Directed by	Michael Hoffman
Produced by	Marc Abraham Andrew S. Karsch Michael O'Neill
Based on	The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin
Cinematography	Lajos Koltai
Edited by	Harvey Rosenstick
Production company	Beacon Communications LivePlanet Fine Line Features Sidney Kimmel Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	·         September 9, 2002  ·       November 22, 2002

Characters

Main Character: William Hundert (Kevin Kline) He is a Classic history professor.
Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) He is Mr William’s mischievous student and a son of a powerful senator.
Martin Blythe: A student who was supposed to be on Mr. Julius Caesar Contest.
Deepack: He was the crowned Caesar of the batch
Louise Masaodi: He was Mr. William’s colleague who is always with him.
Mr. WoodBridge: He is the Principal of the Academy
Elizabeth: Mr. William’s colleague

Summary

The story takes place at St. Benedict’s School for Boys wherein Mr. William Hundert was one of the professors. Mr. William instill in his students all about the virtue and integrity such as “A man’s character is his fate” and “Ambition and conquest without contribution are without significance.” A late student came in whose character seems to be arrogant and seems to be slow in class. Sedgewick Bell became the head of the pranks and made the class lively. Sedgewick Bell is a Senator’s son and when Mr. William met Sen. Bell who lacks integrity in his personality, he felt the need to approach and reach out to Sedgewick. Mr. William felt the need to let Sedgewick to take part on Mr. Julius Caesar Competition by changing his final quiz so that he will be able to be one of the finalists.  Sedgwick, unwilling to face the possibility of losing the competition, he wrote the answers and fastening them inside his toga.   When Mr. William noticed that he is cheating, he immediately talked to the school headmaster but unfortunately he is not willing to call the boy on it, because his father is a senator and an audience.  So, Mr. Hundert uses a question not on his note cards, and Sedgwick is looses the competition and it made Deepack to win the competition. If only Mr. William didn’t pull his grades high, it would be Martin Blythe who ranked 4 on finals.

Many years later Mr. Hundert passes through his own ethical crisis, where he wasn’t selected as a headmaster.  Then He finds himself invited to proctor a rematch of the Mr. Julius Caeser competition. Mr. Hundert believes that Sedgwick is a changed man, and that his wealth has been gained as a result of honest industry.  But he is deeply disappointed when he finds Sedgwick again cheating in a second attempt to win the competition.  When confronted with his cheating, Mr. Hundert finds that Mr. Bell has no conscience regarding the teaching that he had made. While having the confrontation the young son of Mr. Bell overhears a conversation between his father and Mr. Hundert. 

But while Mr. Hundert feels he has failed to teach Mr. Bell the real lessons of history, he finds his other students who have done well in life. The film ends with Mr. Hundert back in his classroom, asking the young Mr. Blythe to read the inscription.  According to Mr. Hundert, history has no record of Shutruk Nuhunte because “great conquest and success without contribution is without significance.”

Movie Review and Critique

Watching the Emperor’s club is a part of our assignment in Philosophy and the movie showed us that a parent who can guide the child has an impact to a child’s personality. As far as I know, Sedgewick wants an attention because his parents couldn’t give it to him, that’s why he tend to be a rebel kid though this is not the main focus of the film but I found it as a factor of the conflict.  The film is about a student-teacher relationship; A teacher who teaches values to the student and being responsible in molding them. I guess it was normal in a school setting that a teacher has a great relationship more than the other student but it is not right when it already gets on the way that it affects grading the student. Human have a defense mechanism, whenever we feel threatened or we feel the need to fit in the crowd. There are times that we do things just to achieve our goal, even if it takes our integrity away from us and that is what I would want to instill in my life, that no matter what happens, I will strive hard and make sure that I will not get on other people’s way. I will never cheat because cheaters never win. One’s success is definitely sweeter if it is a fruit of hardships. Our emotions getting on our way is never right but we cannot erase the fact that there are things that I think that is right but are wrong for you and there are things that are wrong for you but are right for me, because we have a different perspective and the question is Who knows what is the real meaning of good and evil? Because what we know might be a fruit of someone’s perception.

 What is our reason for doing things? What is our motivation and inspiration? Just like what Thomas Aquinas had said “We do these things because our goal is for our own good or it is for the good, and just like Aristotle, Happiness is the ultimate goal of a man. But the main focused of the movie is that one mistake cannot determine who we are in the future, rather a series of continual choices that molds and makes the man, just like what Pietro Pomponazzi believed that “A man creates his own world.” Because we can be who we really wanted to be, along with hard work and passion someday, we will be the person that we wanted to be. Every human being should think twice before doing an action. Do not be impulsive and be carried away by our emotions because there are times that when we look back we then regret the act that has been done. In the film Mr. Hundert said that a great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance because for him, if we have contributed to society we will be remembered. I also remembered what Socrates had said that it is living that is important but living rightly. It just means that, We should not take our lives for granted, it doesn’t mean that we have a lot of time in this world, we will not live accordingly. And during the confrontation Me. Hundert told him that “We are forced to look at ourselves in the mirror and see who we really are.”

This is a great film, with deep understanding it can instill us great values and morals that one must and must not possess

 Ratings 3/5 stars

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