sturdy face

Kenyon 2022-04-20 09:01:41

I saw it when I was young, and I didn't feel it as deeply as I do now.
When the pictures you saw in magazines, newspapers, and reports when you were a child finally appeared in front of your eyes as you wished, there was an unreal illusion, like drinking sweets.

There will never be such a masterpiece again, showing such a real, so restored, so mysterious China.
Now we all talk about big-handedness. There will definitely be more magnificent productions and palaces in the future, but there will never be so many faces with that era and style in the picture. Every female character and every palace maid is like the people in the photos of that era, and even the white face makeup has been restored. No matter how gorgeous it is built and rebuilt one by one, it is no longer the real Forbidden City. The original inexplicable charm and sacredness cannot be reproduced.

I have always progressed with the times, and people's faces have begun to be similar, even aesthetically unified, and feel dull, even boring.
It's hard to see a handsome face in this era. Therefore, I have a soft spot for ugly stars. It's not easy. In this era, there are still ugly people who have the courage to come out.

I won't go into details about the plot, about editing, about music, and about photography, because every beauty is unparalleled and irreplaceable.
Thanks to Bertolucci, and even more to every actor, including the extras, for letting me see the unique faces of that era.

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Extended Reading
  • Gregory 2021-12-08 08:01:48

    China under the lens of Bertolucci is always the red country that exists in his imagination. The film is too westernized, but the fate of Puyi has been used to carry the changes in China for nearly half a century, and then explain the ancient Greek tragedy theme of the confrontation between man and fate. If a person’s life is a process of constant loss, Puyi is undoubtedly the one who has lost the most, because he once owned the entire China...

  • Conrad 2021-12-08 08:01:48

    You can't keep up with all the departures, and you can't open all the doors. All people are liars.

The Last Emperor quotes

  • 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.