The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
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The Last Emperor
Drama · History · 1987
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
Movie details
The Last Emperor
“1500 slaves. 353,260,000 royal subjects. Warlords. Concubines. And 2 wives. He was the loneliest boy in the world.”
1987 Drama · History 2h 43m
Critical arithmetic
The consensus, allegedly.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
IMDb
7.7 / 10
118.9K votes
Rotten Tomatoes
86 %
Tomatometer
Metacritic
76 / 100
Metascore
TMDB
7.6 / 10
Community rating
External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Last Emperor?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Bernardo Bertolucci
Written by
Mark Peploe · Bernardo Bertolucci
John Lone
Pu Yi (Adult)
Joan Chen
Wan Jung
Peter O'Toole
Reginald Johnston (R.J.)
Ruocheng Ying
The Governor
Victor Wong
Chen Pao Shen
Dennis Dun
Big Li
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Amakasu
Court is in session
Put The Last Emperor on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.