The Emperor’s Club was a film made in 2003 about a history teacher at a college preparatory school for boys. Kevin Kline (Wild Wild West, Midsummer Night’s Dream) plays Mr. William Hundert, the history teacher who tries to instill into his students a sense of morals and wisdom by studying the Greeks and Romans.
Dead Poets Society was another film about a teacher trying to teach more than the basic curriculum. Robin Williams plays John Keating (“Oh Captain, My Captain”), an English teacher at a college preparatory school for boys. He teaches the young boys how to think on their own and not to be told what to think.
Though Dead Poets Society came first (1989), I believe that The Emperor’s Club is the better of these two films for one important reason (and I am not saying that Dead Poets Society is not good, in fact just the opposite): there are no long breaks in between the classes or the next insightful teachings of the main character. What I mean is that in DPS, we don’t see very much of the in classroom teachings or even of the outside teachings. It follows the boys very closely outside of the class, which isn’t a bad thing, but the premise of these films in my belief is the teachings of the teachers.
These two films are similar in plot but very different in the telling of the story. Each director gives their own talent to the telling of the story and never do these films have parallel plot details. Each film stands its own ground and gives new meaning for each viewing.
The Emperor’s Club has a very real-life ending that you don’t see very often in films (no spoilers). Dead Poets Society has a sad ending that did make me cry, but it was what you might expect from a film. Throughout DPS we see the lives of each of these boys which provided the film with some weight and depth in the story, but at times it takes too long to get back to the main character, Mr. Keating.
Both of these films are amazing in their own way. I say watch Dead Poets Society if you have not seen it: it is a classic. And I say watch The Emperor’s Club. For both of these films, you will come out enlightened and with a respect for teachers.
No comments:
Post a Comment