Flick of The Day: The Last Emperor

Like all the best things in life, the work of Bernardo Bertolucci is an acquired taste. From the rambling 5 hour epic of 1900 to the turgid beauty of Little Buddha to the explicit sexuality of Last Tango in Paris, Bertolucci has always produced cinema that challenged the viewers perceptions and wowed them with beautiful cinematography. 

The Last Emperor

The Last Emperor is perhaps his most complete work and certainly details one of the most compelling stories of recent history. That story is the life story of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, the last ruler of the Ching dynasty of China. His story is told in flashback, opening with the 3 year old Pu Yi being plucked from his mother's arms to be installed in the Forbidden City as the new Emperor. Though he wishes only to be a boy, and play with children his own age, he is gradually cajoled and coerced into accepting his role as a figure head leader. As China changes to a republic, he is forced to abdicate and becomes a prisoner unable to leave the Forbidden City. Longing to experience the modern world, he takes a wife who shares his own vision for a modern China. However he soon becomes a victim of changed times when he is evicted from his Palace in 1924 by an invading warlord.  He moves to the port city of Tientsin, becoming protected by the Japanese government who have envious eyes on China, and becomes something of a playboy.  By the time of the outbreak of the second world war, Pu Yi has been installed as a puppet Emperor of Manchuria by the invading Japanese forces, forced to sign edicts and collaborate against his own people. Pu Yi is perhaps best remembered today for having started life as an Emperor and finishing it as a poor gardener and Bertolucci manages to tell this rich journey without boring the audience.

Peter O'Toole is excellent, in an important role as Pu Yi's tutor, his only link to the outside world and to Pu Yi an almost otherworldly wise figure. The scene in which he leaves Pu Yi to return home is particularly affecting.  It becomes apparent that he was the closest thing to a friend. This is the tragedy of Pu Yi, thrust into a life he didn't want, he never develops into a proper adult having become used to servants at his beck and call and consequently when called upon to make important decisions as an adult, he errs badly, leading to his own ruin. As his tutor puts it:

"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."

Winning a total of 9 Oscars upon its release in 1987, this film is a triumph of style married with substance. It was the first film to be allowed access to the Forbidden City and was given a lot of support by the Chinese government with a cast of thousands on show. The beautiful cinematography captures the faded grandeur of the life of a Chinese Emperor in the early 20th Century. The coronation of Pu Yi stands out as one of the best scenes.

In summary, this is a film you really have to see, with sumptuous costumes and  epic crowd scenes, it is the kind of film-making that just isn't done anymore. It helps that the story of Pu Yi is so compelling, travelling a path from being The Last Emperor to a gardener in Chairman Mao's China. That is some journey and it is well worth the 3 hours or so it takes to tell. Epic.

Flick of The Day: 55 Days At Peking

Ah, the historical epic, something which we have explored before here on Daily Flick. Unlike some of the swords and sandals epics we have previously looked at, this film details an event in history which is today largely forgotten if many know of it all though it is in fact much more relevant, The Boxer Rebellion of 1901. 

55 Days at Peking

Starring Ben Hur himself, the reliable star of so many epics Charlton Heston as an American soldier, 55 Days tells the story of a nationalist uprising in China in 1901 when the eight most powerful western nations of the day, which up until that point had been unimpeded in their attempts to carve China up were caught unawares by a grass roots Chinese rebellion. So it was that the Eight-Nation Alliance, for the record Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Austria-Hugary, France and Italy, held out at the city of Peking for 55 days despite being massively outnumbered. The film does take some liberties with this history but the basic tale is largely accurate with an added romantic subplot involving the character of Baroness Natalie Ivanoff, played by the gorgeous Ava Gardner to keep the audience involved and who can complain about that.

David Niven is perfectly cast as the British Ambassador, bringing his natural charm to the role of Sir Arthur Robinson, the man who insisted on staying and defending Peking, making the character light hearted and witty. A special mention must also be made of Flora Robson who is excellent as the Chinese Empress. There is much to admire apart from the performances of the central characters though, the sets and production values are extravagant even by the standards of the day. Filmed on location in Spain, everything was built from scratch including a full scale 60 acre set of Peking circa 1901 including a working sewer system on the plains outside Madrid. So many Chinese extras were hired for the crowd scenes that "for several months there was scarcely a Chinese restaurant to be found open in the entire country". Extravagance like that has to be seen to be believed.

The historical context of the story is of interest, how many times have you seen the most powerful nations on earth roll their interests together and work toward a common goal? The interplay between the different countries representatives is entertaining particularly between Niven and Heston. Interestingly, Charlton Heston is on record that he enjoyed working with David Niven in sharp contrast to his poisonous relationship with Ava Gardner, something which he blamed on her being unreasonable. 

This was the last film directed by Nicholas Ray, best remembered today for Rebel Without A Cause. If the direction is at times uneven, it is because Ray was replaced halfway through filming after collapsing on set having had a premonition that the epic scale of the film would ruin him and that he would never direct again, as it proved.

Ray pops up as the American Ambassador in a small cameo. He would never receive another directing commission after 55 days and he passed away of lung cancer in 1979.

In summary this is a fine film, with a number of interesting elements from the historical story to the strong leading performances from David Niven and Charlton Heston. It's well worth a look.