The Last Emperor

The first Western film made in and about the country to be produced with full Chinese government cooperation since 1949.

The Emperor was not in the Forbidden City to witness the expulsion of the eunuchs. This action was carefully planned with few people knowing, since the Emperor could trust very few of his intimates. The order to remove the eunuchs was received in the Forbidden City while the Emperor was visiting at a friend's home. Also, not all of the eunuchs were dismissed, as the Empress Dowager begged Pu Yi to allow a few of her personal servants to remain.

The theatrical version runs 163 minutes. A 218 minute version was released in the US in 1998 under the mistaken title of the "Director's Cut". It was known by this erroneous title until the 2008 Criterion DVD and Blu-ray Disc came out. Bertolucci and DP Vittorio Storaro made it clear while working on the DVD and BD that the shorter theatrical version is without doubt the director's cut. The 218 minute version was an early cut meant only to be aired as a four-part television mini-series by the Italian television network that funded the film.