My primary issue with THE LAST EMPEROR, Bernardo Bertolucci's 1987 Oscar-winning epic and also last night's Reel 13 Classic, is one of clarity. It's a delicate balance because while one never wants to beat its audience over the head with information, one also needs to make sure the audience understands the action and the characters' motivations. I remember thinking early in the film that the scene with the empress dowager was overly expositional as she, minutes away from her death, explained everything that was going on to a three year-old boy that clearly had no idea what she was saying. Of course, she was explaining it to us, but this manner of revealing information was a bit clunky in that scene.
As the film went on, however, the opposite problem existed. I have a basic working knowledge of Chinese history, probably slightly more than the average American, but found myself often confused during the frequent exchanges of power and which military group or warlord was taking over this year. It's not so much that I needed to understand every detail of every coup or all the political maneuverings, but I feel like I needed more information to understand the decisions were being made by our protagonist. History shows that Pu Li a.k.a. The Last Emperor made some pretty poor decisions in the 30's and 40's, but the film doesn't do enough, in my mind, to explain where his head was at or what his motivations were in making those choices. As a film viewer, I want to be engaged enough to be strategizing with our protagonist. It's okay if we disagree with his or her choice, but it is the responsibility of the film to make their reasons clear. Otherwise, the film starts to feel empty. On the whole, the film seems to make the choice to depict the journey of the Chinese government instead of the journey of the titular character. Occasionally, Bertolucci throws me some character bones, like a scene showing the devolution of the emperor's marriage (to the delectable Joan Chen) or an uplifting scene where he tries to rescue his former captor, but on the whole, the film is about the mess that was China in the first half of the twentieth century, only told through the eyes of this boy who was to be the last one to sit on the imperial throne.
Of course, the craft and design elements of the film are without parallel. The warm color palette of reds, yellows and oranges for the flashbacks that dominate the film are extremely rich and visually stunning. Bertolucci's frequent collaborator Vittorio Storaro is at the top of his game, enriching Ferdinando Scarfiotti's sets with his carefully placed and unobtrusive lights. James Acheson's costumes are gorgeous and extremely detailed. There is no question that the achievements of these individuals, ostensibly under Bertolucci's supervision, deserves all the praise it bestowed upon them in 1987.
At the heart of any film, however, regardless of its epic scope or impressive visuals, is its story and how that story is unfolded to the audience. The result of many of the choices Bertolucci, co-screenwriter Mark Peploe and also even possibly editors Gabriella Cristiani and Anthony Sloman made is that the film, to me, was kind of boring. In attempting to cover so much ground and so many years, they diffused the impact of any sort of emotional momentum they managed to build and they lost me as a result. Pretty pictures, historically informative, but very little soul.
(For more information on "The Last Emperor" or any other Reel 13 Classics, visit their website at www.reel13.org)