What's It All About, Pu Yi?

Rating: Null/10 (29 September 2002)

This film used to be classified as "Much Ado About Nothing," with the nothing being the character of Pu Yi, but the question after years of viewing and thought becomes, "What's it all about?" Bertolucci spends tons of money and showcases opulence on a epic scale to tell the story of a man who descended into anonymity, who journeyed from greatness into cypher-dom, who make terrible decisions and was guided by selfish desires. The greatness of "The Last Emperor" is in that question; Bertolucci taunts and challenges his audience to digest the once-lived visuals, the pomposity of the circumstance and realize life's absurdity and folly. "The Last Emperor" is a religious allegory, but instead of raising religion on a pedastal, Bertolucci mocks God and religion, ultimately praising humanism, as portrayed in the final shots, as an older, "educated" Pu Yi shares the only lasting joy and wonderful memory of his childhood, the grasshopper.
Vittorio Storaro brings as much to the design of this film as Ferdinando Scarfiotti, masterfully working bold strokes of color to emphasis the film's emotion. The contrast of Italian imagery with Eastern subject is a fantastic dissonance few filmmakers can successfully achieve. The modern air these characters breathe lends credibility to Peploe's screenplay: human characters caught in the turmoil of intrigue and impending death always react in an amoral way, justifying their brutality as survival. Many of the supporting characters, while never gaining audience empathy, defend the argument of their actions of drug-abuse, treachery, and psychological cannibalism.
Sexual frankness is always a element to Bertolucci's films and his restraint here is both sensual and offensive. Brando sodomizes with butter, but the three-way here is performed under opaque silk, lending it a more sensual air, but shields us from forbidden, exotic sex. Is the Orient still taboo? Must we only be privy to the hairy, primal animalistic behavior of European sexuality, and not voyeurs into the smooth, delicate moves of another region's sexual play? It is a surprising move from such an erotically provocative director, and while one may actually blame Puttnam's regime (the releasing studio was Columbia Pictures) for the censorship, Bertolucci's artistic power should have won the argument.
As a stand-alone work of art, discounting the crass nine Oscars and its piddling box office stature, this film is harmed by its use of flashback, a contrived device to show off symbolism and color, more than an indictment of the infant regime "educating" war criminals. It doesn't know where to take this guilty verdict, as the film ends during the "cultural" revolution, depicting the never-ending flip-flopping of political ideologies. Would it have been more powerful to unravel the linear story line from epic to personal? It will forever remain unanswered.
Joan Chen is an exciting presence, and with this film, proves herself one of the most beautiful woman in the world. John Lone is adequate in the title role, but is intimdated by Bertolucci's direction. While passionate as a child, the character's battles become more internal and do not register. As a device, it supports the thesis of the character, but as a performance it loses the audience's interest. We become more fascinated with the cruelty of the household than the political intrigues that forced Pu Yi's hand to the Russians. A more defiant Lone may have struggled with Bertolucci, but the result would have been a more fascinating portrayal.
Despite criticism, this remains a film that must be viewed in letterbox and in surround sound (if possible). Its title sequence alone is worth the price of admission and is a hell of a precursor to the experience one has watching this film. The score (credited to three composers), is melodramatic and luscious, working our emotions and exhilirating the piece. It is gorgeous and enhances our experience. It is recommended to cinema lovers everyone and the challenge remains to answer the question: "What's it all about?"