Last Emperor

Living through one of the most tumultuous periods of Chinese and world history, Puyi, the last Emperor of China, was both a participant in, and victim of, his times. In 1908, aged only two, Puyi ascended the throne at the Forbidden City in Beijing as Qing Emperor of China. At six, rebellions forced his abdication but he continued to live at the palace surrounded by women and eunuchs. At 13 he started to learn of the wider world from his British teacher Reginald Johnston.

The Last Emperor provides a first-time glimpse into Valentino’s world of bygone glamour. Filmed from June 2005 to July 2007, the crew shot over 250 hours of footage with exclusive, unprecedented access to Valentino and his entourage. The resulting non-fiction film is a portrait of an extraordinary partnership, the longest running in fashion, and a dramatic story about a master confronting the final act of his celebrated career.

The years following the end of the Qing dynasty were some of the most turbulent in Chinese history. With the abdication in 1912 of Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, history saw the end of 2,000 of Imperial rule in China and the start of a new era which would prove to be more dramatic and uncertain than anything that had preceded it.

Mexico, 19th June 1867. Dressed in black and carrying a crucifix, a tall blonde bearded man steps out of his carriage. As he turns to face the firing squad, his last words ring out under the cloudless sky: 'Long live Mexico, long live independence.'

The operatic tragedy of Maximilian and Carlota, European aristocrats who stumbled into colonial power in Mexico—with bloody consequences