The Emperor's Club

The Emperor's Club is a 2002 American drama film directed by Michael Hoffman and starring Kevin Kline. Based on Ethan Canin's 1994 short story "The Palace Thief", the film follows a prep school teacher and his students at a fictional East Coast boys' prep school, St. Benedict's Academy. Plot In the early 1970s, William Hundert is a revered classics teacher at Saint Benedict's, a boys' boarding school for the scions of wealthy families. Hundert attempts to impart wisdom and a sense of honor to his students. He begins the new school year by making student Martin Blythe read a plaque that hangs over his door. It contains a statement by an ancient Mesopotamian ruler, Shutruk Nahunte. The plaque sings Shutruk Nahunte's praises, but Hundert explains that he contributed nothing of value to his kingdom, and as a result is virtually forgotten today. Hundert's disciplined life and classroom are shaken when a new student, Sedgewick Bell, is enrolled in the middle of the term. Sedgewick, the underachieving, spoiled son of a U.S. senator, frequently disrupts class and does poorly in his homework. Hundert meets with Sedgewick's father, Hiram Bell, to talk about his behavior, only to discover that Hiram has minimal interest in Sedgewick's education beyond the passing of his classes. Hundert decides to help Sedgewick, and as they develop a friendship, Sedgewick's grades show improvement. Sedgewick works very hard to earn a spot in the school's annual "Mr. Julius Caesar contest", in which the top three students compete in a classics quiz in front of the entire school. However, Sedgewick only qualifies in fourth place. Hundert, not wanting his efforts with Sedgewick to be all for naught, raises his grade to qualify, which effectively excludes Martin, the rightful third-place contestant. During the competition, Hundert spies Sedgewick using crib notes, but the headmaster orders Hundert to ignore it, as Sedgewick's father is a major donor for the school. Hundert then deliberately asks Sedgewick a question on Hamilcar Barca which was not covered in class; it is answered correctly by another contestant, Deepak Mehta, who is crowned "Mr. Julius Caesar". The cheating is never made public, but the trust Sedgewick and Hundert had in each other is broken. Sedgewick returns to his old ways and barely graduates in 1976, with Hundert expressing deep disappointment that he failed Sedgewick.