Musical narratives in The Last Emperor: The power of leitmotifs and traditional Chinese instruments in storytelling

Abstract

This study explores music’s narrative and emotional functions in The Last Emperor (1987), focusing on the strategic use of leitmotifs and traditional Chinese instruments. Rather than serving as a mere atmospheric accompaniment, music in the film functions as an active narrative force that shapes character development, emotional resonance, and cultural perception. Through a qualitative, interpretive framework, the research examines how recurring musical themes—leitmotifs—are dynamically altered in instrumentation, tempo, and harmony to reflect the protagonist Puyi’s psychological evolution. These motifs serve as structural and emotional anchors, guiding the audience through the film’s shifting narrative and thematic contours. Moreover, the study investigates the role of traditional Chinese instruments, particularly the erhu and konghou, in reinforcing cultural identity and emotional nuance. Their expressive timbres and integration into the Western orchestral fabric provide historical authenticity and a cross-cultural soundscape that bridges Eastern and Western musical traditions. Drawing on music semiotics and film music theory, the study employs thematic analysis, timbral examination, and audiovisual synchronization to understand how these musical elements contribute to a multisensory cinematic experience. The findings suggest that leitmotifs in The Last Emperor are not static musical tags but dynamic narrative agents that evolve alongside the characters’ emotional and cultural transformations. Traditional Chinese instruments, when merged with Western orchestration, act as cultural bridges and emotional amplifiers that heighten both historical context and viewer empathy. Together, these musical strategies construct a layered narrative experience that deepens the audience’s engagement intellectually, culturally, and emotionally. This study contributes to the discourse on cross-cultural film scoring, demonstrating music’s capacity to construct meaning, evoke emotion, and convey cultural identity in visually rich and sonically immersive narratives.

Keywords

• leitmotif
• traditional Chinese instruments
• film music narrative
• cross-cultural scoring
• emotional resonance

Supporting Institution

No fund

Ethical Statement

This study did not involve any human participants, animals, or personally identifiable data, and, therefore, did not require formal ethical approval according to institutional and journal guidelines. Nevertheless, the authors maintained high ethical standards by ensuring proper attribution of all cited materials, securing appropriate permissions for audiovisual content used for academic purposes, and presenting the methodology and interpretations transparently. All musical examples and visual stills were selected with scholarly intent and used within the bounds of educational fair use. This ethical stance was taken to uphold academic integrity and ensure the responsible treatment of creative and cultural content throughout the study.

Thanks

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation to the editors and anonymous reviewers of Rast Musicology Journal for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions, which significantly improved the quality of this article. Their insights helped refine the manuscript and contributed to the development of its final form.

References

1. Bribitzer-Stull, M. (2015). Understanding the leitmotif: From Wagner to Hollywood film music. Cambridge University Press.
2. Chanan, M. (2019). Concerning the iconic signification of music in cinema. In M. Grimshaw-Aagaard, M. Walther-Hansen, & M. Knakkergaard (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sound and imagination (Vol. 1, pp. 585– 607). Oxford University Press.
3. Chattah, J. R. (2006). Semiotics, pragmatics, and metaphor in film music analysis [Doctoral dissertation] Florida State University. https://www.proquest.com/openview/2be4 4ec0b262b13568407cb5d5d77a64/1?pq-origs ite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
4. Cohen, A. J. (2005). How music influences the interpretation of film and video: Approaches from experimental psychology. Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology, 12(1), 15–36. https://musicog.discoveryspace.ca/ sites/default/files/how-music-influences- film-and-video.pdf
5. Cooke, M. (2008). A history of film music. Cambridge University Press.
6. Gorbman, C. (1987). Unheard melodies: Narrative film music. Indiana University Press.
7. He, Z. (2024). The traditional Chinese music elementsinthesoundtracksofthefilmFull River Red. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 35, 640–646. https:// doi.org/10.54097/kabdng45
8. Hou, N. (2024). Application of Chinese folk music elements in the film from the perspective of music diversification. Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences, 26, 161–166. https://doi. org/10.54097/jx5ppt20

9. Kendall, R. A. (2010). Music in film and animation: Experimental semiotics applied to visual, sound and musical structures. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 7527, 752703. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.849097
10. Lehman, F. (2018). Hollywood harmony: Musical wonder and the sound of cinema. Oxford University Press. https://global.oup.com/us/companion. websites/9780190606404/
11. Leinberger, C. F. (2021). An Austrian in Hollywood: Self-plagiarism and the “Love Theme” in Max Steiner’s music for Now, Voyager and Mildred Pierce. Journal of Film Music, 9(1–2), 128–131. https://doi. org/10.1558/jfm.19071
12. Lipscomb, S. D., & Tolchinsky, D. E. (2012). The role of music communication in cinema. In D. Miell, R. MacDonald, & D. J. Hargreaves (Eds.), Music communication (pp. 383–404). Oxford University Press.
13. Litvikh, E. V., & Lyu, I. (2024). The interaction of traditional Chinese and western musical instruments in Tan Dun’s work as a multicultural dialogue. Культура и Искусство (Culture and Art), (9), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.7256/2454- 0625.2024.9.71670
14. Mammadova, G. (2025). Scientific researches in the musical semiotics. Ancient Land International Scientific Journal, 7(3), 25–30. https://doi.org/10.36719/2706- 6185/45/25-30
15. Mera, M. (2002). Is funny music funny? Contexts and case studies of film music humor. Journal of Popular Music Studies, 14(2), 91–113. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-1598.2002. tb00039.x
16. Meyer, S. C. (2013). ‘Leitmotif’: On the application of a word to film music. Journal of Film Music, 5(1–2), 101–108. https://doi. org/10.1558/jfm.v5i1-2.101
17. Pallesen, K. J., Brattico, E., Bailey, C., Korvenoja, A., Koivisto, J., Gjedde, A., & Carlson, S. (2005). Emotion processing of major, minor, and dissonant chords: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1060(1), 450–453. https://doi. org/10.1196/annals.1360.047
18. Parke, R., Chew, E., & Kyriakakis, C. (2007). Quantitative and visual analysis of the impact of music on perceived emotion of film. Computers in Entertainment, 5(3), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1145/1316511.1316516
19. Qiu, J., Wu, S., Zhao, Y., Huang, H., & Wu, L. (2021). Sound power characteristics of Chinese traditional wind instrument Qudi. International Journal of Architecture, Arts and Applications, 7(1), 8–15. https://doi. org/10.11648/j.ijaaa.20210701.12
20. Tagg, P. (2012). Music’s meanings: A modern musicology for non-musos. Mass Media Music Scholars’ Press. https://quaderna.org/ wp-content/uploads/2014/04/philip-tagg- musics-meanings-a-modern-musicology- for- non-musos-new-york-huddersfield-mass- media-music-scholars-press-2012.pdf
21. Tarasti, E. (2002). Signs of music: A guide to musical semiotics. Walter de Gruyter.
22. Tian, J., & Ng, M. L. (2024). Acoustic profiling of Guqin music: Exploring the unique sound quality associated with an ancient Chinese musical instrument. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 156(4_Supplement), A15. https:// doi.org/10.1121/10.0034942
23. Wang, N., & Shpagina, A. Y. (2024). Contemporary compositions for Chinese national string instruments: Synthesis of tradition and innovation. Университетский Научный Журнал, (University Scientific Journal) (81), 32-37. https://doi.org/10.25 807/22225064_2024_81_32