The Emperor's Club
Short description
The Emperor's Club is a drama set at St. Benedict's, an elite boys' school where William Hundert teaches classics and believes his job is to shape character as much as to impart knowledge. His orderly world is disrupted by the arrival of Sedgewick Bell, the headstrong son of a senator, who openly defies the school's rules and Hundert's authority and quickly becomes a leader among his classmates. What starts as a clash of wills gradually turns into a closer bond between teacher and student, centered on a school competition on classical history, and leads Hundert to a decision that stays with him for decades.
Michael Hoffman directed the film, which was released in 2002. It followed A Midsummer Night's Dream in his filmography, came before The Last Station, and was written by Neil Tolkin from Ethan Canin's story. Kevin Kline plays Hundert, with Emile Hirsch as Sedgewick Bell and supporting turns from Jesse Eisenberg, Paul Dano, Rishi Mehta and Rob Morrow.
The film was made for about 13 million dollars and took in roughly 16 million worldwide, a modest return. On IMDb it holds 6.9 out of 10 from around 18,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.1 out of 10 from just over 400 votes. A critics' rating of 5.9 out of 10 from 127 reviews places it slightly below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the filming period at the educational institution in the city of Troy, its students were studying the works of William Shakespeare (1564-1616), and Kevin Kline replaced the teacher several times. The girls enjoyed this very much.
- During filming in the city of Troy, New York, the educational institution where filming took place was exclusively for women.
- William Hundert, played by Kevin Kline, is based on Robert Know, a classical history teacher at a school in San Francisco, about whom a story was written that served as the basis for the film.
- Kevin Kline himself once attended an all-boys school with very strict rules and a religious focus, similar to the one depicted in the film. While getting into character, the actor relied on memories of that period of his life and his teachers.
- The words of Saint Benedict, “Non sibi” (“Not for oneself”) and “Finis origine pendet” (“The end is dependent upon the beginning”), are the mottos of the prestigious private schools Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter (New Hampshire) and Phillips Andover Academy in Andover (Massachusetts) respectively.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
