This spectacular history of 'Henry' Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, begins with his birth in the Forbidden City and follows his short reign (when he was worshipped as a god by hundreds of...

This spectacular history of 'Henry' Pu Yi, the last Emperor of China, begins with his birth in the Forbidden City and follows his short reign (when he was worshipped as a god by hundreds of millions of subjects), his abdication, his decline, his restoration by the invading Japanese as puppet monarch of Manchukuo, and finally his obscure life and death as a worker in the People's Republic of China. Unusually for a former emperor, Henry became a gardener and laboured for many years in the Botanical Gardens of Beijing until his death in 1967. The movie is based on Pu Yi's own memoirs, From Emperor to Citizen: The Autobiography of Aisin-Gioro Pu Yi, and on other contemporary material. It was the first western production to be allowed to film in the Forbidden City, and it went on to win nine Academy Awards.