45 out of 45 people found this review helpful.
Requires reflection, a quiet film
Date of Review: Jul 7, 2006
The Bottom Line: If you are a patient viewer and like historical dramas, this is a good one.
This film tells the story of Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China. It is a long, quiet, detailed film, that focuses on how Pu Yi was molded to completely not fit in with the times and the needs of China. He is a virtual bank-vault of contradictions. What if you are the Emperor of a country that no longer wants an emperor? What if you are raised being repeatedly told that you can have anything you want, but you are also a prisoner in your own home and not even allowed to be with your family? What if you are worshipped and doted upon a household of servants, who are actually parasites living off their royal duties? What if you are told you are being given a full education, but are never allowed to interact with other children, taught how to ride a bike, or allowed to see what is beyond the walls around you?
Story-wise, the plot is not complex. Viewers get to watch Pu Yi go from infant to toddler to boy to teen to young adult. He tries to find moments of joy and freedom, but most of his life is very organized (by others). He has a strange relationship with his wet-nurse, who remains his wet-nurse well beyond his toddlerhood. While he tries to figure out love as a young adult, it is the relationship with the wet-nurse that seems least forced, most natural to him.
John Lone plays Pu Yi, and he manages to be both spoiled and pitiable, intelligent but ignorant, adept and inept, and admirable and occasionally loathsome. In short, he portrays exactly the person that Pu Yi's bizarre upbringing would create. He is seldom happy.
Peter O'Toole does his usual excellent job, as he portrays the English tutor of Pu Yi through his later childhood. The tutor teaches much but, unintentionally, pushes Pu Yi even further away from the role he must play. O'Toole's character wants to rebel against the rules imposed by the Imperial household, and wants his student to do the same, but neither dares to stray too far.
The story starts with Pu Yi entering prison camp as an adult living in the Communist People's Republic of China. The film then alternates between the story of the former Emperor's experiences as a prisoner, and flashbacks of his childhood and history before the Communists took control. The flashbacks gradually catch up to the other story-line, and they become one. That sequencing was beautifully done, with the changes in time-line causing no interruption in the film's flow.
The movie's ending, which I will not spoil, was startling to me. After a fairly long movie that was based in a harsh and bleak reality, there is a flash of suggested supernatural symbolism. I had to rewind to make sure I had seen it right. I had. It was amazing. I still am surprised by what happened there.
Overall, this film is a keeper, but only if you are a patient viewer. History buffs will like it most.
(this dolphin also Rambles around the Amazon's waters)
