The Emperor's Club (2002)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Michael Hoffman

Writers (WGA):

Ethan Canin (short story "The Palace Thief")
Neil Tolkin (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 November 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In everyone's life there's that one person who makes all the difference.

Plot:

An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigable student.

Plot Keywords:

Prep School | Classroom | Headmaster | Cheating | Fund Raising

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Kevin Kline	...	William Hundert
Emile Hirsch	...	Sedgewick Bell
Embeth Davidtz	...	Elizabeth
Rob Morrow	...	James Ellerby
Edward Herrmann	...	Headmaster Woodbridge
Harris Yulin	...	Senator Bell
Paul Dano	...	Martin Blythe
Rishi Mehta	...	Deepak Mehta
Jesse Eisenberg	...	Louis Masoudi
Gabriel Millman	...	Robert Brewster (as Gabe Millman)
Chris Morales	...	Eugene Field
Luca Bigini	...	Copeland Gray
Michael Coppola	...	Russell Hall
Sean Fredricks	...	Mr. Harris
Katherine O'Sullivan	...	The Nun

Also Known As:

The Palace Thief (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content.

Runtime:

Argentina:108 min | Canada:109 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #39170) | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Denmark:A | Finland:K-7 | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Budd Lake, Mt. Olive, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Beacon Communications

Trivia:

While on location at the Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, 'Kevin Kline (I)' stood in as an English teacher for several classes who were studying Shakespeare at the time. Students gave him rave reviews as an instructor.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The boys are studying Latin using the first book of the Cambridge Latin course. The edition they are using is the third edition in hardcover, which wasn't released until 1988.

Quotes:

[first lines]
William Hundert: As I've gotten older, I realize I'm certain of only two things. Days that begin with rowing on a lake are better than days that do not. Second, a man's character is his fate.

Movie Connections:

References Le mépris (1963)

Soundtrack:

Funk 49

Tough sell of a movie

I say that this is a tough sell of a movie because it seems like most movies marketing of late have to have some catch,hook or twist about it to sell to audiences,something either sexy,violent or both. Movies that stress intellectual or moral higher pursuits are somewhat rare to come by and when they are,they either are heavy-handed(Dead Poets Society)or arcane,word-of-mouth projects(Kidco,Stand and Deliver).If they don't feature some level of arousing interest(two examples:Sirens or Kinsey,both films I greatly appreciated BTW),then they are probably going to fall under the wheels of Hollywood's promotional behemoth if they are produced for the large screen.

Such,I suspect,is the case with The Emperors Club, a Neil Tolin screenplay based on a Ethan Canin short story. The central figure is one William Hundert(Kevin KLine,perhaps never more dignified in role),a well-respected and generally popular teacher at a Catholic,boys-only academy,who teaches the classics(i.e.Roman and Greek history and culture). His long stay as an educator is put to the test(probably not the only time,but what has to be the most memorable) in the 1976-77 school year when an arrogant,selfish son of a congressman(Emile Hirsch,avec David Cassidy fro)enrolls in the school,for whom Hundert decides he's going to make a special effort to "mold" into a true student of enlightenment. His efforts then have effects on both his students and himself that stay with him long after.

Well-acted,well-scripted,thoughtful and gently guided by Michael Hoffman(who directed Kline in the pleasant Midsummer Night's Dream adaptation three years earlier),this film quietly came and went in the Autumn of 2002 and it seems like a shame,but not un-understandably so. This is a show with virtually no violence and very little(if any)sexual content and the majority of the cast are either rising young stars who haven't quite reached high acclaim yet or are older character actors,so one will enter this on virtually a blind-faith interest of the film's topic or(more likely)an appreciation for Mr.Kline. To be honest and tell on myself,when this film was out I passed it up and didn't really sit down to appreciate it until very recently,and that was a a free library rental! As is,free or not,this is clearly a unique and recommendable movie.