209: The Last Emperor + The English Patient

Hey film buds,In this episode we're finishing our eight-decade journey of Historic Best Picture Winners with The Last Emperor from the 80s and The English Patient from the 90s. Though there is a lot that happens behind the scenes to win an Academy Award, let alone a Best Picture win, they still work as an interesting way to view the history of film and what was popular at the time. We're also finishing up the month with two films that both utilize extensive flashbacks.Intro & Best Pictures From 1927 to 1996 - 00:00The Last Emperor Clip - 16:14The Last Emperor Review - 16:49The Last Emperor was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci in 1987, and tells the story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi, who reigned for several decades in the twentieth century. The film is loosely based his own autobiography and covers a wide swath of history. We'll discuss how effectively the flashbacks are used, and what their perspectives tell us about the man.The English Patient Clip - 53:19The English Patient Review - 53:55Comparing Flashback Devices, Oscar News, What We’re Watching, and Outro - 01:16:12The English Patient from 1996 and directed by Anthony Minghella is an epic, war-time romance set in Africa. The film works, on a. certain level as a mystery, and that is largely due to the missing information the audience is discovering along the way. Is our narrator reliable and are his flashbacks valid? We'll discuss it, along with the way other films have used extensive flashbacks to tell their story.Beyond our reviews, we're also going to talk about the Oscars and #PresentAll23, What We're Watching, and more. If you haven't already, be sure to listen to last week's episode.Thanks y'all,The BudsTotal Runtime - 01:45:17Be a Friend to the Film Buds:thefilmbuds.comPaul's [email protected]/thebudsthefilmbuds.bandcamp.com@filmbuds on Twitter@thefilmbudspodcast on Instagram