Emperor’s Club, The

Synopsis: Feature film. Mr Hundert (Kline) is a classics teacher in an all-boys prep school. Each year he moderates the ‘Mr Julius Caesar’ contest, a competition which pits the top three students of his class (and all must wear a toga) in a contest where they will be asked questions regarding the classics until only one is left standing. In a key scene the class discuss Shakespeare’s play and a difficult student Bell (Hirsch)) who has been assigned the part of Brutus faults the plot; he believes the conspirators should have killed Mark Antony. The teacher is shocked and a debate ensues about power and morality. For a detailed analysis by Richard Burt of other connections to the play see Lanier (op cit).
Language: English
Country: United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 2002
Duration: 109 mins

Director

Michael Hoffman

Producer

Andrew Karsch; Marc Abraham

Cinematographer

Lajos Koltai

Screenplay

Neil Tolkin

Music

James Newton Howard

Production Design

Patrizia von Brandenstein

Art Direction

Dennis Bradford

Cast

General: Based on Ethan Canin’s short story The Palace Thief. The film was
was shot at Emma Willard School in Troy, NY.
Reviews: Lanier, Douglas ‘Film Spin-Offs and Citations’ in Burt, Richard (ed). Shakespeares After Shakespeares: an Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture. 2 vols. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2006. (page 185, entry 779).