the emperor's club

Director: michael hoffman

Actor: kevin kline,emile hirsch,joel gretsch,embeth davidtz

Data Published: Fri Nov 22 2002

Genres: Drama

Key Words: golf resort,told in flashback,ear piece,marriage,library

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283530/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor%27s_Club

Description: The Emperor's Club is a movie starring Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, and Joel Gretsch. An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.

Plot: William Hundert works at a boarding school for boys called Saint Benedict's in 1972. He is a passionate teacher of Classics who finds his tightly-controlled world shaken when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, walks into his classroom. Sedgewick Bell is the cocky son of a U.S. Senator who possesses none of Hundert's principles. After a dressing down from his father, Bell develops a close relationship with Hundert. Bell eventually finishes in the top 3 in Hundert's class (though he was actually fourth but Hundert privately moved him up) and qualifies for the traditional end of the year Mr. Julius Caesar contest. However, Hundert is in a quandary when he sees Martin Blythe, the rightful third place contestant, despondently withdrawn under a tree. The Mr. Julius Caesar competition is an event in front of the whole school, which is a series of questions about classics. However, when Hundert sees Bell using crib notes, the headmaster orders Hundert to ignore it. Hundert then asks a question on Hamilcar Barca which was not covered in class, but is answered by another contestant, Deepak Metha, who knew due to his personal interest in military science, and Metha is crowned Mr. Julius Caesar. The cheating is never publicized, but the trust Bell and Hundert had in each other is broken. Bell returns to his class clown ways and barely graduates in 1976, with Hundert remarking he had a sense of deep disappointment handing Bell the diploma. Twenty-five years later, Hundert is poised to become the new headmaster, but resigns in shock when a less experienced teacher gets the position due to his fundraising ability. Hundert is later told that Sedgewick Bell will make a tremendous donation to Saint Benedict's, but that is contingent upon Hundert hosting a Mr. Julius Caesar contest at Bell's resort hotel on the Gold Coast. The now adult members of Hundert's 1972 class are also invited, and all enjoy the reunion, with Metha now working as a college professor of ancient history himself. However, when the competition progresses, Hundert sees Bell is being fed answers through an earpiece, echoing the original cheating. Hundert asks a question about Shutruk Nahunte, which all the men know but Bell is stumped. Metha answers correctly and once again wins. Afterwards Bell announces that he will be running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. While the men applaud, Hundert is aghast that he was used for political grandstanding. Shortly after his announcement, Hundert and Bell run into each other in the men's room, where Hundert confronts Bell about his immorality. Bell goes on to tell Hundert that the "real world" is full of dishonesty, and Hundert has let life pass him by. However, the tirade was overheard by someone else in the bathroom, one of Bell's sons, who is shocked to learn his own father's true self. Wanting to atone for his own past wrongs, Hundert admits to Martin Blythe about the fudging of the first Mr. Julius Caesar competition. Blythe verbally forgives Hundert, but his body language is ambiguous. The following morning, the place is empty save for Bell starting his senatorial campaign. Hundert is then greeted by a surprise party of his 1972 class, and they present an award engraved with a quote about education. The men wave goodbye as Hundert's helicopter departs, and he reflects that while he failed with Bell, he succeeded with others. Hundert decides to return to his old job teaching classics in the present-day Saint Benedict's, which is now coeducational and more diverse than the 1972 class. Echoing the start of the 1972 class, Hundert has one boy read a plaque on the wall. The boy is then shown to be the son of Martin Blythe, who gladly waves hello to his old teacher.