Spoilers · the ending
The Last Emperor: the ending, explained
Bernardo Bertolucci · 1987
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
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Spoilers · the ending
Bernardo Bertolucci · 1987
This page gives the ending away. Not seen the film yet? Its spoiler-free guide is here.
What happens
Late in life, Puyi returns to the Forbidden City as an ordinary visitor and shows a boy the hidden relic he once kept there. When the boy turns around, it is gone. The old emperor is just a citizen now, in a world that has vanished.
The last image
The boy turns back and the relic Puyi had hidden is no longer there, leaving only the empty palace and the old man who once ruled it.
What it says
The ending closes the film's argument about space, status and memory. A man once locked inside the palace now walks through it freely, and the spectacle becomes a quiet reckoning with who he was without the roles others gave him.