The Last Emperor is about just that the last Emperor of China. At the age of 3 Pu Yi becomes the Emperor of China in 1908 and in tradition is forced to live in the Forbidden City. There he is worshiped and coddled and unaware of the changing world around the city. As he grows up he learns that China has become a Republic and no longer recognizes him as Emperor. As the outside world starts creeping into the very traditional Forbidden City Pu Yi tries to modernize things but it is too late and eventually his family is forced to leave by the new Chinese government. He tries to reclaim his role as Emperor in Manchuria with the help of the Japanese but is used as a puppet for the Japanese government till the end of World War II when he is captured and tried as a war criminal. Eventually he is released from jail and dies as a commoner.
The Last Emperor is the 5th and last biopic to win Best Picture in the 80's. The movie is told from the Emperors point of view through flashbacks from the imprisoned Pu Yi. While it is interesting to see his point of view of the events I would have liked a little bit more context of the surrounding world events that shaped what was going on at the time. Besides for a little bit about Pearl Harbor from a news reel we don't learn anything else about World War II and why the Japanese were trying to use him as a puppet. The movie is kind of slow moving and without the context of what is going on around him it is kind of confusing. One of the reasons the movie won Best Picture is because of how large of production it was. It used one of the largest number of extras and costumes. It was also the first movie to be allowed to shoot in the Forbidden City. But overall I found it to be too slow. Ultimatetly the movie was nominated and won Nine awards(the most since 1960 when West Side Story won 10) but was not nominated for any acting awards the last time that happened was in 1958 with Gigi. The Last Emperor was also the first PG-13 movie to win Best Picture.
Like I said 1987 was the first year I watched the Academy Awards with my mom and the movie I remember her hoping to win was Moonstruck with Cher. Moonstruck was nominated for 6 awards and won 3 including Best Actress for Cher. The big category that I was interested in that year was Best Song. The 80's were a great time for songs in movies and almost every song that won was a radio hit. This year was no different as "(I've Had) The Time of You Life" from Dirty Dancing won. The big competion for best Song was from "Storybook Love" from The Princess Bride.
Lots of movies were overlooked that year that should have got more nominations. The Princess Bride with only one nomination for Best Song should have been nominated for Best Picture and Best Screenplay. There are so many quotes from that movie that became famous there should have been some recognition for the writing. Also, two Vietnam War movies that came out that year mostly got overlooked by the Academy maybe because Platoon won the year before and they didn't want to appear to be giving awards to too many Vietnam War movies. But Good Morning, Vietnam and Full Metal Jacket should have got some nominations. Robin Williams got his first Best Actor nomination for Good Morning, Vietnam but it should have got more nominations. Full Metal Jacket probably should have won Best Picture but it wasn't even nominated. I am not a big fan of Stanley Kubrick but this is one of his best movies. The only nomination it receved was for Best Screenplay but should have been nominated for Best Picture, Director, and Best Supporting Actor for R. Lee Ermey as Senior Drill Instructor Gunnery Sergeant Hartman.
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