6OB-8 
The Last Emperor - Director's Cut, DVD, Image © Live / Artisan
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