The Last Emperor Revisited, from Hong Kong University Press with photographs by Basil Pao; Introductions by Jeremy Thomas, Vittorio Storaro and James Acheson. In July 1986, Basil Pao joined the multi-national cast and crew in Beijing for the filming of Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor. His principal role in the production was to appear as the young emperor Pu Yi’s father Prince Chun. But he also served as a 3rd Assistant Director and Special Stills Photographer.
This book is a true behind-the scenes look at the making of the epic, now legendary film through the exquisite eye of a photographer who had unlimited access to everyone and everything everywhere. The images feature an international cast of characters contributing to the creation of the masterpiece, from the director, the filmmakers and actors, to the farmers, workers and students from in and around Beijing who had been recruited as extras because they had interesting, often striking faces. It contains over 250 photographs, including some of Pao’s most stunning and iconic images of the film, along with a treasure trove of ‘never-been-seen’ pictures captured during the filming in Beijing and in Italy.
In Pao’s own words: “It is the chronicle of a truly extraordinary experience that completely changed my life.”
Basil Pao is a photographer and graphic designer from Hong Kong who has worked extensively behind the scenes for various film and television productions, notably with the BBC and Michael Palin on numerous travel programs. His stills, travel essays and corporate works have been published widely around the world.
…the collection aims to demonstrate the importance of Chinese intellectuals to British cultural history and to the reshaping of British conceptions about China…[its] particular strength lies in the contributors’ meticulous use of different types of historical materials to illustrate the Chinese intellectual community’s internal diversity and its many connections to a wider cultural context.”
This week’s book (#36) on The China Project Ultimate China Bookshelf is Peter Hessler’sRiver Town from 2001 – the book that launched a thousand blogs and book projects by Americans in early 2000s China, but has yet to be betterered arguably….click here
Listen to an abridged version of the chapter – Two Poets Meet in Frenchtown: Langston Hughes & Irene West (1933) from Destination Shanghai (Blacksmith Books)
Listen to an abridged version of the chapter – Bobby Broadhurst Teaches Shanghai to Dance: Florence Broadhurst (1926) from Destination Shanghai (Blacksmith Books)
Do you believe in the supernatural? Asian culture is full of ghosts, and during this talk, taking place between the Hungry Ghost Festival and Halloween, speaker Jim Nobles and moderator Adam Ensign will endeavour to bring a few of them to life.
WHAT: “Ghostbusters, East and West: Comparing perceptions of the supernatural”, an RASBJ in-person talk by Jim Nobles, moderated by Adam EnsignWHEN: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 from 7:00-8:00 PM Beijing TimeWHERE: The Courtyard Institute, 28 Zhonglao Hutong, Dongcheng district, Beijing北京市东城区中老胡同28号，四合书院On Didi and GPS search: Sihe College, 28 Zhonglao Hutong. (Parking is impossible.)
MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: Beliefs in ghosts and the supernatural are an integral part of both Asian and Western cultures and have featured in Chinese customs and literature since pre-dynastic days. This presentation will focus on these concepts (including methods of protecting against or defeating such forces) and compare them with their Western equivalents. It will also analyze some of the stories of Pu Songling as well as of Western gothic. With Halloween almost upon us, and the Hungry Ghost Festival recently concluded, this is a timely discussion – but it’s not for the faint of heart!
ABOUT THE SPEAKER: James Nobles is an educator and founder of Bizarre Beijing, a company that specializes in haunted walking tours, macabre events and unusual lectures. He has studied the unusual aspects of Beijing’s history and has introduced people to the “dark side” of the Chinese capital. He is the author of an upcoming book, “Haunted Beijing”.
WHAT: “Ghostbusters, East and West: Comparing perceptions of the supernatural”, an RASBJ in-person talk by Jim Nobles, moderated by Adam EnsignWHEN: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 from 7:00-8:00 PM Beijing TimeWHERE: The Courtyard Institute, 28 Zhonglao Hutong, Dongcheng district, Beijing北京市东城区中老胡同28号，四合书院On Didi and GPS search: Sihe College, 28 Zhonglao Hutong. (Parking is impossible.)MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: Beliefs in ghosts and the supernatural are an integral part of both Asian and Western cultures and have featured in Chinese customs and literature since pre-dynastic days. This presentation will focus on these concepts (including methods of protecting against or defeating such forces) and compare them with their Western equivalents. It will also analyze some of the stories of Pu Songling as well as of Western gothic. With Halloween almost upon us, and the Hungry Ghost Festival recently concluded, this is a timely discussion – but it’s not for the faint of heart!ABOUT THE SPEAKER: James Nobles is an educator and founder of Bizarre Beijing, a company that specializes in haunted walking tours, macabre events and unusual lectures. He has studied the unusual aspects of Beijing’s history and has introduced people to the “dark side” of the Chinese capital. He is the author of an upcoming book, “Haunted Beijing”.ABOUT THE MODERATOR: Adam Ensign has been an instructor in the School of Foreign Languages at Renmin University since 2016. Having earned his master’s degree in linguistics from Peking University’s Department of Chinese Language and Literature in 2012, he formerly taught at Beijing Language and Culture University and worked as a part-time translator and editor for the Palace Museum’s Department of IT, Imaging, and Digital Media.HOW MUCH: Admission is RMB 100 for members and RMB 200 for non-members, which includes one welcome drink plus light nibbles.HOW TO JOIN THE EVENT: Please click “Register” or “I Will Attend” by noon on September 27, and follow the instructions. If you experience difficulty paying via WeChat, please try Alipay instead. After successful registration you will receive a confirmation email. If you seem not to have received it, please check your spam folder. Numbers will be limited; places will be allocated in order of receipt of payment. Successful registrants will receive the QR code for Weixin RASBJ Chat, where updates and last-minute details will be posted
