The Last Emperor
March 2008 Reviewed by: Rad Bennett Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

While watching this DVD set, I had a thought that has come upon me before: Wouldn’t it be a great thing if Criterion released all DVD titles? Though various studios have come up with a few dandy comprehensive releases, such as the recent four-disc Blade Runner from Warner, Criterion has consistently produced all of its releases to go the extra mile in terms of both better quality and complete information. The company started out, more than a decade ago, with a laserdisc release of the original King Kong that included a second-audio-track commentary, something unheard of back then, and has always promised more than the movie, a guarantee on which it has always delivered.

The Last Emperor is an epic film that swept the 1987 Academy Awards, winning a statuette for each of the nine categories in which it was nominated: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Art Direction-Set Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Music-Original Score, Best Sound, and Best Writing-Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. It tells the story of Puyi, the last Emperor of China, who ascended to the throne at three years old but was driven out of his palace at the Forbidden City in 1924, then became a puppet ruler of Manchuria under the Japanese occupation. In the 1950s, he was thrown in prison by the Chinese Communist regime, then released, whereupon he became a gardener, dying in 1967.

Puyi (John Lone) is a curious hero for a story, as he is passive and ineffective at controlling anything outside his own immediate reach. He believes, however, that his right is to be Emperor of all China, so he behaves accordingly -- arrogantly and ignorantly. The screenplay tells his story beginning in 1950, when he is admitted to a People’s Republic prison, then through flashbacks and finally by advancing to the end of his life. The movie contains a next-to-final scene that is one of the most memorable in all of film history, as Puyi returns to the Forbidden City as an older man and encounters a youngster who challenges him to prove that he is the authentic last Emperor.

First DVD releases of this resplendent movie (from Nelson Entertainment) were a disaster. The colors bled, there was scant resolution of the images, and the soundtrack was restricted and distorted. Releases since have not been that much better. Criterion to the rescue! First and foremost this set features new transfers. The picture is from a restored high-definition transfer supervised by cinematographer Vittorio Sotraro; the sound for the theatrical release has been re-mixed into 5.1 format (the picture for the television version on the second disc has been restored as well, but its sound remains a somewhat tinny mono). All of the colors are now vibrant and rich, with no bleeding at all. Those deep reds, oranges, and golds are breathtaking, just as in the original movie. The sound re-mix uses the surrounds to add ambience and breathing room for the front channels, which are singularly transparent and sweet. The music sounds, at times, like a very good audiophile recording. If you were playing this disc on a good upsampling DVD player, you could swear it was high def and no doubt get away with it.

It is interesting to note that the longer television version is not, as was previously thought, the director’s cut. It was made to satisfy financial backers, and the theatrical version, which is the director’s cut, was edited from it. There are dozens of extra features on the third and fourth discs that chronicle Bertolucci’s romance and experience with China, plus a very good one with David Byrne on the music. There is also an exceptional featurette on the real life Piyu. Bertolucci gives a lucid and charming commentary to complement the theatrical cut of the movie.

As usual, Criterion has produced an immaculate DVD set that is virtually a film course on the movie, while presenting the show itself in the best possible video and audio. The company still remains top dog when it comes to releasing such a definitive issue of any particular film. See this if you see no other DVD this year, and prepare to be amazed.

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