In real life, the Empress Cixi actually died the day after summoning Pu Yi, who was so frightened he screamed in terror upon meeting her. She tried to offer him candy, which only made him scream louder.
The boy actor must have been very well-trained to remain so calm. All the decorations and the eccentric-looking ladies with scary hair-pieces would have easily scared away most young children or made them cry!
Maybe iam wrong but costumes looks like from different periods. There are two old men one in japan attire second have something that looks like bishop mitre. There are also two young ladies that wear something that looks like phoenix headdress which is reserved only for empress.
Fun fact: the dog is the one of the actress who protrayed Cixi. It was not planned to be there. The staff noticed the child love that dog. It was à little trick to keep he calm on this scène
The production, the set, the costume in this movie looks so realistic and aesthetically pleasing. The director of the live action Mulan should’ve taken notes from the people who made this movie.
i mean they were never gonna understand the culture with a bunch of white ppl in the back... no matter how many articles u read u aint gonna understand. they relly think we're gonna shell out money because u did an asian movie?? naw... we cud make our own shit.
Mulan is from a different time period. Every Chinese dynasties have different style of clothing. Just like how clothing in Medieval Europe looked different than the colonial era.
Interior Castle I’m just talking about how amazing they made China look the imperial palace, the actors, everything looked so professional. I wasn’t talking about the period. You should read before assuming I’m “criticising”others lol
3 года назад
@@zaihussain9069 I'm not criticising you, I'm pointing out that Mulan's producers would've been criticised no matter what they did, since they are targeted for their race and because they're a target in the culture war that the racists are waging. The only racist I see here in CJ Young, with the typical black supremacist bullshit of "They employed white people. Course it was gonna suck". Corrected for his functional illiteracy in the only language he speaks of course.
For the people asking .."Why turtle soup?".In medieval China it was referred as a sacred animal as it was believed it had quality of longevity to it and turtle won't die in boiling water because it can survive in extreme temperatures .It also the reason it lives for a very long period.
@@100schlingensief6 What does that supposed to mean? Just because someone else has a different culture doesn't mean their beliefs are not relevant. Sorry not the whole world is white
1:27 Puyi's dad at the time was barely an adult himself, at only 19 years old. Also I find it interesting that the toddler Puyi was played by a Vietnamese actor, the pre-teen Puyi was played by a Tibetan actor, the teenage Puyi was played by a Chinese actor, and the adult Puyi was played by a Sino-British biracial actor.
There is no evidence that John Lone was biracial nor less british, he was orphaned at a young age with no clues on who his father was. His stage name is John Lone, which is entirely made up by himself, his real name is Ng Kwok Leung (Cantonese pronunciation) even though he was from Shanghai.
@@zeiitgeist I liked John Lone in that role, I don't believe I ever saw him in another movie after this one. I cried at the end when he was old and poor but seemed happier than ever.
Although the movie significantly downplays Puyis cruelty towards his servants, cowardice in the face of adversity and neglect of his wife, I'm more disappointed that some of the more hilarious (although sometimes also tragic) episodes of his life didn't make it into the film (as far as I can remember). Some examples: - After being introduced to the telephone by Reginald Johnson, Puyi became addicted to it and would randomly call numbers just to hear the voices on the other end of the line - Against the wishes of his eunuchs, Puyi installed a movie projector in the forbidden city to watch Harold Lloyd films - Shortly before getting married to Wanrong, Puyi planned to leave the Forbidden City and his title of Emperor behind to go study at Oxford. The attempted escape was foiled when Johnson refused to call Puyi a taxi - As the puppet ruler of Manchuria, Puyi was depicted in propaganda as an excellent horseman and archer, true to his Qing ancestry, prompting Emperor Hirohito to gift him a fine horse to inspect the Japanese army on. In actuality, Puyi was scared to death of horses, adamantly refused to ride one and had to be carried along in a hastily arranged carriage - During his "reeducation" in Communist China, Puyi acted in a play as a Manchurian functionary, performing a Kowtow to a picture of himself as Emperor of Manchuria - After being repatriated to Peking with Mao's permission, Puyi was tasked with sweeping the streets near his sister's residence, where he lived. On his first day on the job he got lost, and told passersby that he was Puyi, the last Qing Emperor, that he was staying with relatives and needed help to find the way - During his last years, Puyi tried very hard to be humble, so he would always enter the bus last. This often resulted in him missing the bus as he stood unmoving in front of it or mistook the driver for a passenger
@@Horsemanray you cared enough to comment your displeasure hahaha, the guy is a historian just pointing some interesting things out, no need to get pissy about it.
these actually explain exactly why he would be cruel to his subjects and attendants, he was told for years that he is the child of heaven, essentially a God meanwhile most of the Chinese people and likely most of his people and most of his own attendants no longer or never believed in that BS so when he finally had to face the real world (being blamed for all he did and all that was done by the throne in general) he must have been utterly flabbergasted, when trying to be humble he acted as he expected people to act towards him as emperor +- completely over the top, waiting for affirmation to , in this case, enter the bus I don't think it is right to blame him for even the majority of his wilfull abuses, he was not just never corrected he was taught to act that way.
it's even scarier she knew she wad dying, and decided to have someone murdered the emperor (Guangxu) the day before she died. She did not want Guangxu to rule after her death.
CK Lim although it was not on official record, it was widely believed by historians that he was murdered by Cixi. It was no coincidence that Cixi died the day after Guangxu died. Guangxu was under house arrest ever since the ill fated Hundred Days Reform 百日維新, he didn’t hold any power by the time he died. The Late Qing Reform 清末新政 was backed by Cixi after the Boxer Rebellion, the parliament had nothing to do with Guangxu.
@CK Lim I think Cixi wanted Guangxu to die and she did it. She hadn't killed him during 30 years because she was still young, and could rule everything behind the curtain. However in 1908, her illness was so serious that she thought she nearly died, and she decided to poison Quangxu with As so he couldn't change what she had made for the dynasty after she died.
For the most part the film is historically accurate. One part they downplay or completely gloss over was the fact that Puyi was a cruel sadist. He would regularly force his eunuchs to be beaten and tortured for his amusement. This is of course no surprise that a person from birth being told they are an all powerful Emperor would develop a sadomasochist personality.
I mean,many kids are cruel without realising it. Puyi had propably no childhood ,friends and was manipulated or restricted every minute of his life. Vioelence ,exept a sign of anawarness is also a sign that a child is not raised properly.. It is a bit unfitting to say that someone is a sadist or a masochist [terms mostly used for acts having to do with sexuality] for a minor...
Coke: The Emperor is (huffs) uvctcrxt ibononvyctxtvivcubobinpjovufyvibuctcubivubobuvibufyc vucuvinpjpmpbuguvyzydfuufivjxjcjddjdjfmfkdfpfdoxicjvjcyxuvlv!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's a shame Puyi's father Zaifeng wasn't in the film more, when Puyi was offered the throne of Manchukuo Zaifeng warned him he was being an idiot and that they were only going to use him as a powerless puppet
Yup. Zaifeng, or Prince Chun, refused to join in his son's actions, even refusing to move to Manchukuo despite being repeatedly invited to. Because of his willingness to go along with dissolving the monarchy and his vicious contempt for the Japanese, both the nationalists and the communists thought highly of him. Even after Mao took power, he left the prince alone for the most part. As he got on in years, Chun donated many of his remaining possessions to the nation as a whole, particularly his extensive personal library.
IRL, Puyi, by his own admittance, started crying when he was brought before Cixi. She told someone to offer him sweets, but he threw them down and began screaming for his wet nurse. Fed up, Cixi had him taken away.
@@sushantbhargav4652 No he is not, he does not hold the mandate of heaven, he does not live in the forbidden city, he does not wear the clothes of an emperor.
Lady killed her literal son and smiling at her grandson which she clearly see as key asset. It as humanized her as that time she still have her mommy moment with her son...before she poisoned him, of course.
Too bad that didn’t happen in real life; upon seeing her, Pu Yi supposedly screamed for his nanny because the sight of her scared him. She tried offering him candy, but he only screamed louder; so she got fed up and had him removed from the throne room. Apparently, she didn’t like dealing with small children, especially crying ones. And then she died the next day.
@@matthewcardoza1190 If I remember, Puyi wrote that she commented something to the effect of calling him a naughty child and to have the court take him away to play.
@@acedianPianist If that’s the case it kinda sounds like she was just too tired to deal with a little kid like “Oh damn it I’m too old for this, take him outside to cool off for a bit and we’ll work it out later…”
The last Roman Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was an adult. The last emperor in the west was a child, but he was in no meaningful way the last Roman Emperor.
@@samsmith92samsmith You are talking about last Byzantine emperor. By your logic even Palaiologos wasn't the last Roman Emperor - that would be Francis II the last Holy Roman Emperor. I'm talking about the last emperor from Rome not some pretenders to the title.
@@KinoNowejPrzygody No. This isn't about logic or point of view. It's indisputable historical fact. The Holy Roman Empire was a title created by the papacy, and was entirely unrelated to the Roman Empire. The title of 'Byzantine emperor' did not exist. It's an anachronism, created centuries after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the east. The so called Byzantine emperors was not a pretender, they were the legitimate and indisputable successors of Constantine, Augustus and Caesar. And there was no continuity break between the Roman Empire established by Augustus, and the one centred in Constantinople. The Emperors called themselves 'Emperors of the Romans', and the people called themselves Romans or Romanians. The only difference? The capital. Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople. Later the empire was internally split into east and west. Incidentally, Rome was not the capital of the western Empire for most of it's existence, nor when it collapsed. So I guess by your logic, the last western emperor Romulus Augustulus wasn't really Roman Emperor, either...
If this is not about logic then there is no point in talking to you. The fact is that the post Romulus Emperors never cared about moving to Rome, recognition of the Roman people or the latin culture. Byzantines rulers quickly abondened their Latin roots and became hellenized with all flaws of that culture - mainly corruption typical for late Greek dynasties like Ptolemaic dynasty or Seleucid. Those hellenized pretenders had lesss and less to do with Latin culture - the majority of people in their domains were Greek speakers. Those are facts. They called themselves Romans yet at the same time majority spoke only Greek and with one exception all of their rulers didn't care about Rome. And of course you are mistaken about Rome. During Vth century it was a capital for the most important institution for the Western World - Roman Church - the seat of bishop of Rome. The same Church that survived the fall of both empires. And this institution embraced Latin culture more than any other by adopting Latin alphabet and language - something that Byzantines were simply not capable of doing.
For anyone wondering, the things in their nails are traditional Chinese nail guards, the platformed shoes are known as Manchu shoes mostly worn by noble women, and the headpiece with flowers is known as a Dalachi many Manchu noblewomen wore these towards the end of the Qing dynasty.
As a Chinese it's a shame I have not watched this film, truly powerful this scene is, the angle, the light, the acting just phenomenal, you wouldn't want a Chinese director to make this film, they are full of expositions, always.
Its amazing just more than 100 years ago, there was a Chinese Monarch. Just imagine if it still was present and seeing the Forbidden City in its ceremonial and residential use
Because everything was faithfully re-created without substituting it with cheap CGI or green screens. The enthronement scene in this film had thousands of real people as actors and took place in front of the actual Hall of Supreme Harmony. Another problem is with higher definition footages it becomes harder to re-create the "grime" of historical scenes, and many props end up looking overly new and plastic in contemporary history films.
Its the most excellent movie that depicts ancient china . Even our china producers cant even acheive. . Bernardo bertolucci the man behind this artistic masterpiece movie is the genius... the best of the best. Such careful and detailed work and effort by the people behind this movie can be seen in all aspects of the whole movie. The movie can absorb the audience into that era and the audience get so lost inside the movie, and when the movie is over... seems that you will wake up still in awe . Not many movies can reach that standards. No wonder they were awarded so many awards. You left a legacy sir bernardo... respect you and love your works and what makes me respect you is that you are not even chinese and you can do it so well.
"The movie can absorb the audience into that era and the audience get so lost inside the movie, and when the movie is over... seems that you will wake up still in awe." Very well said, it sealed my decision to find and watch this movie, so thank you.
@@brucejackson6451 Im glad my comments gave you some insight about the movie and glad that ypu decided to find this movie...go for it.. do some time travelling. Let me know what you think after watching
I went to see this movie with my parents when it came out; I was 11 and got very little out of it at the time. Other than to deem it very weird, particularly the attempted suicide scene, the lesbian scene, the spitting empress scene, the "mouse thrown into the gate" scene, and this scene. Was really too young to appreciate such a plot. Definitely enjoy it now, as an adult
the empress spitting scene lmfao. yeah i remember that. it was disturbing for me . i think i was around 11 as well. this movie is a masterpiece. not sure if they can make something like this today. great casting. perfect.
Actually you got a lot of the movie at a young age. Director Bertollucci admitted that he purposely "exoticized" the content to make it mysterious, erotic and engaging. He said he's a storyteller, not a historian.
Lisa Lu has been played Cixi at least 4 times in movies. She won Taiwan’s Golden Horse award for best actress in 1975 for her great performance as Cixi
I don't know what to think of Cixi. Some call her a hedonistic tyrant, while others claim that she didn't disagree with reform on a personal level but felt that China wasn't ready for it yet. And that may be the case. You cannot pull a complete political overhaul and expect it to immediately start working, especially if the previous system has been around for so long. Change is a very dangerous game to play, and rapid change with a lack of long-term planning, tact, and patience makes it even more problematic.
+Cheapsunglasses She was the most formidable politician of her time. Not a visionary, not a statesman, not a diplomat, but an absolute master of court intrigues and politicking. I think that policies were tertiary to her, who treats her desires and the balance of power first and foremost. The hundred day reforms would greatly undermine the sovereign and that of her accumulated power, so they cannot be tolerated.
Which is what is calldd a dictator, either way her lack if reform led to the death of imperial China along with the rise of communism. She is an utter failure, a power hungry blind slut. Look at men like Kublai Khan, the Yongoe Emperor, in comparison to the. She is an utter failure
***** So you're foretelling my destiny? I wouldn't bet on that. And peasant? really, a university educated, doing masters degree, two jobs, political party having peasant? I may die before I achieve my gaols in life, but I am no peasant, whether it is my drive and dedication to what I do, or the vision I have and the many friends who look up to me. I can become great and that is what I strive for! The woman was a demonic slut, she had no foresight nor ambition, all she wanted was power, power is good and all, but if you end up doing nothing with it, either bad or good and just sit on it, you are worst that a scum. I say let history remember the witch for the whore she was, the worst are always better remembered, I'd die happy knowing that I have done a lot in my life and I am only 20 years old, then again, the way things are, I would rather be forgotten than be remembered by all the sheeps around
I recommend reading her biography by Jung Chang. She is one of the most interesting monarchs in modernity. Chang clarifies most myths around her character.
Cixi was so ruthless to the point of slightly smirking over beating a eunuch to death for making too much noise, yet she would weep to herself over her dead son at his part of the imperial tomb. That's her.
The actual Dowager Cixi fashioned herself as a Buddha, and she did have herself and her courtiers and eunuchs dress up as Chinese deities in expensive processions within the palace quarters to stroke her own ego, yet she dared not show this side of her out on the royal court in front of the officials. That's how it was with her. She ruled in pretense, clothed herself beyond what is legitimate, donning the emperor's trappings, but dared never sit on the throne that she overlooks from the curtain behind the show.
panzerfan The whole point of "ruling behind the modesty curtain" was always supposed to be a temporary measure, a regency until the male emperor comes of age. And yet Cixi suffocated two whole emperors' entire reigns until she finally kicked the bucket. (1861-1908) Oh don't get me wrong, there were empress dowagers who were GREAT leaders and smarter than many male monarchs in the history of China, but Cixi was just a reactionary old toad.
@@jliu7118 Cixi was a master manipulator. She was shrewd in court intrigues, using "carrot and stick". She appeared as the guarantor of stability, which Guangxu's well-intended reforms seemed to threaten. The short-sighted and self-seeking bureaucracy rallied behind her. However, Cixi had no vision for China. She only cared about maintaining her own personal power.
The Empress Dowager is painted as a bad person because of rumours from the western powers, politicians within the Imperial Court after death, the nationalists, communists, etc. A lot of the said rumours of her extravagance were over blown. There are records of the expenses recorded by Qing officials of the amounts spent on the summer palace that I’m sure can be looked up. Also, she and her co regent the Empress Dowager Ci’an we’re responsible for deposing conservative regents who they thought were ruining the country by continuing isolationist policies. She in fact invited western generals to lead and modernize the Qing armies, she also invited western merchants to reorganize the economy. She also wanted to do so much more, but because as a whole China was still relatively conservative she feared that westernization and modernization would not bode well with the Chinese population. Furthermore, there is no significant proof that the Empress Dowager murdered her nephew the Emperor Guangxu. Furthermore, her opposition of the hundred day reforms was due to the fact that the Guangxu Emperor was in fact more anti western and had also suspended funding towards the imperial navy. Furthermore, the reforms would have made the Empire a target towards japan and other western power Also, it should be noted that after the Boxer rebellion she did issue an unprecedented edict stating that her actions where wrong in supporting the boxers. Most Chinese leaders and leaders in general would not admit to such things. By the time her rule was ending she did declare her intention of turning the empire into a constitutional monarchy, seeing inspiration from Great Britain and Germany. Also, when one is analyzing her rule, we have to remember that China was still somewhat “medieval” and a lot of the punishments that we today see as inhumane were what was regular at the time. Sure it was wrong, but no different from what Asian rulers did in general for punishment. All in all the Empress Dowager did have her flaws, but was no way near as incompetent as everyone says she is.
@d R You have a good point. It's really not that hard to do a movie in the authentic language and put in subtitles, especially if the cast already speaks that language. I think most audiences were too lazy to read the subtitles, and the producers knew it, so they decided to make the movie in English.
@@OrthodoxofUSA It is an American film so it’s mostly in English. This is because most American viewers at the time did not like to read subtitles, so they wanted the film to reach a wider audience.
It's generally presumed that she chose Puyi to be her next puppet emperor, but then she died very suddenly, despite being in good health and having active plans. There are rumors she may have been poisoned.
People forget that creating a visual story and a great film, cannot always be about a strict adherence to all historical facts. That is the art of filmmaking vs. documentary…. The Last Emperor is still a stunning sumptuous achievement in film, and worthy of all its nominations, as a classic motion picture.
Chinese cymbals are for scaring away evil spirts. The guys in the movie don't want evil corrupting the empresses' soul. You got scared... are... you... a....
@@billcipherproductions1789 They didn't do it for the money, they did it to defile Qing tombs as they hated the Qing dynasty, though of course they would have kept any valuables.
Not only Cixi's tomb, they also destroyed the tombs of all the emperors, their empresses, princes and princesses and also the tombs of their noble imperial consorts, concubines and noble ladies who received the privilege of being buried with their Emperor.
Pu Yi’s father was in effect the true last Emperor since as regent he was the one who actually held power. Twice, when he actually ruled China until he stepped down and later took over the court when the Republic was established . Funny enough his later family would still hold some influence sunce his son (pu yi’s half brother) and grandson became politicians in modern China
Bertolucci died last year but he left a magnificent legacy that's just wonderful to the eyes. Classic at every angle. I also loved both music by David Byrne and of course, the ubiquitous Ryuichi Sakamoto who btw, also acted briefly in one of this film's segment as a Japanese officer. Great film! Great story-telling.
They aren't cooking it. It was believed that tortoises had qualities of longevity which is why they offered the empress the water from where the tortoise was.
For those who may not know, the actress who played the Dowager Empress is Lisa Lu (盧燕) for whom it was the third time she played the part. Chinese-speaking audiences, especially the older generation, will definitely remember her in the 1975 Shaw Brothers’ movie The Empress Dowager (傾國傾城) and its 1976 sequel The Last Tempest (瀛台泣血) which respectively deals with the lead-up to the Treaty of Shimonoseki in April 1895, as seen from within the Forbidden Palace, and the eventual imprisonment of the Guangxu Emperor after the 100 Days Reform failed. Those of you who are history buffs might enjoy the two movies, as it portrays the time period and figures with an interesting balance. Although I’m unsure if it’s available with English or other language subtitles.
I do enjoy the film for the most part, but after doing some research, it kind of bothers me how much it tried to downplay what an entitled, sadistic bully Puyi was. He was essentially Joffrey Baratheon, albeit with the ability to actually care about someone else from time to time.
More like she held it together for 50 years. I firmly believe the Qing would have been finished decades earlier if she hadn't so firmly consolidated her power.
@3:57, "He died today..." then Cixi laughs. She laughed because she knows she murdered the Emperor. She knew she was dying and poisoned him so he couldn't change any of the imperial laws after she was gone. There is no actual proof of this of course, but the writing is definitely on the wall.
the current gov had the late Emperor Guangxu's body exhumed. The post mortem report has found a great deal of arsenic in his system .. thus he was poisoned.
These scene is so heartbreaking. PuYi lost his mom in forced way while he don't know anything. The corrupted and dying dowager crown poor little PuYi to become the last emperor (that later become royal crown prisoner of the forbidden city). You need lot of gut and emotion stabilizer to watch these scene.
@Fyfhfr 1088 This is a movie, not a time machine that helps you go back to 19c to see what was really happening. So if you are interested in the real Cixi Dowager, plz read those historic document, which even does not have to be the truth either. And you just want to see what you think Cixi looks like, and piss all over things different from what you prefer.
In contrast, when Theodore Roosevelt's teenaged daughter Alice visited China, Cixi was so intimidated by her confidence that she showered Alice with presents to placate her. Alice was a badass who smoked, drank, raced cars, gambled, and lived to meet every US President of her lifetime from Benjamin Harrison to Jimmy Carter.
Not as intimidated as to envious of alice. Or in love too. In china, girls...well..not given freedom, cixi not knowing that alice was also an outlier girl of her time.
@@83056 the whole qing dynasty is barbaric manchurian rulers, u see the empress clothing freaking look like a cockroach while in previous dynasties they would wore something like 2:50 the women in the right, she is wearing clothes like chinese deities instead of manchurian qipao
The Tibetan monks are wearing ceremonial yellow hats that belong to the Gelugpa sect. The black marble in Empress Cixi's mouth is called hanfan (含饭), which is like a Chinese equivalent of Charon's obol.
Cixi was looking for a another boy emperor to manipulate but sadly (though grateful in some way) she died before she could continue her hedonistic rule
Those horns are very eerie-sounding, especially the horn that starts at 1:13. Also, are those monks supposed to be chanting some kind of healing chant for Cixi?
C Pegg They are Tibetan monks who were extremely loyal and respected in China to the Royalty. They chant for longevity of Dowager and the Lords of 10,000 years.
@@Sawrattan Because of raised tensions caused by media and politics. Tibet had been part of the Qing Dynasty, however after the collapse a few Tibetans wanted a new Tibetan Kingdom under a Dalai Lama.
@@Sawrattan depends on who you talk to, the Tibetans outside of China are mainly independence activists, they're not the best sources as they tend to over-exaggerate to promote their agenda, the ones inside China have more opinions and either want independence or not or just don't care like normal people. Its like talking to Eurosceptics about the European Union.
Apparently Cixi hated the smell of incense and instead of having incense burners in her apartments she had mountains of fruit in large bowls put about the place to sweeten the air.
I have no idea what to think about the empress Cixi, but I will say this: what was she thinking?! Leaving a 3 year-old to rule over China?? She must've been crazy. She should've chosen someone else who was mature and a least knew about how to rule the country
Ofc the chinese had a regency system which is well thought and at place at the time. And so china was ruled with a regent instead of pu yi until he matures.
She believed that she could maintain her power after poisoning her husband (the emperor) if she made it someone who could still be the emperor but she would still have her power. So she did it because she was a bit greedy. Ironically, she died 22 hours after this decision of natural causes despite being in great health. Her idiotic and selfish decision would lead to the collapse of the Qing dynasty due to the in-capability of the emperor to keep back a rebellion. Her greed lead to the demise of 5000 years of tradition.
They are NOT Chinese, they are Manchurians, the normads living outside the Great Wall but ruling China for 268 years. Empress CiXi was not a stupid woman but an extremely selfish and egoist. Good to see she died in 1908, alot of social and political problems was caused by her 60 years upholding power. The only good thing in her life she done correct was she passed the throne to this three year old child, prince Pui Yi to be the heir of the Manchurian Empire. That tragic decision made the Chinese rebels overthrown the empire easy. Because a six years old king was no where capable to be the commander in chief of the Manchurian army crushing the 1911 revolution! Emperor Pui Yi crowned to be the emperor of "Manchukuo" in 1932, he was captured by the Soviet red army in August 1945, he and his brother spent five years in a Soviet gulag labour camp. He was repatriated to China in 1950. He and his brother lived in a Chinese prison until 1959. A total of 14 years of imprisonment,what a tragic life indeed.
