For my film review, I watched The Last Emperor. I had heard such good things about the film but have never actually seen it. While it was long and somewhat slow in the beginning, I really enjoyed the film. I liked the juxtaposition of starting the film in the 1950s and going back and forth from when the Emperor Puyi was little growing up in the forbidden city to being imprisoned for being a traitor. I had no idea about the Japanese influence on Japan during World War II, or how enuchs were so influential on the emperor's ideas. It was interesting to see how opium was still a debilitating drug after the opium war. his wife became dependent on the drug in the 1930s, long after the british influence had technically stopped the selling of the drug. I also loved seeing the western influence on dress, manners, and names while the emperor and his entourage left for Manchuria, but they got rid of their traditional hierarchical structures. I would recommend using this movie, but in clips. It is too long for a full showing (almost 3 hours and some sex), but I thought it gave a great idea of the changing times of China from 1900-1960 without being so intrusive of the political change.
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