A classic

I already saw this movie but it was such a long time ago and since I had it on DVD, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, to be honest, I was actually rather disappointed that they shot this movie in English instead of Mandarin of Manchurian which was probably the language spoken by the Emperor. Then, even though it was almost 3 hours long, it still must be the most accessible movie directed by Bertolucci. Basically, it was pretty much a rather straightforward biopic but it doesn't mean that I didn't seriously enjoy it though. Indeed, even though storywise, it was nothing really groundbreaking, it was visually really impressive and, by far, the most ambitious feature in this area delivered by the Italian master. Concerning the story, not only it was an entertaining tale about the life of the last Emperor of China, it also provided a fascinating view on 60 years of Chinese history. Of course, you might argue that some of the facts had been dramatised to make the whole thing more suitable for the silver screen but you can assume that most of it was actually fairly accurate. Above all, I thought it was quite interesting to learn that the Emperor, right from the beginning of his reign, didn't have any power whatsoever making his life even more peculiar to follow. Anyway, to conclude, it is pretty much a classic and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.