Reviews (103)

Masterpiece!
If you somehow missed this one, do yourself a favor and make time available in your schedule for viewing this masterpiece from director Bernardo Bertolucci! Nine academy awards, including Best Picture [1987], only gives partial credit to this magnificently epic and absolutely unforgettable true story. It is the story of Pu Yi, who at the age of 3 comes to the Imperial Dragon Throne to become the Last Emperor of China. His whole life is spanned in this film, from his childhood, to his ultimate fate as an unskilled gardener in the streets of Bejing. Throughout this film we are treated to a cinematic feast for the senses, so rich in detail and imagery, you will be compelled to see it again as soon as possible (I saw it again the very next night!). You will have felt the full range of emotions from having experienced this movie, and few others in recent memory have mesmerized me so totally in an almost 3 hour (164 min) time span. Truly one of the greatest films of all time! Masterpiece!

Bertolucci's Last Epic!
By that I mean with great respect! Bernardo Bertolucci is known for such cinematic extravaganzas as 1973's LAST TANGO IN PARIS and 1977's 1900; and to add to his credits, 1987's Best Picture winner THE LAST EMPEROR!

A film of major diversity. An Italian director (Bertolucci), a predominately Chinese cast including frequent costars John Lone and Joan Chen, British actor and seven-time Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole, an American producer named Jeremy Thomas, and distributed by an American studio, Columbia Pictures!

John Lone is the title character, Chinese emperor "Henry" Pu-Yi, who became the last Emperor of China at the age of 3, and would be the "Lord of Ten Thousand Years!" Nothing would prepare him for the change that would eventually occur when he is forced into abdication, forced into retaking his kingdom, and forcing him to attempt suicide after his arrest and capture by Chinese and Russian communist troops after World War II. Eventually, after serving his time for conspiracy, he released from prison and lives out the rest of his life in 1967 -- as a simple gardner.

Imagine. From Emperor to gardner, totally heartbreaking! Heartbreaking is the fact that it cost him EVERYTHING! His wife "Elizabeth" Wan Jung, played with grace by the gorgeous Joan Chen; his kingdom and his freedom. But, you can't simply hate the guy! He is, of course, a man who was spoiled by his servants and soldiers as a child.

The film has both an epic scope and an excellently-written character story. (Though most historians believed that the film embellished on certain facts, like Pu-Yi's homosexuality.) It is played competently by an Asian cast and a wonderfully witty Peter O'Toole, who should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor that year, as the Emperor's patient tutor Reginald "R.J." Johnston.

Needless to say, I cried at the very end of this film! I LOVED that scene between the elder Pu-Yi and a little boy who appears to be just like the Emperor as a child. And the symbolic message this film taught with the cricket in the jar, as the little boy opens the jar to reveal the insect (by then, Pu-Yi has magically disappeared). An epic film with a heart (like my PRISONER OF WAR)!

Winner of all 9 of its nominations including: Best Picture - Jeremy Thomas, producer; Best Director - Bernardo Bertolucci; Best Adapted Screenplay - Bertolucci and Mark Peploe; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Score; Best Sound; and Best Film Editing.

THIS FILM IS APPROXIMATELY: 2 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES.

But well worth it!

great film, awful dvd
I had the misfortune to buy this BEFORE I read the Amazon reviews and discovered that the DVD looked awful-a particular injustice for a film that won Best Picture. It's only 17 years old; there are films from the 30's that look great on DVD! I see though that in the U.K. they released a 2-disc version with commentary and both the original theatrical cut as well as the director's cut. I assume it's also restored and anamorphic and can only hope that we get an American version soon. The movie gets 5 stars, even at 219 minutes. The DVD gets 1 star, so that averages out to a generous 3.

Breathtakingly Beautiful, Decadent and Misconceived.
I revere every Bertoluccifs work tremendously, and this lavish film is no exception.
I was completely mesmerised by the view of the Forbidden City, beautiful period costumes of the Emperor and the Imperial family with which the director says he really cared about the historical accuracy to recreate as well as other things.
The historical accuracy is, however, not necessarily applied to the part of which Japan was involved. The foundation of Manshu-koku, (Manchukuo is the Chinese word) and the restoration of the Manchu Emperor Pfu Yi, and the alleged atrocities made to the Japanese Imperial Army, namely, gRape of Nankingh, etc. It is so because both Bernaldo Bertolucci and the producer Jeremy Thomas seem to have truly believed in the auto-biography of Pfu Yi, gFrom Emperor to Citizenh that written for propaganda purpose, and the Frank Caprafs U.S. propaganda film; gThe Battle of Chinah at their face values.
First thing is first, Chinese Communistfs gbrainwashingh undeniably exists. In the same year this film first came out, 1987, gFrom Emperor to Citizenh was re-published by Oxford University Press with new comprehensive general introduction and chapter introductions by W.J.F. Jenner, the translator of the original 1964 gdeliberately restricted editionh published by Foreign Language Press, BeiJing.
Jenner explains; gThe special consideration shown Pfu Yi and other high-ranking Manchukuo(sic), Japanese, and Nationalist officials cannot be regarded as typical of Chinese prison conditions. These were all people of potential value in winning over others in future, and political considerations saved them from the harsh justice that many lesser figures received.h And, Jenner continues, Pfu Yifs gsuccessful thought reformh which made him gusefulh and able body to work like other ordinary people, that Bertolucci praises vigorously, was, in fact, gsomething of ritualh. Pfu Yifs fourth wifefs account of his incapableness of looking after himself, even after his release of 1959, reveals some part of the truth.
His fifth and final marriage to a well qualified nurse was garranged by the Chinese Peoplefs Political Consultative Conference and the Communist Partyfs United Front Department. [cccc] He was even protected from the Cultural Revolution by Chou En-laifs intervention, and the local police kept Red Guards away. [cccc] Pfu Yifs presentation to foreigners as a living advertisement for the Peoplefs Government and the Communist Party began in 1956, while he was still in prison; and after his release he was often required to meet foreign visitors to China.h Those facts show that Pfu Yi was not successfully remolded@into an ordinary citizen after all, but made a perfect gmouthpieceh of the Communist Party Propaganda Department.

Bertolucci may never have read this revealing version of the Pfu Yifs gauto-biographyh. (In fact, the book was re-written before it was published in 1964 by Communist Propaganda Department writers based on the gconfessionsh Pfu Yi and Pfu Chieh had made in the prison as outcome of gbrainwashingh.)
But, in any case, the directorfs knowledge on the so-called gRape of Nankingh is awfully wrong.
He believes; gThe Japanese killed 300,000 Chinese people in *2 or 3 days* in Nanking.h (How did he think it was possible as the matter of reality?)
In fact, however, the *200,000* civilian refugee in Nanking were well protected by the Japanese Army and decrease of the number never recorded by the gobjectiveh foreigners of the International Committee of the Nanking Safety Zone, who, by the way, are assumed by many people including scholars as gthe witnesses of the Rape of Nankingh. They, on the contrary, recorded *increase* of the population to 250,000 within a few weeks after the capture of the city. No one saw such barbaric massacre except the Chinese propagandists and, actually, some members of the Committee who were hired by the Chinese Nationalist Party as international propaganda agents. Some ordinary Chinese people (genuine citizens of Nanking) even condemned the Chinese soldiers for the wrong-doing in Nanking.
Apart from gRape of Nankingh, the gnewsreelh in the film Pfu Yi and his co-inmates had watched is full of errors and, I dare to say, pernicious propaganda.
The planes that bombed Shanghai International Settlement and killed thousands of civilian was actually the Chinese. (Page 352 of The China Year Book 1938, edited by H.G.W. Woodhead, North China Daily News) And, the gexecutionh scene of the Chinese civilian is, I am sure, taken from the famous propaganda film by Frank Capra; gThe battle of Chinah that shows, in fact, the executioners are the Chinese Nationalist Party Army. Because of the fact the scene was gtrimmedh to ghideh the true identity of the executioners, I think Bertolucci did know they were using propaganda material.
What I do not know is their purpose. It may have been to get permission to make the film in Beijing under ghawk-eyeh of the Communist Party authorities they might have pretended to be pro-communist. In either way, this filmfs authenticity was sullied and that is very a shame.

Still, to me, this special edition is very interesting as a resource to understand the Cultural Revolution and the nature of brainwashing because it includes first-hand interviews of aging Pfu Chieh and the real life prison governor. Only one thing I would desire is subtitles, for the sake of clarification of the dialogues spoken by non-English speakers.

Good movie.... Awful DVD
Enough comments have been made on the movie so I'll just tell you my opinion on the DVD edition. It is one of the worst DVD transcription I have ever saw. I really had the impression to watch a DivX. Do I need to tell more about the resolution? Only the english soundtrack is available (I wish the movie had been shooted in Chinese or Mandarin but that's not the point) and no subtitles. The DVD presents the director's cut which makes the movie 3 and a half hour instead of 2 and a half. The theatrical version is not available on the DVD... Otherwise there is no additionnal material. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

1900 is one of Bernardo Bertolucci's adventures in epic filmmaking that never found the reception he had hoped for. Originally more than six hours long, it was chopped down to four hours for its U.S. release and as a result looked, well, choppy. Eventually, he restored it to five hours--but one wonders at all the effort on behalf of this alternately muddled and stunning story. The film, with a decidedly socialist agenda, examines two lives that begin the same year in rural Italy: the weak-willed son of the aristocracy (Robert De Niro) and the hardy, courageous son of peasants (Gerard Depardieu). They grow up as best friends on the same estate, until class differences pull them apart and then the era's fascist politics divide them for good. Despite strong performances by both leads, as well as Sterling Hayden, Donald Sutherland, Dominique Sanda, and Burt Lancaster, this one is strictly for Bertolucci's most avid fans. --Marshall Fine ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Tiresome to sit through
An interesting idea for a film but not well executed. Much of the acting was so broad it was annoying or not believable (part of that was due to the dubbing). Too often the actors are overly emotional. There are too many scenes of characters being very exciting or angry or yelling or crying. Also, some of the leisurely scenes that don't really move the plot along were of little interest.

The Cult-Movie for the Working Class
Simply the Movie of my Life .I guess the DVD extras will be smashing!

Career nadir
This film drove Bertolucci to a nervous breakdown and he had to take a year off after making it, becoming an incessant pill-popper into the bargain. One can see how much pressure was put on him. '1900' had the largest film budget he had to work with up to that time in his career. Add to that fact that this was an epic picture about a period in his own country's history and the expectation on him must have been enormous. Unfortunately Bertolucci at this point in his career was totally out of his depth in dealing with such a conceptual behemouth. It would take him over 10 years before he could again tackle the political history of a country on such an epic scale. Ironically that epic would be set in China.

Controversy surrounded the film on its release in Italy as much of the film portrays a flawed knowledge of Italian history. The trial of the DeNiro character at the end was invented by Bertolucci as a utopian vision of how Italian history should have developed. Even the Italian Communist Party was upset at this depiction as they claim they never practiced vigilante style executions after the war.

As a young director, Bertolucci saw himself as stubbornly arrogant, not giving a second thought to what his audience may think. '1900' was the first movie he made where he kept in mind the spectatorship he was trying to reach. Paradoxicaly, '1900' would end up his least engaging film because he tried to envelop too many different visions.

About the different lenght versions of Novecento
Let me clarify the question of the different versions of this masterpiece.
The first cut (never released) was 6:15. The European released version was 5:25. In the meanwhile, Alberto Grimaldi (the film's producer) was negociating with Paramount a 3:15 version, betraying Bertolucci, who didn't know a word about.
After the European succes, Fox offered Bertolucci to work on a 4:15 version for the U.S. market. He accepted, and made a second 4:40 version. But Grimaldi's opposition take the case to a court. A judge viewed all three 5:25, 4:40 and 3:15 versions. He concluded that Grimaldi's short version was detrimental and incoherent. So he invited Bertolucci to work in a 4:15 version.
Bernardo did a third cut to 4:10, that had its premiere in the New York Film Festival. There, critics were very negative, since they already knew the european 5:25 version, and compared so. But Bertolucci once declared that this was simply another film; no a single sequence was missing, it just had another pace. For a given moment, he even prefered this version. But years later, he recognizes the short version lacks the "inexorable passing of time" of the full one.
Let me recall this is the only film in history that has put toghether -for the production- all three major studios then, Fox, United Artists and Paramount.
All this information was taken from the book Bertolucci por Bertolucci, the spanish version of Scene madri di Bernardo Bertolucci, from Enzo Ungari, based on the interviews by Donald Ranvaud about The Last Emperor.
I definitely agree with the people asking for a remastering and release on DVD of the 5:25 original version.

A truly masterpiece
I watched this epic on TV and was astonished. This is a real masterpiece which deserves to be transfered and digitally mastered (picture and sound) to DVD. 1900 is a powerful drama but also a great work of art. Ennio Morricone's beautiful music reflects the drama and the art perfectly. Can't wait for the full version DVD. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

My Favorite Bertolucci Film!
It has been a few years since I've seen "The Conformist". But, this was the first Bernardo Bertolucci movie I ever saw. And the film has stayed with me all this time. Like some of the other customers on here, I too feel this is Bertolucci at his best.

To be honest I really can't quite remember the story-line so well. A man named Marcello (Jean Louis Trintignant)is sent to assassinate his old professor, Professor Quadri (Enzo Tararscio), who left Italy when the fascist took over.

Bertolucci managed to tell such a powerful, abosorbing story, that even in at it's most gritty moments, I couldn't turn away from the screen. There's a scene where two people are shot at that would probably be describe by people as disgusting, but, my eyes were glued to the screen. And this is the power most of Bertolucci's films have. Well, at least on me.

I too feel it's a shame this film it not available on vhs or dvd. And because of that this film is not as well known as it should be. Here is a movie that many would agree upon as being one of Bertolucci's best films, and no one can see it. All most of us can do is just recall moments of the first time we saw it.

For anyone who ever gets a chance to buy this film or even rent, do it! It will truly be one of those rare films that will always keep coming back to you.

Bottom-line: Simply Bernardo Bertolucci's best film! Powerful and absorbing. Bertolucci hits the bullseye.

Breathlessly awaiting The Conformist on DVD
I was shown this film in cinema class when I was 17, and then only saw it again recently, 14 years later. It's still wonderful, and IMO Bertolucci's only universally great film. I don't fault Criterion for not including it in their releases, it's probably a rights issue as it normally is (i.e. they had but lost the rights to Kwaidan - A for effort though). Folks like Criterion and Anchor Bay can't always get the rights to a director's entire body of work. Despite it all, I am one of the masses breathlessly awaiting a DVD release of The Conformist (though not optimistic an original Italian language version was ever cut, so we may have to endure the bad dubbing forever) - the art direction and cinematography are unforgettable. I never forgot certain scenes over the course of 14 years and thousands of other wonderful films. Please someone, release the DVD rights to good people like Kino, Criterion or Anchor Bay - we'll be lining up.

Pictures without subtitles
Naturellemant! This is a film one has to see. And once and a while it plays in a cinema here or there. Isn't that the only possitive side effect of such a wonderfull movie un-available both on DVD AND in its original language? To have to be on the look out for cinema screenings, somewhere? If you really want to see this film! Yes, I think so. And there is one more.
But what a sin to dub this film! The soundtrack on this VHS tape is in English! I was under the impression this was a common procedure in Germany only - 'he, Ronny, wir mussen den Dollars und Magnums in John's chevrolet nach Miami fahren!' - and very understandably the treatment that is received by animated films for childeren.
The film is magnificently photographed - by Vittorio Storaro. And the film deals with an important story. You can allways watch the VHS tape with the soundtrack switched off! Than you turn the postsynchronisation into an advantage. Because, you will be able to view the picture without the disturbing subtitles. That's the other advantage of this tape.

DVD - Get moving Paramount
I've heard about this film from friends and film professors for years, but have been unwilling to watch butchered, dubbed versions. I missed a showing of the restored print up in Los Angeles yesterday. According to the LA Times, the restoration was personally supervised by the film's legendary cinematographer, Vittorio Storaro.

Paramount is to be commended for taking this step. Now they have to take the next one, however, and actually release it to DVD. A restored version of the film does little good playing in a few arthouse theaters where almost nobody can see it. Release this to DVD now, please!

Pleaaasssseeee....
I WANT "THE CONFORMIST" RELEASED ON DVD!!!!!! It is so annoying I can't have this film on dvd. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1973 film stars Marlon Brando as an expatriate American in Paris reeling from his wife's suicide and entering into a nihilistic sexual relationship with a young woman (Maria Schneider). The film is still shocking, not simply because of its (sometime unconventional) sexual sequences, but because Brando's protagonist needs his liaison with Schneider's character to remain anonymous, an experience not to be shared but indulged on either end. Bertolucci is also operating on subtext here: in a way, Brando's nonengaging engagement is a metaphor for a certain attitude toward directing movies. Jean-Pierre Léaud costars, but the film is more than anything a vehicle for a great performance by Brando. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, and is in English and French with optional subtitles for either language. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Among the greatest performances in the history of cinema
Movie critics, both professional and otherwise, use the term "greatness" far too often. The term is so extreme that it should be reserved for movies that make us forget that we are in a theatre, or in our living room. This movie, if nothing else, makes us forget that we are movie-goers and makes us believe we are witnesses to human emotions.
"Last Tango in Paris" shows not only the talent of Bertolucci as a director, but also it allows Brando to fully express his emotional range, as perhaps the greatest screen actor of all time.
The movie exists almost as a set of inter-related scenes; each one stands on its own merit and style. The scenes do not, however, ever fall beneath the status of genius. They merely do not settle under one blanket description; the scenes occupy so many titles: love story, sucicidal, remorse, nostalgic, existential.
The story of the movie is well known by nearly everyone acquaitned with cinema: two people, a recently widowed American and a young, engaged French girl, meet by chance in an apartment and begin a purely carnal relationship. However, the actual movie delivers on so many more levels.
Brando's scenes which deal with his wofe and/or past are the best performances I have ever seen. The true emotion of an actor is visible, perhaps in their purest form ever on screen. Brando is not acting; he is living the role of one who is left and confused by love. His acting in the movie seems a bit unsure, which relates the contrasting emotions of Paul, his character.
Above all other scenes in this movie, Brando's encounter with the body of his dead wife is a testament to his ability to transcend his role as an actor. The screen seems to almost dissappear, and we are left with Brando and his dead wife, not an actor and an actress. This scene makes me feel, it causes emotions to rise from my heart. This is the ability of a truly great film.

For Brando Fans, It Doesn't Get Better Than This!
Marlon Brando's recent death effected me deeply. He has always been one of my favorite actors and I truly admire him for his extraordinary talent. During the last few weeks I have rented many of Brando's films and am still amazed, after all these years, at the force of his acting in "Last Tango In Paris." I believe that some of his best work was done in this film.

Paul, (Brando), an aging American expatriate in Paris, comes home to discover that his marriage has ended. His French wife, Rosa, had slit her veins, leaving bloody bath water and spattered walls behind. She didn't leave much else - no good-bye note or explanation for her husband, parents or lover, a guest in the fleabag hotel she owned and managed. She did bequeath the hotel, and it's seedy occupants, to Paul. Overwhelmed with grief, Paul walks the streets and finds himself looking at an apartment for rent. He finds Jeanne, (Maria Schneider), a girl-woman, barely out of her teens, looking at the same apartment. She is to be married in a few weeks to her bourgeois, filmmaker fiancee. Paul and Jeanne circle each other warily in the empty flat, each contemplating the rental, (and each other), and wondering who will take it. Suddenly, they grab each other and have hard, fast sex against the apartment wall. Thus begins a most bizarre relationship.

Paul makes the rules. Jeanne must follow them or she will not see him again. Their purely carnal relationship must remain anonymous, emotionless, and exist only within the walls of the apartment, which Paul rents for this purpose. There are to be no sexual taboos between them. He does not want to know her name or anything about her and refuses to give her any information about himself. They are not to see each other outside the apartment confines, nor even leave together. It seems as if Paul wants to bury his pain, his sense of betrayal and hurt in the mindless, sometimes brutal, act of sex. Director Bernardo Bertolucci's camera perfectly captures the impersonal nature of their coupling. The shots are blunt, without sensuality or eroticism, but an enormous sexual energy is captured. I think Jeanne is fascinated by the mystery that is Paul. She is bored, perhaps, and looking for something, maybe excitement. She is certainly intrigued by Paul's dominant role, and seems to enjoy playing the passive partner most of the time. She is clearly not happy with her boyfriend, who relates to her as the object of his latest film. He talks at her, not to her. And he does not listen. However, I do not see Jeanne as merely an object here, as do some others. The film focuses on Paul, not Jeanne.

It is unfortunate that Ms. Schneider's career fizzled after this movie. She is excellent as Jeanne and perfectly captures her character's capriciousness, playfulness, bewilderment, vulnerability, anger, frustration, seductiveness and curiosity. Brando is simply superb. There are times, when he and Jeanne are together, that it appears as if he is extemporizing. He acts as if there is no camera filming him - as if he is not acting at all. There is one scene, where he is alone with his wife's body - she is layed-out in a coffin. Brando begins to speak to her and just loses it. His remarkable outpouring of guilt and grief is probably the best acting I have ever seen.

Towards the end of the film there is a surreal ballroom scene where couples are dancing the tango. It is both haunting and memorable. The end is a bit of a letdown, but in a Brandoesque moment the actor comes to the rescue.

Bertolucci was very effected by the work of painter Frances Bacon, considered to be one of the best artists of the 20th century. He chose Brando after seeing a Bacon painting "of a man in great despair who had the air of total disillusionment." The "Last Tango In Paris," defined as "the most controversial film of an era," brought Bertolucci to international attention. It was nominated for two Academy Awards. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography adds to the cold, remote ambiance. His camera pans the colorless apartment and makes the viewing experience as impersonal as the couple's relationship.

This is obviously not a film for everyone. It has been called obscene, and worse. However, there are many, like myself, who think it is a great film. For fans of Marlon Brando, it doesn't get better than this. Bravo!
JANA

Strangely Beautiful as is eccentric and erotic
I like this movie for many things but mainly because of its frankness and eccentricity. One of the highlights that makes this movie great is without a doubt Maria Schneider's revealing nude scenes (...). She is also very pretty, however getting serious for a moment this film was in 1973 when it was release and still today a milestone in filmmaking largely due to Marlon Brando's outstanding performance. He really was one of the greatest actors of all times and his performance in Last Tango in Paris more than proves it. I really like the chemistry that both Brando and Scheneider had together through out the movie but especially in their key scenes together. Marlon Brando sadly enough passed away on July 1, in Los Angeles due to lung failure he was 80. Lucky for all of the people (myself included) who admired and appreciated his great talent as an actor, he left us a thrilling and fantastic collection of wonderful performances that are forever capture on film for all of us to enjoy time and time again. Anyone who is not aware of the contribution that this legendary actor left on American Cinema can begin by either renting or buying some of his most dynamic movies (All of them are available on DVD or VHS). These are my personal favorites and in which feature some of his greatest performances.

THE MEN (film debut)
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
ON THE WATERFRONT (Best Actor Oscar)
THE WILD ONE
VIVA ZAPATA
JULIUS CAESAR
ONE EYED JACKS (The only movie he ever directed)
THE APPALOOSA
BURN!
THE GODFATHER (Best Actor Oscar in which refused to accept)
LAST TANGO IN PARIS

A Bravura Performance by Brando
Since I don't have a copy of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, I watched again for the fifth or sixth time this fine film to remember Marlon Brando on the day of his death. Every time I see this movie I'm amazed all over again at how good it is. Brando, nominated for an academy award for best actor for his performance here, is simply stunning. As always he takes over and commands any scene he is in. When the film was first released, most of the media attention was about the extremely naturalistic sex scenes between Brando, who plays a 45-year-old whose wife has just committed suicide, and Maria Schneider, a beautiful 20-year-old beauty about to be married. Then there was all the hoopla about the episode with the stick of butter, the fingernail trimming scene, etc. What many reviewers and critics overlooked-- as I recall it now-- was at its core this movie is not just another movie bordering on soft porn but makes extremely serious and profound statements about life: who of us can really know anyone else, love can be found in very unlikely places, the undercurrent of violence often connected with sex, all the ramifications of sex with a stranger, and what happens when lust turns into love, for instance.

While Maria Schneider is certainly no slouch-- and a beauty both naked and clothed-- this film ultimately is Brando's. Kaleidoscopically he goes from the comic to rage to uncontrollable anguish and back again. The story is that he improvised many of his lines, giving his performance a very fresh, natural feel.

The film is beautifully filmed and very visual. There are many images repeated-- the overground Metro shots for instance-- and scenes between Brando and Schneider lead into similar frames between Schneider and her young fiancee.

This film is directed by another genius, Bernado Bertolucci and is like nothing else Brando did. He certainly gives one of his finest performances here.

A Great Performance, A Flawed Film
It's been said, by a reviewer whose name escapes me at the moment, that this is the last film where Marlon Brando looked good. Truth is, it's also probably the last film where Brando demonstrated why he was considered one of America's best actors. It's most definitely a flawed film. The scenes where Brando does not appear are pretentious and fairly boring. I tend to agree with the assessment of Ingmar Bergman, who opined that the storyline of this film actually would have made more sense if the 2 main characters had been played as gay men. Perhaps. Maria Schneider is very sexy, but she's just not a really good actress. And yet, when Brando is on screen, he's absolutely dynamic, enthralling, electric. Never before, and probably never again, will you witness a performance so raw, so unadorned, so revealing. Forget the sexual scenes that earned the film its notoriety. Check out Brando's soliloquy beside his suicidal wife's coffin. Or his ironic blend of tenderness and misogyny in his scenes with Schneider. Or when he weeps for...what? the impossibility of his romance with Schneider? His lost, blighted past? Or his silent, agonized finale when he sees for the final time the magnificent skyline of Paris. It's easy to become jaded by the films of today, watching as modern Hollywood's so-called stars perfunctorily perform their bland roles by rote, gearing their performances to the lowest common denominator possible. Watching Brando in his blistering and towering performance here reminds one of why acting can be considered an awe-inspring art form and why it was that I used to love going to the movies. ... Read more

Reviews (103)

Masterpiece!
If you somehow missed this one, do yourself a favor and make time available in your schedule for viewing this masterpiece from director Bernardo Bertolucci! Nine academy awards, including Best Picture [1987], only gives partial credit to this magnificently epic and absolutely unforgettable true story. It is the story of Pu Yi, who at the age of 3 comes to the Imperial Dragon Throne to become the Last Emperor of China. His whole life is spanned in this film, from his childhood, to his ultimate fate as an unskilled gardener in the streets of Bejing. Throughout this film we are treated to a cinematic feast for the senses, so rich in detail and imagery, you will be compelled to see it again as soon as possible (I saw it again the very next night!). You will have felt the full range of emotions from having experienced this movie, and few others in recent memory have mesmerized me so totally in an almost 3 hour (164 min) time span. Truly one of the greatest films of all time! Masterpiece!

Bertolucci's Last Epic!
By that I mean with great respect! Bernardo Bertolucci is known for such cinematic extravaganzas as 1973's LAST TANGO IN PARIS and 1977's 1900; and to add to his credits, 1987's Best Picture winner THE LAST EMPEROR!

A film of major diversity. An Italian director (Bertolucci), a predominately Chinese cast including frequent costars John Lone and Joan Chen, British actor and seven-time Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole, an American producer named Jeremy Thomas, and distributed by an American studio, Columbia Pictures!

John Lone is the title character, Chinese emperor "Henry" Pu-Yi, who became the last Emperor of China at the age of 3, and would be the "Lord of Ten Thousand Years!" Nothing would prepare him for the change that would eventually occur when he is forced into abdication, forced into retaking his kingdom, and forcing him to attempt suicide after his arrest and capture by Chinese and Russian communist troops after World War II. Eventually, after serving his time for conspiracy, he released from prison and lives out the rest of his life in 1967 -- as a simple gardner.

Imagine. From Emperor to gardner, totally heartbreaking! Heartbreaking is the fact that it cost him EVERYTHING! His wife "Elizabeth" Wan Jung, played with grace by the gorgeous Joan Chen; his kingdom and his freedom. But, you can't simply hate the guy! He is, of course, a man who was spoiled by his servants and soldiers as a child.

The film has both an epic scope and an excellently-written character story. (Though most historians believed that the film embellished on certain facts, like Pu-Yi's homosexuality.) It is played competently by an Asian cast and a wonderfully witty Peter O'Toole, who should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor that year, as the Emperor's patient tutor Reginald "R.J." Johnston.

Needless to say, I cried at the very end of this film! I LOVED that scene between the elder Pu-Yi and a little boy who appears to be just like the Emperor as a child. And the symbolic message this film taught with the cricket in the jar, as the little boy opens the jar to reveal the insect (by then, Pu-Yi has magically disappeared). An epic film with a heart (like my PRISONER OF WAR)!

Winner of all 9 of its nominations including: Best Picture - Jeremy Thomas, producer; Best Director - Bernardo Bertolucci; Best Adapted Screenplay - Bertolucci and Mark Peploe; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Score; Best Sound; and Best Film Editing.

THIS FILM IS APPROXIMATELY: 2 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES.

But well worth it!

great film, awful dvd
I had the misfortune to buy this BEFORE I read the Amazon reviews and discovered that the DVD looked awful-a particular injustice for a film that won Best Picture. It's only 17 years old; there are films from the 30's that look great on DVD! I see though that in the U.K. they released a 2-disc version with commentary and both the original theatrical cut as well as the director's cut. I assume it's also restored and anamorphic and can only hope that we get an American version soon. The movie gets 5 stars, even at 219 minutes. The DVD gets 1 star, so that averages out to a generous 3.

Breathtakingly Beautiful, Decadent and Misconceived.
I revere every Bertoluccifs work tremendously, and this lavish film is no exception.
I was completely mesmerised by the view of the Forbidden City, beautiful period costumes of the Emperor and the Imperial family with which the director says he really cared about the historical accuracy to recreate as well as other things.
The historical accuracy is, however, not necessarily applied to the part of which Japan was involved. The foundation of Manshu-koku, (Manchukuo is the Chinese word) and the restoration of the Manchu Emperor Pfu Yi, and the alleged atrocities made to the Japanese Imperial Army, namely, gRape of Nankingh, etc. It is so because both Bernaldo Bertolucci and the producer Jeremy Thomas seem to have truly believed in the auto-biography of Pfu Yi, gFrom Emperor to Citizenh that written for propaganda purpose, and the Frank Caprafs U.S. propaganda film; gThe Battle of Chinah at their face values.
First thing is first, Chinese Communistfs gbrainwashingh undeniably exists. In the same year this film first came out, 1987, gFrom Emperor to Citizenh was re-published by Oxford University Press with new comprehensive general introduction and chapter introductions by W.J.F. Jenner, the translator of the original 1964 gdeliberately restricted editionh published by Foreign Language Press, BeiJing.
Jenner explains; gThe special consideration shown Pfu Yi and other high-ranking Manchukuo(sic), Japanese, and Nationalist officials cannot be regarded as typical of Chinese prison conditions. These were all people of potential value in winning over others in future, and political considerations saved them from the harsh justice that many lesser figures received.h And, Jenner continues, Pfu Yifs gsuccessful thought reformh which made him gusefulh and able body to work like other ordinary people, that Bertolucci praises vigorously, was, in fact, gsomething of ritualh. Pfu Yifs fourth wifefs account of his incapableness of looking after himself, even after his release of 1959, reveals some part of the truth.
His fifth and final marriage to a well qualified nurse was garranged by the Chinese Peoplefs Political Consultative Conference and the Communist Partyfs United Front Department. [cccc] He was even protected from the Cultural Revolution by Chou En-laifs intervention, and the local police kept Red Guards away. [cccc] Pfu Yifs presentation to foreigners as a living advertisement for the Peoplefs Government and the Communist Party began in 1956, while he was still in prison; and after his release he was often required to meet foreign visitors to China.h Those facts show that Pfu Yi was not successfully remolded@into an ordinary citizen after all, but made a perfect gmouthpieceh of the Communist Party Propaganda Department.

Bertolucci may never have read this revealing version of the Pfu Yifs gauto-biographyh. (In fact, the book was re-written before it was published in 1964 by Communist Propaganda Department writers based on the gconfessionsh Pfu Yi and Pfu Chieh had made in the prison as outcome of gbrainwashingh.)
But, in any case, the directorfs knowledge on the so-called gRape of Nankingh is awfully wrong.
He believes; gThe Japanese killed 300,000 Chinese people in *2 or 3 days* in Nanking.h (How did he think it was possible as the matter of reality?)
In fact, however, the *200,000* civilian refugee in Nanking were well protected by the Japanese Army and decrease of the number never recorded by the gobjectiveh foreigners of the International Committee of the Nanking Safety Zone, who, by the way, are assumed by many people including scholars as gthe witnesses of the Rape of Nankingh. They, on the contrary, recorded *increase* of the population to 250,000 within a few weeks after the capture of the city. No one saw such barbaric massacre except the Chinese propagandists and, actually, some members of the Committee who were hired by the Chinese Nationalist Party as international propaganda agents. Some ordinary Chinese people (genuine citizens of Nanking) even condemned the Chinese soldiers for the wrong-doing in Nanking.
Apart from gRape of Nankingh, the gnewsreelh in the film Pfu Yi and his co-inmates had watched is full of errors and, I dare to say, pernicious propaganda.
The planes that bombed Shanghai International Settlement and killed thousands of civilian was actually the Chinese. (Page 352 of The China Year Book 1938, edited by H.G.W. Woodhead, North China Daily News) And, the gexecutionh scene of the Chinese civilian is, I am sure, taken from the famous propaganda film by Frank Capra; gThe battle of Chinah that shows, in fact, the executioners are the Chinese Nationalist Party Army. Because of the fact the scene was gtrimmedh to ghideh the true identity of the executioners, I think Bertolucci did know they were using propaganda material.
What I do not know is their purpose. It may have been to get permission to make the film in Beijing under ghawk-eyeh of the Communist Party authorities they might have pretended to be pro-communist. In either way, this filmfs authenticity was sullied and that is very a shame.

Still, to me, this special edition is very interesting as a resource to understand the Cultural Revolution and the nature of brainwashing because it includes first-hand interviews of aging Pfu Chieh and the real life prison governor. Only one thing I would desire is subtitles, for the sake of clarification of the dialogues spoken by non-English speakers.

Good movie.... Awful DVD
Enough comments have been made on the movie so I'll just tell you my opinion on the DVD edition. It is one of the worst DVD transcription I have ever saw. I really had the impression to watch a DivX. Do I need to tell more about the resolution? Only the english soundtrack is available (I wish the movie had been shooted in Chinese or Mandarin but that's not the point) and no subtitles. The DVD presents the director's cut which makes the movie 3 and a half hour instead of 2 and a half. The theatrical version is not available on the DVD... Otherwise there is no additionnal material. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In many ways Little Buddha is a companion piece to Bernardo Bertolucci'sThe Last Emperor. A beautiful travelogue and history lesson unfolds in the twoparts of this film: a historical text of Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) and thecontemporary quest of Lama Norbu (Ying Ruocheng), who believes he hasfound the reincarnation of his former teacher in a Seattle child. Theancient, magical tales sweep away the blasé contemporary action.Ruocheng's presence drives the story of discovery as the child learnsabout the teachings of Buddhism. A visual feast that will dazzle bothyoung and old. In fact, were it not a religious icon, the youngstersmight want Siddhartha dolls after viewing his magical on-screenadventures. Beautiful cinematography by Vittorio Storaro. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (56)

Great Movie
Little Buddha is a wonderfully entertaining and historically accurate film. The story has two plots, making it confusing at some times. One tells of a Buddhist priest searching for the reincarnation of his dead teacher, while the other tells the story of Siddhartha Guatama, the Buddha. (Played by Keanu Reeves)

As far as the acting goes, this film gets five stars from me. Siddhartha, (Reeves) is played beautifully, along with Lisa Conrad, (Bridget Fonda) and Lama Norbu. (Ruocheng Ying) Another plus about the acting are the three children who played the candidates for the reincarnation of the teacher. I especially liked Gita, who is the only girl candidate.

I liked the costumes, too, as they are historically accurate, and stand out with the bright colors and makeup. I found it strange that the men wore makeup, but they do, and the film portrays it brilliantly.

All along I have been mentioning how historically correct this film is. I have been saying this because it is the truth. Not only is the story of Siddhartha correct, but all of the facts about Buddha and Buddhism are too. If you know nothing about the religion, watching this film will give you a basic introduction to Buddhism.

There are two things that would have made this film better. If it did not flash so much between the two plots, it would have been less confusing. Also, I did not like the music. I don't know if it just was not my type or if it didn't go with the movie, but I didn't like it. Little Buddha is a grea movie and I recommend watching it, but don't waste your money on the soundtrack.

Educational
Cast: Ying Ruocheng, Alex Wiesendanger, Keanu Reeves, Chris Isaak, Bridget Fonda

Little Buddha is both an enjoyable and educational movie. This movie has two story lines. One is about the quest of a group of monks, to seek out the reincarnated spirit of a great Buddhist teacher, Lama Dorje. And the other is a retelling of the story of Siddhartha, and how, having reached enlightenment, becomes the Buddha.

During the first plot line, Lama Norbu comes to Seattle in search of the reincarnation of his dead teacher, Lama Dorje. His search leads him to young Jesse Conrad, Raju, a boy from Katmandu, and an Indian girl. Together, they journey to Bhutan where the three children must undergo a test to prove which is the true reincarnation. After finding his teacher the monk then meditates and dies.

The second story is about Siddhartha and how he became the Buddha. It traces his spiritual journey from ignorance to true enlightenment. Young Siddhartha lived a carefree life in the palace. His father, Kind Suddhodana, is shielding him from all unpleasantness such as elderly, sick or dying people. Gradually however, Siddhartha begins to get curious about the world out there, and one day sneaks outside the palace gate. Siddhartha comes in contact with suffering, desires, and death. This movie really opens your eyes to the basic concepts of Buddhism and the theme of reincarnation.

I really liked the costumes and scenery in this movie, because they cam across well along with the theme. The music also added that extra effect needed to keep your attention throughout the movie. There was extremely good acting in this movie, especially by the children. Although this movie was well-written and well thought out, there was no emotional depth or appeal. The running time on this movie is also a little too long, which is not aided by the ragged transitions. And the characters never really connect with the audience, so the viewer's attention span is greatly tested. But overall I really enjoyed this movie and the themes it presents.

A wonderful family film
"Little Buddha" is a wonderful family film that is entertaining and educating without being educational. It provides a view on Buddhist beliefs and explains the basis of this way of life.

Embedded in the main story of the film is the story of the Buddha's journey to enlightenment. It is told in a fashion that will be enjoyable to people of every age. This work is also filmed beautifully and shares with you life in many cultures.

Please take some time and enjoy this film!

PS - Keanu Reeves as Siddhartha (Buddha) - takes some getting used to...

Little Budda, Little thought
It seems to me that this movie was rushed through production. I feel that this movie could have gone deeper into the truth of Buddism and not lingered on the top of it. I don't understand how the parents of the little boy would just leave him with perfect strangers or let him run off by himself in Bhutan. There seemed to be no point with the fact that the fathers freind died, except that it showed connection between Siddhartha and the boy. In the end of the movie, I didn't understand how the kids ended up watching Siddhartha be temtped under the Bo tree and reach enlightenment. While many of the things shown about Buddism were true, they forgot some main ideas such as the four noble truths and the eight fold path.
In all, I feel this movie could have been taken more time on in the making and resulted in a pathetic movie that stretches the reality of our lives

Excellent Film
I really love this film, it wasnt at all what I expected, and that is even more awesome.
I let my son watch this film and he enjoyed it so much he had a ton of questions regarding Buddha and the expeirences of all the children. No child is too young to develop an open mind.
I suggest this film for anyone interested in Eastern Philosophies and/or Reincarnation. Or if you have questions or uncertainities about Buddha, this film brings Buddha's teachings forward and expresses the compassion that his love had. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial 1973 film stars Marlon Brando as an expatriate American in Paris reeling from his wife's suicide and entering into a nihilistic sexual relationship with a young woman (Maria Schneider). The film is still shocking, not simply because of its (sometime unconventional) sexual sequences, but because Brando's protagonist needs his liaison with Schneider's character to remain anonymous, an experience not to be shared but indulged on either end. Bertolucci is also operating on subtext here: in a way, Brando's nonengaging engagement is a metaphor for a certain attitude toward directing movies. Jean-Pierre Léaud costars, but the film is more than anything a vehicle for a great performance by Brando. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, and is in English and French with optional subtitles for either language. --Tom Keogh ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Among the greatest performances in the history of cinema
Movie critics, both professional and otherwise, use the term "greatness" far too often. The term is so extreme that it should be reserved for movies that make us forget that we are in a theatre, or in our living room. This movie, if nothing else, makes us forget that we are movie-goers and makes us believe we are witnesses to human emotions.
"Last Tango in Paris" shows not only the talent of Bertolucci as a director, but also it allows Brando to fully express his emotional range, as perhaps the greatest screen actor of all time.
The movie exists almost as a set of inter-related scenes; each one stands on its own merit and style. The scenes do not, however, ever fall beneath the status of genius. They merely do not settle under one blanket description; the scenes occupy so many titles: love story, sucicidal, remorse, nostalgic, existential.
The story of the movie is well known by nearly everyone acquaitned with cinema: two people, a recently widowed American and a young, engaged French girl, meet by chance in an apartment and begin a purely carnal relationship. However, the actual movie delivers on so many more levels.
Brando's scenes which deal with his wofe and/or past are the best performances I have ever seen. The true emotion of an actor is visible, perhaps in their purest form ever on screen. Brando is not acting; he is living the role of one who is left and confused by love. His acting in the movie seems a bit unsure, which relates the contrasting emotions of Paul, his character.
Above all other scenes in this movie, Brando's encounter with the body of his dead wife is a testament to his ability to transcend his role as an actor. The screen seems to almost dissappear, and we are left with Brando and his dead wife, not an actor and an actress. This scene makes me feel, it causes emotions to rise from my heart. This is the ability of a truly great film.

For Brando Fans, It Doesn't Get Better Than This!
Marlon Brando's recent death effected me deeply. He has always been one of my favorite actors and I truly admire him for his extraordinary talent. During the last few weeks I have rented many of Brando's films and am still amazed, after all these years, at the force of his acting in "Last Tango In Paris." I believe that some of his best work was done in this film.

Paul, (Brando), an aging American expatriate in Paris, comes home to discover that his marriage has ended. His French wife, Rosa, had slit her veins, leaving bloody bath water and spattered walls behind. She didn't leave much else - no good-bye note or explanation for her husband, parents or lover, a guest in the fleabag hotel she owned and managed. She did bequeath the hotel, and it's seedy occupants, to Paul. Overwhelmed with grief, Paul walks the streets and finds himself looking at an apartment for rent. He finds Jeanne, (Maria Schneider), a girl-woman, barely out of her teens, looking at the same apartment. She is to be married in a few weeks to her bourgeois, filmmaker fiancee. Paul and Jeanne circle each other warily in the empty flat, each contemplating the rental, (and each other), and wondering who will take it. Suddenly, they grab each other and have hard, fast sex against the apartment wall. Thus begins a most bizarre relationship.

Paul makes the rules. Jeanne must follow them or she will not see him again. Their purely carnal relationship must remain anonymous, emotionless, and exist only within the walls of the apartment, which Paul rents for this purpose. There are to be no sexual taboos between them. He does not want to know her name or anything about her and refuses to give her any information about himself. They are not to see each other outside the apartment confines, nor even leave together. It seems as if Paul wants to bury his pain, his sense of betrayal and hurt in the mindless, sometimes brutal, act of sex. Director Bernardo Bertolucci's camera perfectly captures the impersonal nature of their coupling. The shots are blunt, without sensuality or eroticism, but an enormous sexual energy is captured. I think Jeanne is fascinated by the mystery that is Paul. She is bored, perhaps, and looking for something, maybe excitement. She is certainly intrigued by Paul's dominant role, and seems to enjoy playing the passive partner most of the time. She is clearly not happy with her boyfriend, who relates to her as the object of his latest film. He talks at her, not to her. And he does not listen. However, I do not see Jeanne as merely an object here, as do some others. The film focuses on Paul, not Jeanne.

It is unfortunate that Ms. Schneider's career fizzled after this movie. She is excellent as Jeanne and perfectly captures her character's capriciousness, playfulness, bewilderment, vulnerability, anger, frustration, seductiveness and curiosity. Brando is simply superb. There are times, when he and Jeanne are together, that it appears as if he is extemporizing. He acts as if there is no camera filming him - as if he is not acting at all. There is one scene, where he is alone with his wife's body - she is layed-out in a coffin. Brando begins to speak to her and just loses it. His remarkable outpouring of guilt and grief is probably the best acting I have ever seen.

Towards the end of the film there is a surreal ballroom scene where couples are dancing the tango. It is both haunting and memorable. The end is a bit of a letdown, but in a Brandoesque moment the actor comes to the rescue.

Bertolucci was very effected by the work of painter Frances Bacon, considered to be one of the best artists of the 20th century. He chose Brando after seeing a Bacon painting "of a man in great despair who had the air of total disillusionment." The "Last Tango In Paris," defined as "the most controversial film of an era," brought Bertolucci to international attention. It was nominated for two Academy Awards. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography adds to the cold, remote ambiance. His camera pans the colorless apartment and makes the viewing experience as impersonal as the couple's relationship.

This is obviously not a film for everyone. It has been called obscene, and worse. However, there are many, like myself, who think it is a great film. For fans of Marlon Brando, it doesn't get better than this. Bravo!
JANA

Strangely Beautiful as is eccentric and erotic
I like this movie for many things but mainly because of its frankness and eccentricity. One of the highlights that makes this movie great is without a doubt Maria Schneider's revealing nude scenes (...). She is also very pretty, however getting serious for a moment this film was in 1973 when it was release and still today a milestone in filmmaking largely due to Marlon Brando's outstanding performance. He really was one of the greatest actors of all times and his performance in Last Tango in Paris more than proves it. I really like the chemistry that both Brando and Scheneider had together through out the movie but especially in their key scenes together. Marlon Brando sadly enough passed away on July 1, in Los Angeles due to lung failure he was 80. Lucky for all of the people (myself included) who admired and appreciated his great talent as an actor, he left us a thrilling and fantastic collection of wonderful performances that are forever capture on film for all of us to enjoy time and time again. Anyone who is not aware of the contribution that this legendary actor left on American Cinema can begin by either renting or buying some of his most dynamic movies (All of them are available on DVD or VHS). These are my personal favorites and in which feature some of his greatest performances.

THE MEN (film debut)
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
ON THE WATERFRONT (Best Actor Oscar)
THE WILD ONE
VIVA ZAPATA
JULIUS CAESAR
ONE EYED JACKS (The only movie he ever directed)
THE APPALOOSA
BURN!
THE GODFATHER (Best Actor Oscar in which refused to accept)
LAST TANGO IN PARIS

A Bravura Performance by Brando
Since I don't have a copy of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, I watched again for the fifth or sixth time this fine film to remember Marlon Brando on the day of his death. Every time I see this movie I'm amazed all over again at how good it is. Brando, nominated for an academy award for best actor for his performance here, is simply stunning. As always he takes over and commands any scene he is in. When the film was first released, most of the media attention was about the extremely naturalistic sex scenes between Brando, who plays a 45-year-old whose wife has just committed suicide, and Maria Schneider, a beautiful 20-year-old beauty about to be married. Then there was all the hoopla about the episode with the stick of butter, the fingernail trimming scene, etc. What many reviewers and critics overlooked-- as I recall it now-- was at its core this movie is not just another movie bordering on soft porn but makes extremely serious and profound statements about life: who of us can really know anyone else, love can be found in very unlikely places, the undercurrent of violence often connected with sex, all the ramifications of sex with a stranger, and what happens when lust turns into love, for instance.

While Maria Schneider is certainly no slouch-- and a beauty both naked and clothed-- this film ultimately is Brando's. Kaleidoscopically he goes from the comic to rage to uncontrollable anguish and back again. The story is that he improvised many of his lines, giving his performance a very fresh, natural feel.

The film is beautifully filmed and very visual. There are many images repeated-- the overground Metro shots for instance-- and scenes between Brando and Schneider lead into similar frames between Schneider and her young fiancee.

This film is directed by another genius, Bernado Bertolucci and is like nothing else Brando did. He certainly gives one of his finest performances here.

A Great Performance, A Flawed Film
It's been said, by a reviewer whose name escapes me at the moment, that this is the last film where Marlon Brando looked good. Truth is, it's also probably the last film where Brando demonstrated why he was considered one of America's best actors. It's most definitely a flawed film. The scenes where Brando does not appear are pretentious and fairly boring. I tend to agree with the assessment of Ingmar Bergman, who opined that the storyline of this film actually would have made more sense if the 2 main characters had been played as gay men. Perhaps. Maria Schneider is very sexy, but she's just not a really good actress. And yet, when Brando is on screen, he's absolutely dynamic, enthralling, electric. Never before, and probably never again, will you witness a performance so raw, so unadorned, so revealing. Forget the sexual scenes that earned the film its notoriety. Check out Brando's soliloquy beside his suicidal wife's coffin. Or his ironic blend of tenderness and misogyny in his scenes with Schneider. Or when he weeps for...what? the impossibility of his romance with Schneider? His lost, blighted past? Or his silent, agonized finale when he sees for the final time the magnificent skyline of Paris. It's easy to become jaded by the films of today, watching as modern Hollywood's so-called stars perfunctorily perform their bland roles by rote, gearing their performances to the lowest common denominator possible. Watching Brando in his blistering and towering performance here reminds one of why acting can be considered an awe-inspring art form and why it was that I used to love going to the movies. ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

Bernardo Bertolucci does the nearly impossible with this sweeping, grand epic that tells a very personal tale. The story is a dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the emperors of China. It follows his life from its elite beginnings in the Forbidden City, where he was crowned at age three and worshipped by half a billion people. He was later forced to abdicate and, unable to fend for himself in the outside world, became a dissolute and exploited shell of a man. He died in obscurity, living as a peasant in the People's Republic. We never really warm up to John Lone in the title role, but this movie focuses more on visuals than characterization anyway. Filmed in the Forbidden City, it is spectacularly beautiful, filling the screen with saturated colors and exquisite detail. It won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. --Rochelle O'Gorman ... Read more

Reviews (103)

Masterpiece!
If you somehow missed this one, do yourself a favor and make time available in your schedule for viewing this masterpiece from director Bernardo Bertolucci! Nine academy awards, including Best Picture [1987], only gives partial credit to this magnificently epic and absolutely unforgettable true story. It is the story of Pu Yi, who at the age of 3 comes to the Imperial Dragon Throne to become the Last Emperor of China. His whole life is spanned in this film, from his childhood, to his ultimate fate as an unskilled gardener in the streets of Bejing. Throughout this film we are treated to a cinematic feast for the senses, so rich in detail and imagery, you will be compelled to see it again as soon as possible (I saw it again the very next night!). You will have felt the full range of emotions from having experienced this movie, and few others in recent memory have mesmerized me so totally in an almost 3 hour (164 min) time span. Truly one of the greatest films of all time! Masterpiece!

Bertolucci's Last Epic!
By that I mean with great respect! Bernardo Bertolucci is known for such cinematic extravaganzas as 1973's LAST TANGO IN PARIS and 1977's 1900; and to add to his credits, 1987's Best Picture winner THE LAST EMPEROR!

A film of major diversity. An Italian director (Bertolucci), a predominately Chinese cast including frequent costars John Lone and Joan Chen, British actor and seven-time Oscar nominee Peter O'Toole, an American producer named Jeremy Thomas, and distributed by an American studio, Columbia Pictures!

John Lone is the title character, Chinese emperor "Henry" Pu-Yi, who became the last Emperor of China at the age of 3, and would be the "Lord of Ten Thousand Years!" Nothing would prepare him for the change that would eventually occur when he is forced into abdication, forced into retaking his kingdom, and forcing him to attempt suicide after his arrest and capture by Chinese and Russian communist troops after World War II. Eventually, after serving his time for conspiracy, he released from prison and lives out the rest of his life in 1967 -- as a simple gardner.

Imagine. From Emperor to gardner, totally heartbreaking! Heartbreaking is the fact that it cost him EVERYTHING! His wife "Elizabeth" Wan Jung, played with grace by the gorgeous Joan Chen; his kingdom and his freedom. But, you can't simply hate the guy! He is, of course, a man who was spoiled by his servants and soldiers as a child.

The film has both an epic scope and an excellently-written character story. (Though most historians believed that the film embellished on certain facts, like Pu-Yi's homosexuality.) It is played competently by an Asian cast and a wonderfully witty Peter O'Toole, who should have been nominated for Best Supporting Actor that year, as the Emperor's patient tutor Reginald "R.J." Johnston.

Needless to say, I cried at the very end of this film! I LOVED that scene between the elder Pu-Yi and a little boy who appears to be just like the Emperor as a child. And the symbolic message this film taught with the cricket in the jar, as the little boy opens the jar to reveal the insect (by then, Pu-Yi has magically disappeared). An epic film with a heart (like my PRISONER OF WAR)!

Winner of all 9 of its nominations including: Best Picture - Jeremy Thomas, producer; Best Director - Bernardo Bertolucci; Best Adapted Screenplay - Bertolucci and Mark Peploe; Best Cinematography; Best Art Direction/Set Decoration; Best Costume Design; Best Score; Best Sound; and Best Film Editing.

THIS FILM IS APPROXIMATELY: 2 HOURS AND 40 MINUTES.

But well worth it!

great film, awful dvd
I had the misfortune to buy this BEFORE I read the Amazon reviews and discovered that the DVD looked awful-a particular injustice for a film that won Best Picture. It's only 17 years old; there are films from the 30's that look great on DVD! I see though that in the U.K. they released a 2-disc version with commentary and both the original theatrical cut as well as the director's cut. I assume it's also restored and anamorphic and can only hope that we get an American version soon. The movie gets 5 stars, even at 219 minutes. The DVD gets 1 star, so that averages out to a generous 3.

Breathtakingly Beautiful, Decadent and Misconceived.
I revere every Bertoluccifs work tremendously, and this lavish film is no exception.
I was completely mesmerised by the view of the Forbidden City, beautiful period costumes of the Emperor and the Imperial family with which the director says he really cared about the historical accuracy to recreate as well as other things.
The historical accuracy is, however, not necessarily applied to the part of which Japan was involved. The foundation of Manshu-koku, (Manchukuo is the Chinese word) and the restoration of the Manchu Emperor Pfu Yi, and the alleged atrocities made to the Japanese Imperial Army, namely, gRape of Nankingh, etc. It is so because both Bernaldo Bertolucci and the producer Jeremy Thomas seem to have truly believed in the auto-biography of Pfu Yi, gFrom Emperor to Citizenh that written for propaganda purpose, and the Frank Caprafs U.S. propaganda film; gThe Battle of Chinah at their face values.
First thing is first, Chinese Communistfs gbrainwashingh undeniably exists. In the same year this film first came out, 1987, gFrom Emperor to Citizenh was re-published by Oxford University Press with new comprehensive general introduction and chapter introductions by W.J.F. Jenner, the translator of the original 1964 gdeliberately restricted editionh published by Foreign Language Press, BeiJing.
Jenner explains; gThe special consideration shown Pfu Yi and other high-ranking Manchukuo(sic), Japanese, and Nationalist officials cannot be regarded as typical of Chinese prison conditions. These were all people of potential value in winning over others in future, and political considerations saved them from the harsh justice that many lesser figures received.h And, Jenner continues, Pfu Yifs gsuccessful thought reformh which made him gusefulh and able body to work like other ordinary people, that Bertolucci praises vigorously, was, in fact, gsomething of ritualh. Pfu Yifs fourth wifefs account of his incapableness of looking after himself, even after his release of 1959, reveals some part of the truth.
His fifth and final marriage to a well qualified nurse was garranged by the Chinese Peoplefs Political Consultative Conference and the Communist Partyfs United Front Department. [cccc] He was even protected from the Cultural Revolution by Chou En-laifs intervention, and the local police kept Red Guards away. [cccc] Pfu Yifs presentation to foreigners as a living advertisement for the Peoplefs Government and the Communist Party began in 1956, while he was still in prison; and after his release he was often required to meet foreign visitors to China.h Those facts show that Pfu Yi was not successfully remolded@into an ordinary citizen after all, but made a perfect gmouthpieceh of the Communist Party Propaganda Department.

Bertolucci may never have read this revealing version of the Pfu Yifs gauto-biographyh. (In fact, the book was re-written before it was published in 1964 by Communist Propaganda Department writers based on the gconfessionsh Pfu Yi and Pfu Chieh had made in the prison as outcome of gbrainwashingh.)
But, in any case, the directorfs knowledge on the so-called gRape of Nankingh is awfully wrong.
He believes; gThe Japanese killed 300,000 Chinese people in *2 or 3 days* in Nanking.h (How did he think it was possible as the matter of reality?)
In fact, however, the *200,000* civilian refugee in Nanking were well protected by the Japanese Army and decrease of the number never recorded by the gobjectiveh foreigners of the International Committee of the Nanking Safety Zone, who, by the way, are assumed by many people including scholars as gthe witnesses of the Rape of Nankingh. They, on the contrary, recorded *increase* of the population to 250,000 within a few weeks after the capture of the city. No one saw such barbaric massacre except the Chinese propagandists and, actually, some members of the Committee who were hired by the Chinese Nationalist Party as international propaganda agents. Some ordinary Chinese people (genuine citizens of Nanking) even condemned the Chinese soldiers for the wrong-doing in Nanking.
Apart from gRape of Nankingh, the gnewsreelh in the film Pfu Yi and his co-inmates had watched is full of errors and, I dare to say, pernicious propaganda.
The planes that bombed Shanghai International Settlement and killed thousands of civilian was actually the Chinese. (Page 352 of The China Year Book 1938, edited by H.G.W. Woodhead, North China Daily News) And, the gexecutionh scene of the Chinese civilian is, I am sure, taken from the famous propaganda film by Frank Capra; gThe battle of Chinah that shows, in fact, the executioners are the Chinese Nationalist Party Army. Because of the fact the scene was gtrimmedh to ghideh the true identity of the executioners, I think Bertolucci did know they were using propaganda material.
What I do not know is their purpose. It may have been to get permission to make the film in Beijing under ghawk-eyeh of the Communist Party authorities they might have pretended to be pro-communist. In either way, this filmfs authenticity was sullied and that is very a shame.

Still, to me, this special edition is very interesting as a resource to understand the Cultural Revolution and the nature of brainwashing because it includes first-hand interviews of aging Pfu Chieh and the real life prison governor. Only one thing I would desire is subtitles, for the sake of clarification of the dialogues spoken by non-English speakers.

Good movie.... Awful DVD
Enough comments have been made on the movie so I'll just tell you my opinion on the DVD edition. It is one of the worst DVD transcription I have ever saw. I really had the impression to watch a DivX. Do I need to tell more about the resolution? Only the english soundtrack is available (I wish the movie had been shooted in Chinese or Mandarin but that's not the point) and no subtitles. The DVD presents the director's cut which makes the movie 3 and a half hour instead of 2 and a half. The theatrical version is not available on the DVD... Otherwise there is no additionnal material. ... Read more

Reviews (47)

Love & Tumult in 1968 Paris
Once past the excessive, graphic nudity, or perhaps because of it, Bertolucci fashions a jarring glimpse of three fascinating young people against the backdrop of the 1968 French General Strike, which nearly toppled the government. For the three principals, hedonism, narcissism, and intoxication seem to dominate against what appear as lightly held political beliefs - socialism, love, compassion, tolerance. For example, siblings Theo and Isabelle sleep together naked, their sculpted bodies entwined. The All-American Matthew (well played by Michael Pitt) comes upon them sleeping nude (and slowly grows to love them), gathering some deeper yet perplexing knowledge. This learning process for Matthew weaves its way throughout the film: a likable youth from San Diego doing his best to slip into the idiosyncratic lives of these very French '60s eccentrics and their almost invisible, '60s uptight parents.

Bertolucci abruptly intercuts continuously with memorable past film scenes: for example, Garbo's soulful eyes laughing at Gilbert's insipid love from "Queen Christina." There are many of these lovely, thoughtful old film scenes that weld the humanity of these three characters to that of past lovers and haters. I found myself virtually loathing the insouciance of Theo and Isabelle, their adolescent adoration of things kitsch, such as Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People" with Liberty's face that of Marilyn Monroe. All this while exchanging drunk, violent words over politics, cinema and ragout when true fighters faced the formidable barricades in the streets of Paris.

But this is a film, I think, that one must settle into. Much of the first half appears about nothing much, perhaps a light titillating comedy. Slowly, we understand it is not that at all. The nudity, arguments, sex, politics, brilliant film cuts, and memorable period scoring give satisfaction to those of us 'lucky' enough to have lived through that tumultuous time. Perhaps younger, less authoritarian generations will view it with more intuition than we boomers. One of the director's realized intentions was to impart with his typical lyricism an inner realization of why love, even silly vacuous sex, is so much preferable to war (the General Strike and Vietnam, here). The ending is doubly startling. But by then, the parts have become the whole, the trivial vital. The significant beauty of this film lies in the director's wise, consummate vision. Well worth seeing. (For an amazingly contrasting view of the same period, see "Fog of War").

An Incisive Criticism of the '60s and Hypocrisy
The Dreamers is a new, primarily English-language film from the Italian king of cinematic controversy, Bernardo Bertolucci. If you've seen his past works, including 1900 and Last Tango in Paris, they provide a fairly clear idea of what to expect in this NC-17 foray into 1960's youth culture in France. The film is an extended analysis, really, of radicalism and some of the hypocrisies seemingly inherent in it. It forces us to confront the question of what truly is revolutionary, or conservative for that matter. The film answers that question in a way many of us will find unexpected.

Matthew (Michael Pitt) is an American student spending time abroad in France. He takes in the student protests with wide eyes, gazing in awe at the pure passion igniting these young people. Though the period is the '60s, Matthew still reflects the tucked-in conservatism of a decade past, wearing a jacket and tie almost as a shield from the craziness surrounding him. He soon meets two French siblings, Isabelle and Theo (Eva Green and Louis Garrel), both of whom are full of the revolutionary spirit. They are new and therefore attractive to Matthew, who shares a mutual love of movies with both. Not long after, he moves into the home of his two new friends, whose parents have gone away on an extended trip.

Now is the time audience members may begin to squirm. In between quoting movies to one another and acting out favorite scenes, Matthew begins to notice an unnaturally clingy relationship exists between Isa and Theo--they sleep and bathe together, and play sexually-laced games that often leave one in some state of undress. But this quasi-incest has a strange effect on Matthew, as slowly, the jacket and tie disappear, he begins to walk around barely dressed, and he starts to take part in the sex games, at first begrudgingly and then yearningly.

But as intoxicated as Matthew becomes with the lifestyle, he also is disturbed when Isa confides in him that she's never been on a date before. Harboring some genuine feelings for the young beauty, Matthew tries to lead her away from a life entirely dependent upon Theo and toward one of independence. In this way, the film draws a very interesting parallel. It really is conservatism--a resistance to change--that is keeping so-called radicals Isa and Theo in their exclusive relationship. The young innocent, Matthew, has become the revolutionary in trying to shatter what has become the comfortable tradition.

The film boasts three good, but not great performances. With stronger leading work, a good film could possibly have reached the next level. Gilbert Adair's screenplay, based on his own novel, is wonderfully subtle in weaving its critique of the radical movement, but is in fact so subtle that in some ways the film feels "small." Nevertheless, the film raises probing questions, particularly in the last scene, as a throng of protesters march down a street, all chanting in unison, not a single one distinguishable from the next. It begs the old question, "If a group of anarchists organize an anarchists' meeting, are they really anarchists anymore?"

Finally, credit must be heaped upon Fox Searchlight for not yielding to any suggestion that Bertolucci's vision be compromised by editing the film to achieve an R rating. Even without such censorship, it is disturbing enough that film footage of bare genitals and some sex is considered more damaging by the MPAA than, for example, the wholesale slaughter of recent horror offerings. In any case, when going to see The Dreamers, leave any prudish tendencies (or family members) at home.

Final Grade: B

Bold, brave and inquisitive
Bertolucci displays with this unnecessarily controversial movie more bravery than many other directors half his age. Anyone who is young should see it to observe the contradictions that youth's idealism brings upon the three protagonists. Anyone who is older should watch it to remember the bravery of times gone by, to remember a time when many of us still believed protests could change the world and to acknowledge the validity of both youth's panache and experience's fountain of knowledge.

Not all said up front
There are alot of things that are underneath the serface of this film. You might have to watch the film more than once to get it all. Things that have to obtained from the time and the charecters themselves.(I will not ruin them for you finding them is half the fun) The film is not one that you watch when you are bored with your buddys it is a film that takes all your attention to actually get it.The film ends with no changes in the people only an experience that changed their lives but could not change who they were nomatter how much they tried. I hate movies that charecters change because of an experience this movie seems real in that aspect because the people dont change. It is a little overthe top in certain aspects but it makes you think and is an enjoyable experience.

dreamy
Beautiful, disturbing, erotic, political, comic, thrilling, and thoroughly immersing. One of the most satisfying cinematic experiences I've had in a long time. Not to be missed! Much thanks to Bertolucci, who continues to make exquisite and exciting films! ... Read more

Reviews (24)

Master director outdoes previous marvels.
I purchased "Besieged" upon strong recommendations of trustworthy friends and my own appreciation of "Stealing Beauty" and "Sheltering Sky". I came to like that relatievly short (93 min.) movie with only two major characters more than the director's past films.
Bertolucci tells an extraordinary story with a compact outline with great skill and makes it believable. He was able to throw in great camera angles and little cinematographic inventions for a totally fresh feeling. That film is most probably among the best of the best representatives of the art of cinema. Great directing, photography, acting and music. A jewel.
Absence of a 5.1 ch. soundtrack is not felt at all, yet this film could benefit from stereo PCM sound since it is loaded with piano playing.

A truly intelligent love story
The title of Bertolucci's Besieged is a subtle reference to both main characters--Thandie Newton's Shandurai and David Thewlis' Mr. Kinsky. The former, an African emigre now living in Rome, is both a medical student and Mr. Kinsky's housekeeper. Her state of "besiegement" is the situation of living in Kinsky's confining environment--confining principally because of the owner's emotional isolation, and simultaneously of her husband having been arrested in her native country; she is besieged by exposure to a foreign culture, by forces previously unknown to her.

Kinsky's besiegement is, as mentioned above, his emotional isolation. He keeps himself inside his house and is rarely seen venturing outside. Only after he professes his passion for his housekeeper and realizes that he must do more than verbalize his feelings does he break the confines of his physical surroundings and leave the barriers he has besieged himself with.

Kinsky, a composer and pianist, is initially seen playing standard Western classical music, but as he becomes more enamored with Shandurai, the rhythms of her African music begin to influence his own compositions. In a beautiful scene, a session at his piano begins with a simple two-note structure and ultimately results in a piece that fervently echoes the hypnotic, percussive feel of the songs she listens to on her cassette player in her downstairs apartment.

Kinsky's intensity throughout, paralleled with Shandurai's combined intelligence and semi-bewilderment are what gives this work its resonance. This is a truly memorable film, one worth seeing repeatedly.

a perfect movie
IMPORTANT!!

Neither AMAZON nor the DVD box tellS you that there is a second COMMENTARY featuring the writer then more with the director and his wife. Both TRACKS 2 and TRACKS 3 are compelling.

Howard in Manchester UK

The Benevolent Master
I could not help but to watch this film with all of my African American female sensibilities. Despite the proficient acting, c