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DVD The Emperor's Club (Full Screen Edition)
Comparisons to Dead Poets Society are inevitable, but The Emperor's Club achieves a rich identity all its own. In the honorable tradition of great teacher dramas like Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Kevin Kline is well cast as Mr. Hundert, longtime teacher of classics and assistant headmaster of St. Benedict's Academy for Boys. There he encounters a defiant student and senator's son (Emile Hirsch) who desperately needs--but ultimately rejects--Hundert's lessons on leadership, integrity, and the shaping of character. Adapted from Ethan Canin's short story "The Palace Thief," the film is conventional to a fault, its flashback structure unfolding in Hollywood shorthand. But its noble sentiments remain potently intact, allowing Kline a performance of great emotional nuance while imparting lessons of universal value. "This is a story with no surprises," as Hundert says, but The Emperor's Club may surprise you with its admirable portrait of a life well lived. --Jeff Shannon
Review(s): DVD The Emperor's Club (Full Screen Edition)
A Man's Character is His Fate......Indeed!
I see everyone comparing this film to "Dead Poets Society", and I don't really see the connection. The entire message of "Dead Poets Society" is centered around the notion of resisting conformity, conformity that was everywhere in the 1950's. "The Emperor's Club" has a message that I believe is much deeper and more profound; that is, morality, virtue and honor cannot be taught. Rather, these attributes are either inherent in an individual or they are not. The great philosophical minds (Socrates, Plato, etc) of history clearly understood this and it is this question that Mr. Hundert grapples with as he attempts to guide and mold students into fine, upstanding members of society who share the the same characteristics as the ancient Greeks. The brilliance of this movie (and Kline's performance as a teacher) is that the film is able to convey the importance and necessity of character and virtue without having to rely on sappiness and sentimentality a la "Dead Poets Society" or "Mr. Hollands Opus". Instead, the viewew is treated to an in-depth character study of a teacher who goes through both triumphs and pains in his quest to instill in his students the values of the great ancient minds.
My favorite scene in the movie is when Mr. Hundert confronts a Senator (the father of a spoiled brat who also happens to be a trouble maker) and the Senator plainly asks him what is the "good" of what Mr. Hundert is trying to teach. Needless to say, the teacher is at an existential crossroads. How can this Senator (of all people) not recognize the importance of the ancient Greeks and Romans, whom are very Constitution and concept of Democracy are based around? The performace given by Kline during this scene should have warranted him an Oscar.
Simply put, see this film if you're tired of the mainstream, commercial, special-effects-ridden, crap that has been polluting the movie theatres of late.
Good luck finding a teacher like this in real life!
I can't help feel bit jealous when ever I see Private Schools in movies. My high school was unfortunately full of teachers who didn't give half a goddamn about you. And it was/is one of the most respected (read pretentious) in the country. I never learned one single thing that was actually of use to me and I believe going to such a place is mostly responsible for turning me into the faithless cynic that I am now.
In this movie Kevin Kline (a seriously underused actor) plays a history teacher who is dedicated to making sure his students grow up to be fine and morally sound, upstanding people. They all get along until Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsh)the hell-raising son of an arrogant Governor arrives in class. His grades are terrible but Mr. Hundert sees intelligence in the boy and struggles to push him in the right direction at the expense of the rest of the class who actually want and care for education. Over the years he comes to regret his mistakes but sees a chance to put things right again with a reunion of all his former students organised by Sedgewick who appears to want to put things right.
There are loads of Student/Teacher movies out there but what separates The Emperor's Club from the likes of Dead Poet's Society and Mr. Holland's Opus is that Mr. Hundert's teaching is never in doubt. But he is flawed. Kevin Kline is so good in the role that for most of the film I thought I was watching a real person and not a character. And doesn't he sound like Niles from Frasier?
I do wish I went to somewhere like St. Benedicts or at least had a teacher like Mr. Hundert. It seems that teachers who really care only exist in the movies As are students who are willing to learn. Or perhaps it's just my bad non-education that skews my opinion. Still, I know good movies when I see one and The Emperor's Club get's my recommendation if you're sick of Hollywood, massive budgets, overblown SFX and intrusive marketing and just want a good character drama.
SURPRISINGLY GOOD TALE ON MORALITY BUT NOT PREACHY
Story centers on a prestigious all boys school where very rich parents send their children. Kline teaches their ancient History class, focusing on personal morality and what is good for the people. He is a bit naive, as shown in the film at times because he doesn't get the cynicism of American politics.
Kline's own morality is challenged and bruised when he tries to help a senator's son get out of the muck and work for good grades and exercise morality. I won't say anymore b/c it would give things away.
Surprisingly good and also thought provoking . .. and, the ending isn't obvious.
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