The Emperor’s Club

The Emperor's Club is a 2002 American drama film directed by Michael Hoffman. It is 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. (Wikipedia.com)

Main characters:

·      William Hundert (Kevin Kline)- Mr. Hundert is a teacher in Classics in St. Benedict’s Academy

·      Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch & Joel Gretsch)- He is one of the former students of Mr. Hundert. He is the clown of the class. His attitude is not the attitude that Mr. Hundert wants. He is the son of the US senator.

·      Martin Blythe (Paul Dano & Steven Culp)- He is also one of the formal students of Mr. Hundert. He is one of the bright students of Mr. Hundert.

 Synopsis:

The Emperor’s Club is about the story of a Classics teacher named Willian Hundert. The story started when Mr. Hundert received an invitation from one of his former students. Then he flashed back to the days. He asks his student’s entire name and then tells them he will be having a hard time memorizing all of their names. He teaches classics, especially the Roman classics. Most of his students are bright and studious. Then here comes Sedgewick Bell, the son of Senator Bell. Sedgewick don’t acts accordingly. He gives Mr, Hundert irrational answers. Bell becomes the clown of the class. He does not study his textbooks but rather his Bachelor’s Magazines. He disturbs most of the time his studying classmates. He do not follows the school rules. He influences most of his classmates with his pranks and jokes. One time they prank Mr. Hundert. And because of that he arranges an appointment for Senator Bell to report Sedgewick. Sedgewick receives a phone call from his father. After that phone call and Mr. Hundert’s lecture for him, Sedgewick decide to take the right path. He puts most of time in studying. As a result, he receives good grades. It is about time for Mr. Hundert to pick students for the Mr. Julius Ceasar contest. Martin Blythe was one of the original contestants, but then Mr. Hundert alters Bell’s grade, making Bell one of the contestants. During the contest, Bell is doing well. Until Mr. Hundert realizes that Bell is cheating. He didn’t publicize Bell’s act. Bell didn’t win because of the question Mr. Hundert uttered. Mr. Hundert knows that Bell do not know the answer making his classmate the winner. Bell graduates and Mr. Hundert continues his teaching until he retires. After many years, Mr. Hundert receives an invitation from Sedgewick Bell. Bell will donate a huge amount of money for Saint Benedict’s Academy in one condition, if Mr. Hundert will be the master of the ceremony of the rematch of Mr. Julius Ceasar. Mr. Hundert agrees and they are all happy because of the reunion they are having. The contest is going well until Mr. Hundert feels there is something wrong. Again he suspects that Bell is cheating, his suspicion is right. Bell is cheating again, Mr. Hunderts lectures him inside the comfort room. Being Sedgewick, he allows his attitude to flow. Bell’s son heard the conversation the two. Mr. Hundert confesses to Martin about his wrong doing back in the years. Martin is upset but did’not show it directly. The next day, Mr. Hundert goes down for breakfast and finds out that his students are already gone. But then it is only a prank; they are all inside Mr. Hundert’s room to surprise him. The movie ended showing that Mr. Hundert continued his teaching career. One of his students is the son of Martin Blythe. He looks to the window and Martin proudly waves at him, showing that he already forgives Mr. Hundert.

MOVIE CRITIQUE

A human person has a free will in everything he/she does. They make their own choices in their own lives not the Almighty being. There are many philosophical questions raised in the film, one of those questions is “is man nearly corrupted?” The scene when they are having the annual Mr. Julius Ceasar, Sedgewick cheats and Mr. Hundert notices it but he choose not to disqualify him. Another scene is when Mr. Hundert alters the grade of Martin Blythe, hence, he didn’t get the third slot but Sedgewick Bell did. Another philosophical question is, “what makes a human person a human person?” Freedom, intellect and happiness make a human person a human person. Every one of us has freedom, intellect and happiness but we often misused these perks of being a human person. In the movie, Mr. Hundert has freedom to disqualify Sedgewick but he chooses not to. Sedgewick has intellect but he wants to achieve his goals in an effortless way. And Sedgewick thought that the rematch he organized will make him regain his honor but he just make it worst. The movie illustrated moral and ethical dilemmas. For the ethical dilemma, Mr. Hundert did his job as an educator to all of his students, but he somewhat favors Sedgewick because of his change of actions. A teacher shouldn’t do that for the sake of fairness for the others. And for the moral dilemma, Sedgewick shouldn’t cheat in the contest because it is very unfair for the two students who studied very well for the contest. He has a second chance to regain his honor but he ditched it. His son heard his act of cheating. We see these dilemmas as big boulders of problems along the journey of life. I would respond with these dilemmas with great courage. In order for me to surpass these dilemmas, I need courage because with courage we could do everything. The movie depicted “Man is a microcosm- he is a world in himself” as the general view or concept of the human person. It means ourselves depends in our own choices. We can relate some characters and scenes to some philosophers. Soren Kierkegaard said that existence must be authentic: to exist is to stand out of one’s self. Sedgewick Bell’s existence is authentic. His attitude is autenthic, and because of his authentic attitude and existence, he has a spot in Mr. Hundert’s mind. Another philosopher is Arthur Schopenhauer. He said that human beings are in a state of bondage to irrational and meaningless will. Sedgewick confessed everything to Mr. Hundert about the rematch and about his candidacy for being a Senator, his will and reasons are very irrational and meaningless because it is all about himself only. And lastly, Karls Marx’s thought. Karl Marx said that Humans are free, pursposeful producers: Man is the maker. Sedgewick Bell makes himself a cheater not the people around him. He has two choices for his life and it is “not to cheat” and “to cheat”. The movie is a great film for everyone. While watching, I can see myself in Martin Blythe. Martin Blythe puts a lot of effort in his studies. He thinks twice before doing any actions. He depicts a good picture of a good student. But despite of his good deeds, he still didn’t receive the reward he expects from the very start, it is the troublemaker who receives it.  I am not exactly like Martin, but his experiences are somehow similar to mine. The film is very good and recommendable for every age especially for the adolescents. The film teaches us to be true, honest and think twice before you do any act. As a Senior High School student being true, honest and thinking twice will be a big help in our studies and social life. If we are true to ourselves, others will respect us as we respect ourselves. If we are honest to the others they will surely do the same thing to the others. And if we think twice before we act, we could prevent hurting other people. If we achieve these things, our studies would progress and we will have a better future.

I rate this film with 4.5 stars.