Pu Yi, the last emperor of the Manchu Dynasty (and of China in general) and the man whose autobiography served as the basis for this week’s BP, lived an unbelievably crazy life–one that in reality was even more wild than what is depicted in The Last Emperor (1987, Hemdale Film Production; Columbia). He really did become emperor of all of China when a mere toddler, “ruling” for a couple of years until a revolution turned the country into a republic and forced him to abdicate. He actually was shown photographs of several girls before marrying one and picking another to be his imperial concubine. He truly loved the West and became a sort of Western-inspired playboy after being evicted from the Forbidden City. Eastern Jewel (whose real name was Yoshiko Kawashima–well, that’s just one of her real names…) was also a historical woman of Manchu descent who spied for the Japanese, while Pu Yi’s empress really did become an opium addict. Japan set Pu Yi up as puppet emperor of the shortly lived Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo until the end of World War II, when he was captured by Soviet troops, who later turned him over to the Chinese government. Pu Yi (the real one) was surprised when the Chinese didn’t execute him as a traitor–rather, they went for the “reform through labor” option in his case, considering Pu Yi rehabilitated after nine years. The former emperor spent the last few years of his life as a part-time gardener at the Beijing botanical gardens. He died of kidney cancer in 1967. He was only 61 years old.

While many of the events in the film are basically historically correct, what we get in Bernardo Bertolucci’s movie is a very sanitized portrayal of Chinese history–sanctioned by the Communist Chinese government. Although gaining the government’s approval allowed Bertolucci access to film in the famed and spectacular Forbidden City, it also meant that historical accuracy had to be sacrificed to make the Chinese government look good. Specifically, scenes in which Pu Yi and other “war criminals” are “re-educated” while imprisoned in a Chinese work camp (with a wise, compassionate overseer) drastically downplay the deplorable conditions and hidden horrors the prisoners were forced to endure.

Despite its lukewarm embrace of historicity, The Last Emperor achieved the stunning and rare feat of sweeping all the Oscar categories for which it was nominated (only 1927/28’s Wings, 1931/32’s Grand Hotel, 1934’s It Happened One Night, 1958’s Gigi, and 2003’s The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King share this accomplishment so far). The Last Emperor took home nine Academy Awards for the following nine categories: Art Direction, Sound, Film Editing, Costume Design, Cinematography, Music (Original Score), Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium), Directing for Bernardo Bertolucci, and Best Picture.

So why this film in 1987? From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi was originally published in 1964, so the story had been out there for a while. I have a couple of thoughts on this. First, Mao Zedong, the “founding father” of the People’s Republic of China had passed away in 1976, and China was in the midst of some changes in the 1980s: economically, socially, internationally (as in China’s increasing openness to the outside world). It is also interesting to note that in the very year The Last Emperor was released, 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan urged Mikhail Gorbachev, leader of Soviet Russia, to tear down the Berlin Wall, perhaps the most famous physical symbol of Communist oppression. Hence, during a pretty high-profile time for Communists, we get a film that prominently features this group of people–yet the movie is much more tame than something we would see today due to: 1.) the fact that the fall of Communism in much of the world was still a couple of years away, and 2.) the Chinese government, while reinventing itself without Mao, was still Communist, after all. Participation in world cinema was becoming more of an option for the Chinese, but the government still wanted to control all the dialogue (especially when what was being said–or shown–had to do with their political party and their rivals, like the former emperor).

For more thoughts on The Last Emperor and its significance, please check out this weekend’s post!