Apt Pupil (1998)

A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal.

Director:

Bryan Singer

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), Brandon Boyce (screenplay)

Stars:

Brad Renfro, Ian McKellen, Joshua Jackson

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Renfro	...	Todd Bowden
Ian McKellen	...	Kurt Dussander
Joshua Jackson	...	Joey
Mickey Cottrell	...	Sociology Teacher
Michael Reid MacKay	...	Nightmare Victim
Ann Dowd	...	Monica Bowden
Bruce Davison	...	Richard Bowden
James Karen	...	Victor Bowden
Marjorie Lovett	...	Agnes Bowden
David Cooley	...	Gym Teacher
Blake Anthony Tibbetts	...	Teammate
Heather McComb	...	Becky Trask
Katherine Malone	...	Student
Grace Sinden	...	Secretary
David Schwimmer	...	Edward French

Storyline

Neighborhood boy Todd Bowden (Renfro) discovers that an old man living on his block named Arthur Denker (Mackellan) is Nazi war criminal. Bowden confronts Denker and offers him a deal: Bowden will not go to the authorities if Denker tells him stories of the concentration camps in WWII. Denker agrees and Bowden starts visiting him regularly. The more stories Bowden hears, the more it affects his personality.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | blackmail | war criminal | old man | holocaust | 

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Taglines:

If you don't believe in the existence of evil, you've got a lot to learn.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for scenes of strong violence, language and brief sexuality

Details

Country:

USA France

Language:

English German

Release Date:

23 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Az eminens

Filming Locations:

Alhambra, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$3,583,151 (USA) (23 October 1998)

Gross:

$8,838,938 (USA) (1 January 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Phoenix Pictures, Bad Hat Harry Productions, Canal+ Droits Audiovisuels

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby SR

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Editor / composer John Ottman actually did two cameos in the film, but both were cut. The first was reading the lines of the off-screen teacher, but his voicing of lines was substituted at the last minute by Christopher McQuarrie. He also had a cameo as the music teacher conducting the high-school band in the graduation scene but this was eliminated from the final cut.

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Goofs

Some question Dussander's description of carbon monoxide gas being introduced to gas chambers through pipes, pointing out that Nazi extermination camps used Zyklon B pellets dropped through openings in the roofs of the chambers, which then released prussic acid (hydrogen cyanide) gas. While the extermination camps, Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II-Birkenau, Majdanek and KZ camp Sachsenhausen and Dacau did use the Zyklon B method, most of the other major extermination camps (Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka II) and KZ camps used large gas or diesel engines to produce carbon monoxide exhaust, which was then routed to the gas chambers through pipes. This was learned from the experiences of the T-4 project. (The Chelmno camp had no gas chambers, it instead used gas vans, in which the vans' own carbon monoxide exhaust was routed to the rebuild and airtight cargo bay of the vans, which held the victims.)

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Quotes

[Todd presents Dussander with his old SS uniform]
Kurt Dussander: Maybe I'll put it on and do a little shopping, is that what you thought?

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Connections

Referenced in An Interview with John Ottman (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Das Ist Berlin"
Music by Leo Leux & Matthias Perl (as Matthias Perl)
Lyrics by Hans Hannes & Bruno Balz
Performed by Liane Augustin (as Liane) & The Boheme Bar Trio
Courtesy of Omega Record Group, Inc.

User Reviews

Original, Intriguing

A teenage boy befriends an elderly man. During countless discussions over many a night, they form a special friendship that manages to bridge their considerable age gap. It would sound like a sweet character study if the old man wasn't a Nazi war criminal and the teen wasn't a Holocaust-obsessed recluse blackmailing his new pal for all the gory details.

APT PUPIL scores the highest marks for originality. Nothing ever quite like this has been done before, and it's all quite intriguing. In the beginning, we come close to feeling sorry for the old man despite his past misdeeds. Here is he living out his golden years in peace and seclusion when all of a sudden a pushy teenager threatens to blow his cover. As the tale progresses, we see that the elder is just as conniving as the boy, threatening simply to expose their friendship, forever linking the young man with unimaginable notoriety. What starts out as a bizarre acquaintance escalates into a duel of manipulation.

It's not surprising that APT PUPIL is based on a novella by Stephen King. The film bears many of the hallmarks of King's works. And while it's never actually scary, it is thrilling at a psychological level that King reaches best. It's not perfect, but with the skilled direction of Bryan Singer and solid performances by leads Brad Renfro and Ian McKellen, it generally accomplishes what it sets out to do.

You don't have to be a horror person or a teenager at a late night party to enjoy APT PUPIL. The film has a unique appeal beyond what its target audience may have been. If you missed it when it was released in 1998 (as many did, based on its limited commercial success), it's certainly worth a look.