Taglines: In everyone’s life there’s that one person who makes all the difference.
The Emperor’s Club movie storyline. Professor William Hundert is a distinguished Classics history teacher at St. Benedict’s Academy for Boys. Another year is beginning, and the students file in and introduce themselves. Hundert has a certain plaque above his door he requires one student, Martin Blythe to read. The plaque states: “I am Shutruk Nahunte, King Anshand and Sussa, sovereign of the land of Elam.
By command of Ishushinck I destroyed Sippar, took the stele of Niran-Sin, and brought it back to Elam, where I erected it as an offering to my god, Inshushink.” He requires his students to look up Shutruk Nahunte, then stops them, saying they won’t find it in any history book, because Nahunte is not any. Hundert then says that Nahunte was virtually forgotten because “Ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance.”
Then he challenges his students, saying “What will your contribution be? How will history remember you?” which becomes the theme of the film. A friendly relationship between Hundert and fellow teacher Elizabeth is also introduced, as she has returned from Greece and presents Hundert with a snow globe of the Parthenon.
A new student enter the fray shortly after, a certain Sedgewick Bell, the son of a senator from West Virginia. The cocky Bell starkly contradicts the principled Hundert, and various acts of rebellion lead to much tension between the two. As Bell’s attitude worsens, and Hundert unable to straighten him, Hundert feels forced to travel to Washington D.C. and have a word with Senator Bell, Sedgewick’s father.
The Senator shows a surprising amount of apathy in his son’s character development, and reprimands Hundert, telling him that Hundert’s job is to teach him facts out of a text book, but not to influence him as a person. Hundert dejectedly returns to St. Benedict’s and begins preparations for a certain “Mr. Julius Caesar” contest. The three finalists are determined by a series of essays given by Hundert, and the three highest net scores proceed to the finals, where they stand on stage in togas and answer trivia questions about ancient Roman history.
During the course of the essays, Hundert surprisingly sees a changed Bell, one who begins working hard in his studying and overachieves Hundert’s expectations. After Hundert completes the grading of the essays, Deepak Mehta, Louis Masoudi, and Martin Blythe have the highest score. However, wanting to reward a newly-dedicated Bell, Hundert alters his grade, putting him ahead of Blythe.
The Emperor’s Club is a 2002 American drama film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Kevin Kline. Based on Ethan Canin’s short story “The Palace Thief,” the film follows a prep school teacher and his students at a fictional boys’ prep school, St. Benedict’s Academy, near Washington, D.C.
It was filmed at Emma Willard School in Troy, New York, although St. Benedict’s Academy is said to be modeled after Phillips Exeter Academy, a preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Kline, discussing the film at his alma mater, St. Louis Priory School, said that he modeled his character after the Rev. Dom Timothy Horner, an English Benedictine monk and headmaster of Priory when Kline was enrolled there. This was the third film that Hoffman and Kline worked on together.
The Emperor’s Club (2002)
Directed by: Michael Hoffman
Starring: Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Steven Culp, Embeth Davidtz, Patrick Dempsey, Joel Gretsch, Edward Herrmann, Jesse Eisenberg, Katherine O’Sullivan, Rob Morrow
Screenplay by: Neil Tolkin (Hikaye: Ethan Canin)
Production Design by: Patrizia von Brandenstein
Cinematography by: Lajos Koltai
Film Editing by: Harvey Rosenstick
Costume Design by: Cynthia Flynt
Set Decoration by: George DeTitta Jr, Beth Kushnick
Art Direction by: Dennis Bradford
Music by: James Newton Howard
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: November 22, 2002
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