Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: Words are important.

Pu Yi, at 15: Why are words important?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: If you cannot say what you mean, your majesty, you will never mean what you say and a gentleman should always mean what he says.
Pu Yi, at 15: Where are your ancestors buried?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: In Scotland, your majesty.

Pu Yi, at 15: But then, where's your skirt? In your country, men wear short skirts, do they not?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: No, your majesty, Scotmen do not wear skirts. They wear kilts.
Pu Yi, at 15: Who is this George Washington?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: A famous American, your majesty. A revolutionary general, the first American president.

Pu Yi, at 15: Ah, like Mr. Lenin in Russia?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: Not quite.

Pu Yi, at 15: Does he have a car?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: He lived a long time ago, your majesty.

Pu Yi, at 15: *I* want a car.
Pu Yi, at 15: Is it true, Mr. Johnston, that many people out there have had their heads cut off?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: It is true, your majesty. Many heads have been chopped off. It does stop them thinking.
Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: The Emperor has been a prisoner in his own palace since the day that he was crowned, and has remained a prisoner since he abdicated. But now he's growing up, he may wonder why he's the only person in China who may not walk out of his own front door. I think the Emperor is the loneliest boy on Earth.
Pu Yi, at 15: [in heavily accented English] I know that you know that I know that you know that that is a dialogue between Confucius and Chuang Tzu.
The Governor: [Confronting Puyi in the prison gardens, where Puyi works alone] Perhaps you think we're here to teach men to lie in a new way?

The Governor: [Puyi continues working as if trying to ignore the Governor] Why did you sign every accusation made against you? I didn't stop you from killing yourself to see you like this! Someone who will sign anything to please his enemies... to please me!

The Governor: [Puyi continues working] You knew about a lot of things in Manchukuo... even the secret agreements. But you couldn't possibly have known about the Japanese biological warfare experiments in Harbin! Could you? So why did you sign these papers?

Emperor Pu Yi: I was responsible for everything.

The Governor: You are responsible for what you do! All your life you thought you were better than everyone else. Now you think you're the worst of all!

Emperor Pu Yi: [sighs] Why can you not leave me alone? You saved my life to make me a puppet in your own play. You saved me because I am useful to you.

The Governor: Is that so terrible? To be useful?
The Governor: [bidding farewell to Pu Yi as he is released from reform camp] You see, I will end up living in prison longer than you!
The Governor: [setting a recurring theme of imprisonment throughout the film] Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!... Open the door!
Chen Pao Shen: [as Puyi is heading off to become the Emperor of Manchukuo] If you go you betray your country!

Emperor Pu Yi: [pause, at a distance] Which country?
Emperor Pu Yi: This isn't a school; it's a prison. A real prison.
Pu Yi - 8 Years: I do not understand. I do not understand.

Lung Yu: Your Majesty is a big boy now. He cannot have a wet nurse anymore. It is much better like this. Much healthier.

Pu Yi - 8 Years: But she is not just my wet nurse. She is my butterfly.
The Governor: The Americans believe everyone is born good. You must be judged.
Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: Your mouse is escaping!
Pu Yi - 8 Years: Cricket! Where's the Cricket?
Pu Yi - 8 Years: I am the Emperor! I can do anything I want!

Big Foot: Yes, oh, yes!
Pu Yi - 8 Years: Drink it. Go on, Bigfoot, drink all the green ink.
Emperor Pu Yi: How should we say goodbye?

Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: As we said hello.
Wen Hsiu: I want a divorce!

Emperor Pu Yi: No one can divorce me.
Captain of Imperial Guard: By the command of Her Imperial Majesty, also called, the compassionate, and the Blessed, the Respectful, and the Long-Living, the Empress Dowager commands. Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, son of Prince Chun, shall be transferred immediately to the Forbidden City and will remain in the great within, awaiting Her Majesty's decision. Respect this!
Pu Chieh - 7 Years: Is it true that you can do whatever you want?

Pu Yi - 8 Years: Of course, I can. If I am naughty, someone else is punished. One of them!
The Governor: Your salvation will lie entirely in the attitude you take!
Emperor Pu Yi: After a few years, the tiny republic had become as corrupt as the old Empire. It fell quickly into the hands of ambitious generals and corrupt bureaucrats.
Pu Yi, at 15: I'm not a gentleman. I'm not allowed to say what I mean. They are always telling me what to say.
Pu Yi, at 15: Our official taster's a brave man. Many of my ancestors have been poisoned, you know.
Chang: [to Reginald] The Emperor awards you with the order of the Ruby Hat Button, and with the right to be carried in your own chair, with four bearers.
Reginald Fleming 'R.J.' Johnston: It would be conveniently sad if he becomes blind. To the expense, Your Excellency. To the cost of maintaining one thousand two hundred eunuchs, three hundred and fifty ladies-in-waiting and one hundred and eighty-five cooks to buying a hundred and twenty sable furs a month and three thousand chickens a week. To the fact that eight hundred and forty guards and employees of the household department, plus one Lord Chamberlain, care only about one thing! Filling their own rice bowls!
Wan Jung: Is the Emperor against arranged marriages?

Pu Yi, at 15: It is humiliating not to choose whom you marry!

Wan Jung: Even I was not allowed to choose. And yet westerners might be amazed how much happiness can come from arranged marriages.
Interrogator: Now than, there are two types of confession. We call them toothpaste and water tap. The toothpaste prisoner needs to be squeezed every now and then or else he forgets to keep confessing. The water tap man needs one good hard twist before he starts. But then everything comes out.
Emperor Pu Yi: The Forbidden City is a theater without an audience.
Eastern Jewel: Of course, I'd love to be the Emperor's new secondary consort! If the post is available.
Amakasu: When an Englishman robs someone, Your Majesty, he becomes a gentleman. If he robs a lot, he becomes a knight. Do you imagine the British run their Empire as a charity? If India has to pay for the cost of its own occupation, so must Manchukuo.
Scribe: Three months later, Japanese armies were besieging the provisional capital at Nanking. And when the city fell, the atrocities began. Trying to terrorize the rest of China into surrender, the Japanese High Command ordered a massacre. More than two hundred thousand civilians were systematically executed. The world watched in horror, but no help was given.

The Last Emperor Quotes

Extended Reading

The Last Emperor short comments

Nico 2022-04-24 07:01:06

A lot of details were handled very well. Puyi was touched by many people across the cloth and longed for physical contact. It was unforgettable.
Nicklaus 2022-03-22 09:01:49

I really didn't expect that foreigners shooting Chinese film themes would be able to shoot at this level.