The last emperor review

There is a famous saying that some are born into greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them: for this film that saying is a gross understatement. Part history lesson part biography this is the telling of the life story of Pu-yi, the last emperor of China. Now part of me is tempted to go over the amazing history of this iconic figure but that would become a short novel of a review and that is not what my reviews are about so I'll leave you to discover for yourselves what a monument of cinematography this movie is. However, I will let you in on a little secret which is that after watching this you will want to go see the forbidden city (now known as the palace museum) in China with your own eyes. Take note that there are two versions of this film; a theatrical version running time of 163 minutes and an extended version with an added 60 minutes plus. The theatrical version does an adequate job of portraying the story but watching the extended version is like icing on the cake and not a stretch like you might imagine in fact, in many incidents you're left wanting more. As you can tell I really enjoyed this movie (perhaps my fascination with Japanese/Chinese culture strongly influences this). Most of the shots taken from within the forbidden city are truly breathtaking and make you want to see more of the city/palace. I feel like kicking myself for leaving this DVD on my shelf gathering dust and not seeing it earlier. A worthy addition to any DVD collection. If I go on with the praise any longer I guess I won't stop so I'll just say go see it. You'll be glad you did.

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