Hong Kong-France-Italy-UK (1987): Drama

Bernardo Bertolucci does the nearly impossible with this sweeping, grand epic that tells a very personal tale. The story is a dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the emperors of China. It follows his life from its elite beginnings in the Forbidden City, where he was crowned at age three and worshipped by half a billion people. He was later forced to abdicate and, unable to fend for himself in the outside world, became a dissolute and exploited shell of a man. He died in obscurity, living as a peasant in the People's Republic. We never really warm up to John Lone in the title role, but this movie focuses more on visuals than characterization anyway. Filmed in the Forbidden City, it is spectacularly beautiful, filling the screen with saturated colors and exquisite detail. The cast also features Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor Wong, Dennis Dun, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Maggie Han, Vivian Wu and Ric Young. As he grows up, Pu Yi is portrayed by Richard Vuu (at 3), Tsou Tiger (at 8) and Tao Wu (at 15). (Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com)

· Best Picture of the Year 1987: Jeremy Thomas - Producer (Hemdale, Columbia)
· Best Achievement in Directing 1987: Bernardo Bertolucci
· Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium 1987: Mark Peploe, Bernardo Bertolucci
· Best Achievement in Art Direction 1987: Ferdinando Scarfiotti - Art Direction, Bruno Cesari - Set Decoration
· Best Achievement in Cinematography 1987: Vittorio Storaro
· Best Achievement in Costume Design 1987: James Acheson
· Best Achievement in Film Editing 1987: Gabriella Cristiani
· Best Achievement in Music (Original Score) 1987: Ryuichi Sakamoto, David Byrne, Cong Su
· Best Achievement in Sound 1987: Bill Rowe, Ivan Sharrock

9 nominations, 9 Awards (Swept all nominated categories)