THE EMPEROR’S CLUB

The Emperor's Club is a 2002 film that tells the story of a prep school teacher and his
students. Based on Ethan Canin's short story "The Palace Thief," the film is directed by
Michael Hoffman and stars Kevin Kline. The movie is set at a fictional boys' prep school,
St. Benedict's Academy, an American prep school located in Andover, MA. The movie
was filmed at Emma Willard School in Troy, NY. Kevin Kline is also said to have
traveled to Regis High School in Manhattan to get further character preparation for his
role.

PLOT

William Hundert (Kevin Kline) is a passionate and principled Classics professor

enthusiastic about the start of the school year. His class turns out to be a strict yet
inspiring lesson for the new students arriving at St. Benedict's Academy. It is here we are
introduced to the party-minded Louis Masoudi (Jesse Eisenberg), the introverted Martin
Blythe (Paul Dano), and the studious Deepak Mehta (Rishi Mehta), all highly intelligent.
He inspires them to study hard in order to become one of the three contestants for The
Emperor's Club and be crowned "Mr. Julius Caesar", a competition which pits the top
three students of his class in a contest where they will be asked questions regarding the
Classics. Blythe mentions that his father was once a "Mr. Julius Caesar".

Hundert quickly gains the respect of his class and the school year gets off to an orderly
start. However Hundert finds his tightly-controlled world shaken when a new student,
Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch), walks into his classroom. Sedgewick Bell is the cocky
son of a senior senator who possesses none of Hundert's principles. Initially, a fierce
battle of wills takes place between Hundert and Bell. Bell's rebellious nature quickly
makes him the interest of the class, as he not only is willing to talk back against Hundert,
he also freely shares pornographic material and is willing to play hooky and travel to a
nearby prep school for girls. Despite Blythe's constant pleas not to break rules, Masoudi
and even studious Mehta find themselves enjoying their rebellious tendencies with Bell.
Despite this, Hundert is able to humiliate Bell when he asks the class to list, in
chronological order, all the Roman emperors. All the other students comply in perfect
unison, effectively embarrassing Bell who has not studied the course material. Hundert
also makes a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with Bell's father, the senior Senator from
West Virginia. Bell's father is clearly uninterested in his son's character development
while at St. Benedict's, giving Hundert some insight into the younger Bell's prior
upbringing. Hundert returns to St. Benedict's and finds that Sedgewick Bell has received
a phone call from his father, the Senator, who reprimanded him for wasting his time (but
not for performing poorly in class). Hundert and Sedgewick begin to develop a close
student-teacher relationship as Hundert tries to become a mentor-figure to Bell in order to
help change him into a better man. Bell proves to be a bright student and eventually his
grades improve enormously. Bell eventually finishes in the top three in Hundert's
competition that precedes the Emperor's Club contest, along with fellow classmates
Masoudi and Mehta. Bell had actually earned his position at fourth place, until Hundert
privately decided to raise his grade on the final essay after reviewing it again, thus
moving him above Blythe. Hundert is caught between celebrating Bell's newfound
success and feeling guilty when he sees a dejected Blythe sitting all by himself under a
tree. This is especially important as it is a break from Hundert's stance on integrity.

The entire school watches the competition, as the three contestants are quizzed by
Hundert. After many questions, the confident Masoudi is the first to make a mistake and
he sits down. As the competition narrows down to Mehta and Bell, Hundert becomes
increasingly suspicious of Bell raising his toga to his head to think. He then asks Bell a
question not in the books: "Who was Hamilcar Barca?", knowing full well that the
answer would not be on any materials used to cheat (It was not even in the curriculum)
but knowing that Mehta would be able to answer it due to his extracurricular studies. Bell
is stumped and Mehta is crowned Julius Caesar of The Emperor's Club. Afterwards, Bell
openly admits to Hundert what Hundert had suspected earlier: that Bell cheated by
placing notecards on the inside of his toga sleeve. It is revealed in the end, Bell couldn't
take the pressure of losing, and like his father, tried everything he could to win it easily.
Although Hundert does not reveal this information to anyone else, the trust he once had
with Bell is broken. The next couple of scenes show the students graduating to higher
grades before finally leaving St. Benedict's Academy. During this time, Hundert regrets
not being able to influence Bell more.

Twenty-five years later, Hundert is denied his bid to become headmaster of the school by
the board, who feel he doesn't have the ability to drum up financial donations for the
school. Hundert immediately resigns. Later he receives an invitation for a class reunion
and a chance to meet up with his students at an event (surprisingly) staged by Bell, who is
now quite successful. Once reunited with his students, he is impressed that every one of
his students from that fateful class had done well since their days at St. Bendict's and all
had successful careers. It is also revealed that Hundert, ironically, is the key to gaining a
large sum of money to be donated to the school under the circumstances that Hundert
would host a "Mr. Julius Caesar" contest rematch between Bell and his fellow alumni
Masoudi and Mehta. Before the match Bell talks to Hundert about how his influence had
really changed his life and he hopes that he would be able to regain his dignity in the
rematch. An enthusiastic Hundert agrees to host once again. And so the Emperor's Club
contest is again played, albeit the crowd being the students and their respective family
and friends. Masoudi quickly falls on the first question after talking on his cell phone and
then declaring himself to be the next Julius Caesar, showing that despite his success, he
has forgotten most of his Classics. Again the main competition is between Mehta (Rahul
Khanna) and Bell as both still remember (or studied) their lessons from Hundert's class.
Sadly, despite Hundert's belief that Bell has changed, he is able to perceive that Bell is
cheating, this time through a man telling him answers from the book through an earpiece.
Hundert poses another unofficial question, this one regarding the plaque over his door,
regarding the identity of Shutruk-Nahhunte. Despite supportive shouts from his
classmates that this one is easy and they all know this one, Bell again does not know the
answer and loses to Mehta again. Once more, only Hundert is aware that Bell cheated.
After the competition ends and Bell recongratulates Mehta as "Julius Caesar", Bell
announces that he will be running for a seat in the U.S. Senate and stresses the
importance of government funding of education. Hundert finally sees that Bell only used
the event to drum up support for his campaign and to get financial backings from his old
classmates.

Shortly after his announcement, Hundert and Bell run into each other in the bathroom,
where Hundert confronts Bell about his immorality. Bell coldly goes on to tell Hundert
that it does not matter that he cheated, as life is full of cheaters. Just then, Bell's son
comes out of a stall with a shocked expression on his face, and Bell is left to face his son
knowing that his father is a cheater. Hundert, realizing again that he has failed Bell, now
recognizes the importance of letting Blythe know that he had given away Blythe's seat in
the original "Mr. Julius Caesar" contest. Nonetheless, this confession, for Hundert, is not
enough to keep him from feeling like a failure as a teacher.

The next day the Bell family smiles and says goodbye to the rest of the class as they are
busy planning the campaign. Hundert wakes up the next morning and goes to the dining
room expecting one last breakfast with his pupils. Instead he finds an empty room and
that they have all left already, only leaving him a message that they wish him well.
Hundert dejectedly walks back, only to discover that his former pupils had thrown him a
surprise party. All his students except Bell are there including Masoudi, Mehta, and
Blythe. The meeting is an exciting event as Hundert and his remaining students talk about
how much he has influenced them and how they are grateful that he was their teacher.
Hundert finally comes to the realization that while he wasn't able to turn Bell into a better
man, he still has influenced a great many of his pupils and he should continue teaching.

Hundert thus returns to St. Benedict's Academy and again teaches Classics to a new class
(which is now co-ed). It is also revealed that one of his students is Blythe's son, who is
proud that his father was once Hundert's student. When Hundert looks outside his
classroom window, he sees a smiling Blythe wave and walk away. He then asks Blythe's
son to read the plaque over his door, just as young Blythe did at the beginning of the film.

CAST

• Kevin Kline as William Hundert

• Emile Hirsch as Sedgewick Bell
• Embeth Davidtz as Elizabeth
• Rob Morrow as James Ellerby
• Edward Herrmann as Headmaster Woodbridge
• Caitlin O'Heaney as Mrs. Woodbridge
• Harris Yulin as Senator Bell
• Paul Dano as Martin Blythe
• Joel Gretsch as Sedgewick Bell (adult)
• Steven Culp as Martin Blythe (adult)
• Rishi Mehta as Deepak Mehta (child)
• Rahul Khanna as Deepak Mehta (adult)
 • Jesse Eisenberg as Louis Masoudi
• Patrick Dempsey as Louis Masoudi (adult)
• Gabriel Millman as Robert Brewster
• Chris Morales as Eugene Field
• Luca Bigini as Copeland Gray
• Michael Coppola as Russell Hall
• Sean Fredricks as Mr. Harris
• Katherine O'Sullivan as The Nun

http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Lay-EmperorsClub.html

A Handout for the Movie The Emperor's

Club
Jacqueline Lay
layj[at]mala.bc.ca
Malaspina Univeristy-College (Duncan, BC, Canada)

Introduction
This handout can be used immediately by teachers to accompany the movie The
Emperor's Club. It identifies vocabulary and phrases from the movie, and it also lists
comprehension questions for discussion. The vocabulary and questions are designed for
advanced ESL students.

The Lesson
The Emperors Club is a movie starring Kevin Kline and is based on The Palace Thief by
Ethan Canin. Mr. Hundert, a Western Civilization teacher at a private school for boys in
the U.S., educates his students in the classical studies of Greek and Roman scholars, but
he also believes that it is his ultimate responsibility as an educator to mould the
characters of his students. He asks his students, "How will history remember you?" and
teaches his students that "Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without
significance." He encourages his students to walk with the great men who have walked
before them.

Setting
Private school, St. Benedict's School for boys, northeastern U.S., 1972
Main Characters
• Mr. Hundert: teacher, assistant headmaster
• Louis Masoudi: student
• Deepak Mehta: student
• Martin Blythe: student
• Sedgewick Bell: student and son of Senator Bell
• Senator Bell: father of Sedgewick Bell, West Virginia senator
• Mr. Woodbridge: Principal/Headmaster
• James Ellerby: colleague
• Elizabeth: colleague

Vocabulary
• Mr. Julius Caesar contest
• toga
• Socrates
• Plato
• virtue
• time is precious
• Western Civilization
• oral conscience
• fund raising
• alumni
• mould the character
• Ivy League
• linchpin
• principle
• Shutruk Nuhante/1158 BC
• profound character
• headmaster

Expressions
• A man's character is his fate.
• The die is cast. He crosses the Rubicon.
• Great ambition and conquest are nothing without contribution.
• The end depends upon the beginning.
• It is not living that is important, but living well.

Questions
1. Describe Mr. Hundert. (Comment on his physical appearance, demeanor, character,
interactions with his students, relationships with other colleagues, view of his role as a
teacher, and any other observations)

2. Although Mr. Hundert is an experienced and exceptional teacher, he faces the most
difficult challenge of his entire teaching career. Why is he so shaken and then altered by
this experience?

3. Describe the influence that Sedgewick Bell has on the other boys. Mr. Hundert
describes Sedgewick's influence as "hypnotic". What does he mean by this?

4. The Mr. Julius Caesar Contest is an annual contest held to test the students' knowledge
of their studies of the Greeks and the Romans. When Mr. Hundert calculates the final
marks to determine the three candidates for the contest, he faces an ethical dilemma.
Describe the dilemma and Mr. Hundert's final decision.

5. Mr. Hundert is faced with another dilemma at the contest. What is it and what is the
final outcome? What happens when Mr. Hundert confronts Sedgewick about his behavior
at the contest?

6. Twenty-five years later, Mr. Hundert is asked to participate in a rematch of the Mr.
Julius Caesar Contest. Although Mr. Hundert is retired, he chooses to host the contest.
Why does he do this? What does he hope for? How is his hope both squashed and then
renewed?

7. Why does Mr. Hundert return to teaching? What surprise is there for him?
The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. XI, No. 8, August 2005
http://iteslj.org/
http://iteslj.org/Lessons/Lay-EmperorsClub.html

OVERVIEW
Tagline:
In everyone's life there's that one person who makes all the difference.

Awards:
2 nominations

Fun Stuff
Trivia:
'Kevin Kline' 's character, William Hundert, is modeled after Robert Nowe, a classical history
teacher at Town School for Boys in San Francisco, who inspired the short story on which the film
is based. more
Goofs:
Miscellaneous: When the girls are removing their shirts to go skinny dipping, a Victoria's Secret
Body by Victoria bra is revealed, a bra from the time the film was made, not the time period it was
set in. more
Quotes:
[first lines]
William Hundert: As I've gotten older, I realize I'm certain of only two things. Days that begin with
rowing on a lake are better than days that do not. Second, a man's character is his fate.
more
Movie Connections:
References À bout de souffle (1960) more
Soundtrack:
Funk 49 more
COMMENT

There is no doubt that Kevin Kline is both a funny man and a fine comedic actor. However, as he
has proved yet again, anything other than dramatic roles is a waste of his acting talent.

In the finest film he has made, he is superb in his role as school teacher and mentor to a
generation of boys -- including one particular bad egg.

Excellently cast, scripted and acted, this is a must see.

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