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Last Emperor The 1987 Film Essay

This is biased, because the film suggests the rule of emperors might have been preferable to communism. Likewise, the film shows the re-education programs as being negative. This may be true, but there was some truth in the communist worldview after the war. Communism did help to minimize the class stratification that would have been supported by the emperor and the colonial governments that were trying to take control of parts of China during the time. China was weakening due to the external forces, such as World War Two. The emperor is eventually placed into one of these prisoner re-education programs and labeled as an enemy of the state, as this is what happened in those days. He is tortured and brainwashed. The communist government sends him out to become one of the people. Therefore, the

Neither form of government is ideal. They are both oppressive and negative in their own ways.
When Puyi is released, he becomes one of the people. His life is no different from the lives of other peasants. Although there is nothing wrong with being a peasant, the film suggests that communism cannot destroy the human spirit because in the end, Puyi remains connected to his ancestral lineage and proves that he is a special human being. There is a message of hope, that communism does not destroy the human spirit in spite of what the anti-communist propaganda says. The message is also truthful in that it suggests that there is a romantic element to the imperial era of China. After the Cultural Revolution and Maoism, the Chinese people have been taught to distance themselves from the past. The past is looked at in a negative way, whereas the film asks viewers to recognize the beauty in the old imperial era such as the era of the last emperor.

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