Bernardo Bertolucci was the guest of honor of the special evening at the AFI Fest 2013 dedicated to the great Italian Maestro’s life and achievement with the first screening of the nine Academy Awards winner movie “The Last Emperor” in 3D. For the 25th anniversary of the international release of this epic about the life of Pu Yi (1905-1967) – China’s final sovereign after millennia of dynastic rulers – the film has been given a 4K restoration with re-mastered sound. Personally supervised by director Bernardo Bertolucci (AFI FEST 2012 Guest Artistic Director) and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, depth and dimension have been added with a 3-D conversion that enriches the film’s rare sights; it was the first feature shot in Beijing’s 500-year-old Forbidden City.
In his remarks, after thanking AFI for its continuing interest in Italian cinema, the Consul General stressed the indelible imprint Maestro Bertolucci left on international cinema and the enduring charm of his spectacular epic “The Last Emperor”.
