The movie that made me cry

I really like discussing movies lately. I got a trivial question the other day: what movie makes you cry? Although I am less sensitive in real life, I get easily teary when it comes to seeing movies. Like I teared a up a little when I saw the ending of Steve Jobs. But there's always one movie that gets me cry all the time, and that is The Last Emperor.

What is it with me and biopics lately?

Anyway, The Last Emperor is overall not a sad movie, or at least it isn't Marley and Me or Titanic sad. I don't even think “sad” is the word, but “emotionally powerful” is.

The Last Emperor follows the life of Puyi, the last emperor of China, who ended Qing Dynasty after decades and the monarchy system of China in a whole since its China was first formed. He succeeded the throne at the age of two, and the events that will change not only his life but China, would unfold from there. Puyi was raised in lavish lifestyle within the Forbidden City, having served by eunuchs and bunch of other servants. He was considered as a god within the megastructure. As China was transitioning to become a Republic and as World War II broke, Puyi and two of his consorts were forced to leave the Forbidden City and his life as a once worshipped Emperor was about to change. His life completely transitioned as well now that he had to adapt to the modern world and its lifestyle, having adapted the western name of Henry. After the younger Empress filed a divorce, the other Empress, Wan Rong, got addicted to opium too which eventually destroyed her life. In the moment of despair, Puyi fell into the trap of the Japanese who wanted him to become once again the Emperor of Manchukuo (he certainly wanted to become the Emperor again).

Later on, Puyi became a political prisoner, and that's where everything became insanely emotional. Spoiler alert, Puyi was set free and continued living the rest of his life as a humble gardener when Cultural Revolution unfolded.

The last scene got me crying like a baby happened. Puyi, now a frail old man, went incognito as he was walking through people who were watching the Red Guard parade. At first you wouldn't know where he was heading, until you see a shot of him buying a ticket. The next shot shows him climbing up the stairs of the now empty Forbidden City. He walked around the complex, reminiscing his glorious days, now alone instead of being surrounded by thousands of eunuchs, until he reached his very own once golden throne. Puyi was about to reach the throne (which became no other than a museum display), when a little boy interrupted. The boy ordered Puyi to not step onto the throne. (cue to the theme music) Puyi then proves to the sceptical boy that he was the Emperor of China by retrieving a cricket that he was once given when he first succeeded the throne. The cricket crawled out of the cage alive.

I know it's impossible but many theories suggested that the cricket symbolizes the Emperor being caged throughout his life before he finally enjoyed the freedom living his life as a humble commoner towards the end, but his spirit would live forever in the history of China. The notion of Puyi handing the cricket over to the boy signifies a transition of the lasting era of Chinese monarchs into the modern Republic (the boy was seen wearing a red scarf, an attribute of the Pioneer movement). Then the boy looked up to see that Puyi was gone, another fact to prove that the scene is entirely fictional and metaphorical. At the same scene and at the same time, a group of tourists entered the Hall of Supreme Harmony, where the throne was at. The guide explained that Puyi had passed away. Did the boy just see an apparition of Puyi? Well, the director, Bernardo Bertolucci, left it to your imagination.

That very last scene isn't necessarily sad. It is somehow very powerful and it will certainly get you to trace back to Puyi's earlier life as an Emperor, and how much he has witnessed and gone through in his life, before he went incognito as a gardener. The movie followed the story of an incredible man with an incredible journey. It's emotionally powerful to imagine that despite the many things Puyi faced, he remained strong all the time. The last scene, although fictional, really did the justice to Puyi's account.

I really couldn't put the feelings in words, but it's just extremely powerful it brought me tears whenever I saw it. Even the theme music couldn't more stronger than that. It's haunting. The Last Emperor will forever be that movie where I would cry everytime I revisit it. It drives me as an audience to relate the figure as depicted brilliantly by John Lone in the movie: what would you do if your life was changed forever?