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THE EMPEROR'S CLUB Send This Review to a Friend
Education and ethics are the twin subjects in this highly literate and candidly cynical portrait of an upscale school for boys, a dedicated professor with a flaw and cheating that sets the stage for even more dangerous lapses on a broader stage involving politics. "The Emperor's Club," directed by Michael Hoffman and written by Neil Tolkin based on Ethan Canin's sort story "The Palace Thief," is yet another of the high quality films showcased at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. It is both sentimental and hard-hitting, and it works largely because of a major and admirable Kevin Kline performance.
We first see Kline as an older man, William Hundert, who is returning to St. Benedict's, the school where he has served as with distinction as a teacher. It's a bit of a shock to see Kline looking older, but very soon the years roll back and we find him in top form in the 1970s as he uses his professorial wiles to drum information about ancient Rome into his charges. With Hundert this is a mission. The challenge is to make it all demanding yet interesting and build enthusiasm for learning. Any film that concentrates on history and education these days is welcome in itself and an audience can acquire some knowledge along the way.
One newcomer, Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) is an arrogant spoiled brat and wise-ass who disrupts class and is a bad influence on the other lads. His father (Harris Yulin) is an overbearing U.S. Senator. Hundert recognizes potential in Sedgewick and the pressure he must be under with such a father, and accordingly, is determined to change the boy's course. He makes dramatic progress, leading up to Sedgewick's having a shot at being one of three finalists in the school's Julius Caesar competition that is an annual quiz face-off.
In the final round to choose the top three, Hundert first gives Sedgewick an A-, but when he sees that means he's only fourth, the professor's hubris associated with his overwhelming desire to succeed in his molding the boy into a scholar leads him in a weak moment to change the grade to A+, thereby pushing Sedgewick ahead of the boy who should secure third place. It's a terrible thing for a professor to do and the action will come back to haunt Hundert in ways he never expected.
Young Bell turns out to be a cheater who grows up to still be a cheater, although a more dangerous one. He is the embodiment of the cynicism that pervades business and public life, which leaves Hundert with a heavy guilt to bear. The film deals with other matters as well, including the way a professor can be cast aside in a school's crass search for more and more endowments and what a headmaster (Edward Herrmann) is willing to tolerate in the way of corruption. There is also Hundert's love for a married woman (Embeth Davidtz), the wife of a colleague.
Kline succeeds in developing the many nuances defining his portrait of Hundert and his relationships with his students and faculty, as well as his handling of what happens when Sedgewick ostensibly tries to redeem himself 25 years after his school days and use Hundert in the process. However, there's one scene at a reunion that is unconvincing. Hundert, feeling conscience stricken, confesses his manipulation to the man who as a student should have gotten third place. It is impossible to believe that the guy, instead of merely accepting the confession, would not have at least asked why, even after all these years. But that is a blip on an otherwise astute screenplay.
Veteran cinematographer Lajos Koltai achieves much beauty in providing the school setting along a lake on which Hundert loves to row, but its main strength lies in Kline's nuanced, award-caliber performance and the timely message about the danger of jettisoning values and honesty in an anything-goes quest for success. A Universal Pictures release.
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