last Emperor

Last Emperor, The (1987)

The war criminals will proceed in
orderly fashion to the main waiting
room and await instructions.
No talking!
Obey the guards!
War criminals must proceed to
the waiting room!
Those caught talking
will be severely punished!
The emperor!
Your majesty. Your majesty. Your majesty.
What do they think they are doing?
Stop! It is dangerous!
Go back, Go back. Go!
Are you mad?!
They could kill us all!
Go! Go!
Open the door!! Open the door!!
Open the door!! Open the door!!
Mama!
By the command of Her lmperial Majesty,
also call, the compassionate,
and the Blessed, the Respectful
and the Long-Living,
the Empress Dowager commands
Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi,
son of Prince Chun,
shall be transferred immediately to the
Forbidden City and will remain in the
great within,
awaiting Her
Majesty's decision. Respect this!
Ar Mo. I am giving your my son.
My son is your son!
Quick! Quick!
I want to go home!
Look, look at all the camels.
Unlook at the Forbidden City!
Give him to me.
Ar Mo!
Pu Yi, come here.
How small you are. Are you
afraid of me? Everyone is.
I am the Grand Empress Dowager.
And I have lived here for a long, long time.
And they call me the old Buddha.
This is Peony. Do you like her?
Men, you know, are not allowed
in the Forbidden City after dark.
Even little men like you!
The only man who can live here is
the Emperor.
But the Emperor is on high,
riding the dragon, now!
He died today!
Longevity.
These other men, they're not real men.
They're all eunuchs.
And now, they're all wait for me to die.
That is why they're putting my
bed in the middle of the room,
under the black pearl.
Little Pu Yi, I have decide
that you will be the new Lord
of Ten-Thousand years.
You will be the Son of Heaven.
Are we going home, Papa?
Sssh! Sssh! Sssh!
It will soon be over.
Look!
Look!
Cricket!
Cricket! Cricket! Where's the cricket?!
Ahh, he is my friend, Your Majesty.
Safe and warm under my arm.
Kept me company on the long journey here.
Ahh, see? He is kowtowing to
Your Majesty.
Now, he can be
the Emperor's Cricket!
You Majesty, this is the
Forbidden City.
Ah, look! This little one is Your Majesty's
bedroom. This is where we are.
Am I going home, today?!
Not today, not yet. A-And
here, look
This is the Hall of Supreme Harmony
where Your Majesty was crowned.
I give Your Majesty the Gate of
Marshall Valor.
I give you the maju-gate the... gate!
/Yes.
Yes. And the Palace with
he Loudest Heaven... and... yes.
Your Majesty, your lmperial
bath is ready!
I don't like baths! I don't like
baths! I don't like baths!
No beam curd today and no
meat!
Is it true I can do anything
I want?
Of course, Your Majesty!
Anything you want. You are
the Lord of Ten Thousand Years.
Oh!! Oh! Oh! No! Not in my
face! Oh! Oh, no! No!
I'm the Son of Heaven!
I'm the Son of Heaven!
Yes! Oh, yes!
/I am the Son of Heaven!
Ar Mo! I want to go home!
I want to go home, I want to go home!
I want to go home, Ar Mo!
I want to go home.
Once upon a time, there was
a great tree and a great wind.
The tree and the wind were
always fighting.
His soup is getting cold!
Where am I?
In the people's Republic of China.
Why did you stop me?
You are a criminals!
You must be judged?
I repeat.
Prisoners going to their cells
will walk with their heads bowed.
Keep your eyes on the ground!
No looking forward or to the side!
The guards will give you directions
and tell you when to turn!
Pu Chieh.
Your guest is waiting to meet you.
You Majesty.
Also your mother has arrived.
You have not seen your mother
for many years. Your Majesty.
He is so small!
He is young, Your Majesty.
Go. Go!
The Emperor's brother.
His Excellency, Pu Chieh.
Ar Mo.
How is the health of His
Majesty's mother?
It is better, thank you. How
much His majesty has grown!
My mother has not seen me for
seven years!
Do you remember my face?
No!
The night they came with the horses,
I knew it would be like this.
My brother sees you everyday!
Pu Chieh is very excited to meet you.
He often talks about you.
We are all very proud of you.
The kite.
He chose this for you.
Papa!
They're turning away!
Of course! Ordinary people are
not allowed to look at the Emperor!
I am too important.
Is it true that you can do
whatever you want?
Of course, I can. If I am naughty, someone
else is punished. One of them!
Stop!
The Emperor will walk.
I have never met other children.
Are they all like you?
I've got three sisters and two friends.
If you come to our house,
you can play with us.
The Emperor never leaves the
Palace.
We play games together!
I know a game too! Run!
The ones in the boat are the
high consorts /High consorts?
The wives of the emperor
before me.
They say they're my mother,
but they're not! They're not!
Why are you wearing that?
You are not allowed to wear yellow!
But this is ordinary yellow.
It is lmperial yellow!
No, it is not!
We say it is! Only the Emperor
can wear that yellow! Take it off!
No!
Take it off!
No! And you're not the
Emperor anymore!
There is a
new Emperor now!
He has cut off his queue, and instead of a
camel, he has got a car!
What did you say?
You're not the Emperor!
Liar!
You're not the Emperor
anymore!
Liar! Liar!
You're not the...
Liar!
You're not the Emperor!
/How dare you!
Calm yourselves! Oh!
You're not the Emperor!
How dare you!
No! Your Majesty!
Calm yourselves!
Am I the Emperor or not?
Your Majesty will always be
the Emperor.
You see?
Prove it!
Big foot, drink it! Go on, drink
the green ink.
I will show you!
See? That is a car! He is the
President of the Republic.
Why is this wall here, Lord
Chamberlain?
It is just a wall, Your Majesty.
Nothing has changed.
You are lying.
Hight Tutor, am I still the
Emperor?
You will always be the Emperor
inside the Forbidden City,
but not outside.
I do not understand.
Outside China is now a republic,
with a president.
Where is Ar Mo? Ar Mo?
You are all liars!!
Let me say "good-bye"!
Hurry! Hurry!
He's my child! Ah!
Ar Mo?! Ar Mo?
I don't understand.
I don't understand.
Your Majesty is a big boy, now.
He can't have a wet nurse
anymore.
It's much better like this.
Much healthier.
But she is not my wet nurse.
She is my butterfly.
Ar Mo!!! Ar Mo!!
Ar Mo!!! Ar Mo!!
Ar Mo!!! Ar Mo!!
This is the detention center of
the Fushun Bureau of public security.
And I am the governor!
During the war, this was a
Japanese prison.
Many of you may remember it.
Because you worked with the Japanese,
you were responsible for building it and
you filled it with innocent people.
How could this happen?!
Why did you betray your
country?!
What turned you into war
criminals?
We believe that men are
born good!
We believe that the only way to
change is to discover the truth
and look at it in the face.
That is why you are here.
You will begin by writing
the story of your lives
and by confessing your crimes.
Your salvation will lie entirely
the attitude you take!
I advise you to be frank and
sincere, otherwise things can
still go very badly for you.
After a few years, the tiny republic had
become as corrupt as the old emperor.
It fell quickly into the hands of ambitions
generals and corrupt bureaucrats.
The era of the warlords had begun. By May,
China was in turmoil.
May the new tutor present
himself!
Your lmperial Highness,
the new tutor.
Dear lmperial Highness,
Mr. Reginald Fleming Johnston.
How do you do, Mr, Johnston?
How do you do, Your Majesty?
Now we will go to school.
Your Majesty, in my country, it
would be usual to begin with
some kind of an examination.
The Emperor can't be
examined.
Well, that may have to change.
But first, Your Majesty might
like to ask me some questions.
Where are your ancestors
buried?
In Scotland, Your Majesty.
But then, where's your skirt?
In your country, men wear short skirts,
do they not?
No, Your Majesty. Scotsmen do not
wear skirts, they wear kilts.
Kilts.
Kilts. A matter of words, perhaps,
but words are important.
Why are words important?
If you can't say what you
mean, Your majesty, you will
never mean what you say.
And a gentleman should always
means what he says.
Ah yes! "a gentleman".
Are you a gentleman?
I would like to be a gentleman,
Your Majesty. I try to be.
I'm not a gentleman. I'm not
allowed to say what I mean.
They are always telling me
what to say.
Your Majesty is still very
young.
I thought he might like to see some
English and American magazines.
I have just received
them.
I know that you know that I
know that you know that,
that is a dialog between
Confucius and Chuang Tzu.
Concerning respect, Your Majesty.
Who is this "George Washington"?
A famous American, Your majesty.
A revolutionary General.
The first American President.
Ah! Like Mr, Lenin in Russia?
Not quite.
Dose he have a car?
He lived a long time ago, Your Majesty.
I want a car.
I think your mouse is trying to
escape, Your Majesty.
Please do not tell anyone about
my mouse.
The lesson is finished.
Our official taster's a brave
men.
Many of my ancestors
have been poisoned, you know.
Does Your Majesty have lunch
like this everyday?
Oh, yes! Every day!
Like theater!
I don't know why.
It has always been like that.
How do they kill emperors in
the West?
The Austrian emperor was shot, was he not?
No, but his nephew was assassinated
before the Great War.
But the Russian emperor had
been shot. He was called the Tsar.
Yes.
He took lots of our land in
Manchuria.
I'm a Manchrian. Even after the republic,
it's still country.
The-uh... secret, Your Majesty,
is emerging again.
Is something the matter, Your Majesty?
Something is happening.
What is happening,
Mr, johnston?
Uh nothing is happening...
/Quiet!
On my way here, Your Majesty,
we were held up by students
from the university.
They were protesting against the
republican government.
because it has agreed to give
away Chinese territory to Japan.
It is true, Mr, Johnston, that
many people out there have had
their heads chopped off?
It is true, Your Majesty.
Many heads have been chopped off.
It does stop them thinking.
It is time for the Emperor's rest.
The students are right to be
angry.
I am angry!
But I am not allowed
to leave the Forbidden City.
I want to go out,
Mr, Johnston!
My lord!
I want to see the City of sounds!
The Emperor awards you with
the order of the Ruby Hat Button,
and with the right to be carried in your
own chair, with four bearers.
I hope the Emperor has not
forgotten that this is the
day for his math class?
For Your Majesty!
My doctor says,
"Bicycles are bad for you".
Bad for you, nonsense!
How does it work?
Oh, it's simple.
Head up and eyes forward!
As in math!
My mother is dead, is she not?
Yes, Your Majesty.
I'm profoundly sorry!
I'm not.
She killed herself.
She swallowed the ball of opium.
I'm going to see her, and my brother.
Open the door. Open the door.
Open the door.
Fallen devil and fallen machine.
Trouble! Nothing but trouble!
Look where you lead him!
And you are an old, cruel, ignorant man.
The boy's mother is dead,
and he's not even allowed to see her!
I want to go home!!
I want to go home!!
Stop it, stay where you are!!
I want to go home!!
Stop it, stay where you are!!
You fool!! Stay there!!
Chang!
Hunchback, Bigfoot!
Sir? Give me your hand, sir.
Give me your hand, sir!
Can you not see?
Look at my left ear, please, sir.
Thank you, and my right.
Thank you.
Would you follow my finger, please, sir-
Well it's perfectly simple,
Johnson. The emperor needs spectacles.
Like Harold Lloyd!
Impossible!
An emperor does
not wear spectacles!
That can't be allowed!
Time have changed,
Your Highnesses!
If His Majesty doesn't get spectacles,
Johnston, he could lose his sight.
Your Majesty.
If the Emperor does not get
spectacles, I will resign.
Unfortunately,
our decision is final.
And unfortunately, what I have to say will be
published in every newspaper in China.
What do you have to say,
Mr, Johnston?
The Emperor has been a prisoner
in his own place since the day
that he was crowned and has remained
a prisoner since he abdicated.
But now he's growing up. He may
wonder why he is the only person in China
who may not walk out of
his own front door.
I think the Emperor is the
loneliest boy on earth.
It would be conveniently sad
if he becomes blind.
Blind, Mr, Johnston?
To the expense, Your Excellency.
To the cost of maintaining one
thousand two hundred eunuchs,
three hundred and fifty
ladies-in-waiting.
and one hundred and eight-five
cooks to buying one hundred.
and twenty sable furs a month
and three thousand chickens a
week.
To the fast that eight hundred
and forty guards and employees
of the household department,
plus one Lord Chamberlain,
care only about one thing!
Filling their own rice bowls!
You are very good at accounts,
Mr, Johnston!
The Emperor may have abdicated,
but he is still a symbol
of great importance to many people.
If I did not agree with that,
I would not be here.
And some of us believe that one day soon,
he may be more than a symbol.
The spectacles are a detail.
What do you really want,
Mr, Johnston?