Director of The Conformist, Last Tango in Paris, and The Dreamers, Bernardo Bertolucci was one of the greats of Italian cinema. In 1987 his acclaimed epic The Last Emperor - made with British producer Jeremy Thomas (Naked Lunch, Crash) - swept the 60th Academy Awards winning nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director. Following the life of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his birth in 1906 through his childhood in the fortress-like Forbidden City and his later misguided collaboration with the Japanese in World War II, The Last Emperor tells the history of China through the eyes of the man brought up to believe he was the country's divine ruler. Filmed on location in China, Bertolucci and Thomas were the first western filmmakers to be allowed access to previously forbidden locations.
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