A Unique Film

Rating: 9/10 (11 September 2005)

This is a unique film because it is a unique story. Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi (also known as Henry Pu Yi) was the last emperor of China, who spent most of his early life as a puppet of others. He was then re-educated into an ordinary citizen (He worked as a gardener) in the People's Republic of China. The exciting thing from our point of view is that Henry Pu Yi wrote an autobiography ("From Emperor to Citizen"), and it is largely on this book that the film is based.
The colourful pageantry in this film is superb - utterly unforgettable. Unfortunately the characterisation is not so well thought out. Only as the cheerful gardener does Pu Yi become anything approaching real - which may be the truth anyway. Otherwise the film becomes a series of historical events, which could well bamboozle anyone who does not know their history, since it is often not quite clear what is actually going on. Having said this, the tragedy of Pu Yi's life - and it was mostly tragedy - comes through well. As well as the end, that although stripped of title, riches, wife, etc, Pu Yi the gardener, the citizen of Red China, is now a free man, comes through well, too.
One can find faults with this film - or to be more exact, what one would think are faults - but to list these would prove nothing. This film treads new ground. It is difficult to make, with three actors playing the same person. You have to watch this film, because it will improve the way you view other people, and you will see the tragedy of monarchy: that the monarch himself becomes little more than a specimen in a zoo - rather like the cricket kept in the jar underneath the throne. It will also whet your appetite to read "From Emperor to Citizen" which contains much information that the film could not show.