Apt Pupil
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Movie Reviews of Apt Pupil
Movie Review: chilling
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a good and disturbing film with strong performancesMovie Review: chilling
Summary: 5 Stars
It's a good and disturbing film with strong performancesMovie Review: Don't believe true evil exists? You have a lot to learn!
Summary: 4 Stars
Director Bryan Singer seems fascinated by the dense blackness that comprises the unpleasant side of the human psyche, and he has built a reputation on creating films that explore those darker facets of mankind. Fans will not be disappointed, then, by APT PUPIL (1998). It is a riveting but disturbing fictional thriller that deals with the real-life subjects of evil and the Holocaust, the latter being a topic that is often regarded as too sensitive and controversial for all but non-fictional works. With APT PUPIL--which is based on a Stephen King novella--Singer actually uses the Holocaust as a backdrop for his exploration of the ease with which evil can take root in even the most prosaic of locations in the everyday world. And to a lesser degree, the film is also Singer's comment on the strong influence that an authority figure can have on shaping the worldview of a naïve and eager disciple.In the film, an American high-school honor student (Brad Renfro) who is fascinated by the history of WWII--specifically the Holocaust--discovers that an elderly German émigré (Ian McKellen) living in the neighborhood is actually a hunted Nazi war criminal incognito, and the clever boy is able to gather enough evidence of this fact that he could easily expose the old man's true identity. But instead of turning his data over to the authorities, the boy uses it to muscle the elderly gent into sharing the details of the atrocities he committed during the war--details that "they're afraid to tell us about in school."
Of course, the old Nazi is outraged, but he also knows he's been trapped. So he ultimately resigns himself to the situation, and detailed stories of heinous actions he does tell. It isn't long before the recounting of his wartime atrocities awakens the old man's long-dormant fiendish and sadistic urges. And though the stories at first give the boy nightmares, it doesn't take too long for the boy's mind to start soaking up the vicious and perverse Nazi philosophy like a sponge soaks up water. The boy is an apt pupil indeed.
The acting in APT PUPIL is nothing short of superb. As the Nazi fugitive, the venerable Ian McKellen delivers a tour-de-force performance. He skillfully creates a convincing portrait of an utterly sadistic and amoral personality that is successfully kept hidden behind the façade of a subdued and affable persona. McKellen's performance is so realistic, in fact, that one is simultaneously awed by the actor's talent and disturbed by his characterization. Brad Renfro is also excellent--and frightening--as the white-bread everyboy whose minor inclination towards sadism is transformed into unfettered evil under the influence of the aging Nazi refugee. And though Renfro hasn't McKellen's range of skill or experience, he plays well against his mature colleague and does not come off as second-best.
David Schwimmer--better known from his role as Ross on TV's wildly popular FRIENDS--gives a believable and refreshingly somber performance in a supporting role as the boy's school counselor. And genre fans will surely recognize Bruce Davison, here playing the boy's father, from his break-out performance as the titular character in the original WILLARD (1971). Fans may also recognize genre regular James Karen, who here appears as the boy's grandfather.
As stated before, it is often considered a no-no to reference or address the Holocaust in fictional films. So it's not surprising that some critics decry APT PUPIL for trivializing the Holocaust and the suffering of Holocaust victims. But this criticism is unfounded, especially in light of the character treatment in this film. While it may be true that McKellen's interpretation of the fugitive Nazi is sometimes sympathetic, the actor never portrays the old man as repentant and therefore never assuages the repugnance or wickedness of the acts committed by such Nazis during WWII. And when the boy reveals what HE has become under the old Nazi's tutelage, his true nature is regarded as frightening and dangerous and NOT glamorous or alluring.
The DVD edition from Columbia/Tristar is a two-sided disc that offers an anamorphic widescreen version of the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio (side A), as well as a full-screen pan-and-scan version of the film (Side B). The widescreen version is pristine, with few, if any, visible digital or filmic artifacts. Also on the disc are the original theatrical trailer and a short making-of featurette. All in all, this is an impeccable, reasonably priced edition of a captivating film that belongs in the collections of all serious genre fans or lovers of good cinema.
Movie Review: The Evil Within
Summary: 4 Stars
Apt Pupil: rated R, 1 hour and 40 minutesThe malevolence hidden inside of one man is so powerful it can lash out at a young boy and possess him as well. In doing so, a chain reaction is formed, resulting in a whole town being capsized. In Apt Pupil, Todd Bowden, played by Brad Renfro, is the boy who becomes so obsessed with the Holocaust to a point that he needs to know more about it than the school will provide. He wants to know the details that no textbook would dare print. Todd Bowden wants to know how it feels to kill someone. He thirsts for all the hideous facts about the genocide that took place during the Second World War. Bowden is remarkably bright. He has kept tabs on his suspicious next door neighbor, Arthur Denker (Ian McKellen), and as it turns out, Arthur Denker is actually runaway Nazi general Kurt Dussander. Dussander is blackmailed by Bowden to tell him everything that he had ever wanted to know about the near extermination of an entire human race. All of the fear-inspiring information commences to get to Todd's head leaving him awake throughout each night. Soon, he becomes transformed into a loathing human being, ignoring his best friend, lying to his parents and teachers, and killing crippled pigeons. The plot builds up, and on several occasions, it seems like the movie is about to end, but instead, it goes on more dramatic than ever. The acting by Brad Renfro and Ian McKellen is astounding. The two of them take on their roles perfectly, and go deep into their characters, which is distinctly evident in the movie. They take histrionics to a new level. The one scene that is exceptionally captivating is where Bowden forces Dussander to dress up in a Nazi uniform he gets from some costume shop and orders him to march in place. The former Nazi general at first does not take the boy seriously as he playfully walks in place. Then as Todd yells at him more and more, and Dussander begins to lose himself in the continuous commands, he becomes increasingly involved in the act. Within a few minutes, he is dynamically marching. The steps grow more violent and more intense with each word that Todd exclaims. Todd becomes frightened by the man, and demands that he stop. Dussander continues as if Todd had not spoken. Repeating himself numerous times, Todd ends up yelling for him to halt. The general regains his consciousness, and from then on remains as abhorrent as he once was in his younger days in the war. Apt Pupil is a suspenseful psychological thriller that truly succeeds in winning over the audience. The movie in general is very well executed with a disturbing yet outstandingly canny plot created by the master of horror, Stephen King.
Surprisingly mild in gore, Stephen King's Apt Pupil, directed by Bryan Singer, also starring David Schwimmer, is entitled to a very apt B+.
Movie Review: Grim thriller sheds fresh light on history's excesses
Summary: 4 Stars
APT PUPIL
(USA/France - 1997)
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Super 35)
Theatrical soundtracks: SDDS-8 / Dolby Stereo SR
Based on a Stephen King novella first published in the 'Different Seasons' anthology in 1982, Bryan Singer's masterful thriller - his immediate follow-up to the cult favorite THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995) - is a virtual two-hander between venerable Brit actor Ian McKellen as a decrepit former Nazi living in seclusion in a small American town, and young Brad Renfro (THE CLIENT) as a budding sadist whose unhealthy interest in the Holocaust sends him directly to McKellen's door, having recognized him from old photographs which betray his prior identity. Forced to recount the details of his murderous past to the boy, who threatens to expose him otherwise, these two deeply unpleasant characters begin to awaken long-dormant mutual impulses, with inevitably tragic consequences...
Superbly acted, especially by the two leads, and directed by Singer with exquisite grace from Brandon Boyce's tightly-constructed screenplay, the film explores the ways in which history affects the present, and how the seeds of genocide can blossom unexpectedly from within the most ordinary - seemingly benign - circumstances. When Renfro asks McKellen how it felt to kill people, he's actually testing his own capacity for unimaginable evil, and one suddenly understands how the Holocaust was possible, and how a similar atrocity could easily happen again, even in the most 'civilized' society. Despite first-class performances and production values, the movie wasn't a box-office success, partly because we're invited to sympathize with an unrepentant monster and his all-too-willing disciple. David Schwimmer, Elias Koteas, Bruce Davison and Joshua Jackson are featured in brief supporting roles.
NB. Similar territory is explored in Agustin Villaronga's extraordinary thriller IN A GLASS CAGE (1986), a Spanish masterpiece in which a former Nazi doctor is visited at his isolated home by one of his victims, a young man whose experiences as a child in the concentration camps have unleashed all kinds of monsters from his broken mind. However, whereas the shocks in APT PUPIL are tethered by the commercial dictates of an R-rating, Villaronga's film is absolutely uncompromising and will horrify the uninitiated.