Director Bernardo Bertolucci co-wrote the screenplay for The Last Emperor with Mark Peploe. The movie is a biopic on the life of the last Emperor of China named Puyi. The film follows Puyi as he ascends the throne as a small boy to being imprisoned by Chinese Communist authorities. Puyi is portrayed on-screen by several actors; he is portrayed as an adult by John Lone, at age three by Richard Vuu, at age eight by Tijger Tsou, and at age fifteen by Wu Tao. Other actors in the film include, Joan Chen, Peter O’Toole, Ying Ruocheng, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Maggie Han, Ric Young, and Vivian Wu.
The Last Emperor was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won all of them. The film won for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Best Original Score, Best Sound, and Best Writing. The Last Emperor is the first movie authorized by the Chinese government to be filmed in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
