IMDb >
Apt Pupil (1998)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsApt Pupil (1998) More at IMDbPro »
| Photos (see all 39 | slideshow) | Videos (see all 9) |
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Release Date:
23 October 1998 (USA)
more
Tagline:
If you don't believe in the existence of evil, you've got a lot to learn.
Plot:
A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a Nazi war criminal. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
5 wins
&
4 nominations
more
NewsDesk:
(31 articles)
Bryan Singer snubs X-Men to relaunch Battlestar Galactica
(From The Geek Files. 19 August 2009, 12:29 PM, PDT)
Christopher Nolan drops out of ‘The Prisoner’
(From Reel Loop. 19 August 2009, 8:40 AM, PDT)
(From The Geek Files. 19 August 2009, 12:29 PM, PDT)
Christopher Nolan drops out of ‘The Prisoner’
(From Reel Loop. 19 August 2009, 8:40 AM, PDT)
User Comments:
Interesting tale of cat and mouse based on the idea that someone can become obsessed with a certain text.
more (238 total)
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 |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
MPAA:
Rated R for scenes of strong violence, language and brief sexuality.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
111 min | Argentina:112 min
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Certification:
South Korea:15 |
Brazil:18 |
USA:R (No. 35516) |
Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) |
Portugal:M/16 |
Argentina:16 |
Australia:MA |
Finland:K-16 |
France:-16 |
Germany:16 |
New Zealand:R16 |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:15 |
Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) |
Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) |
UK:15 |
Singapore:PG |
Iceland:16 |
Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) |
Canada:AA (Ontario)
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
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 last minute by Christopher McQuarrie. He also had a cameo as the music teacher conducting the high-school band in the graduation scene but was eliminated from the final cut.
more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: A 3-point line is visible on the school's basketball court. The setting of the movie is 1984 and the 3-point line wasn't introduced to the high school game until 1987.
more
Quotes:
Kurt Dussander:
[regarding the killing] We had opened a door and couldn't be shut.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "State of Play: (#1.4)" (2003)
more
Soundtrack:
Das Ist Berlin
more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (238 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Apt Pupil (1998)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| I couldn't finish watching it. | storey_12 |
| A terrible film. | jeremy3 |
| A quick question | Dreamweb1 |
| Dialog at the end | SGJan81 |
| i cried . . | blondambition1223 |
| The Cat | ronpur |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Die Blechtrommel | It | Dreamcatcher | Paragraph 175 | In My Father's Den |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |














The underlying theme Apt Pupil maintains throughout is attention to texts and attention to texts that can inspire and influence but for all the wrong reasons. Apt Pupil does not have a set up; it jumps right into its narrative from the very beginning as close to perfect student Todd Bowden (Renfro) sits there having gone through a lecture on the infamous Holocaust that took place during the 1930s and 40s in Central and Eastern Europe. Todd looks disturbed and yet intrigued at the same time; the opening credits roll after the teacher rubs out 'Jews' written on the chalk board, with the credits doubling up as a montage as Todd goes deeper and deeper into the history of the Holocaust and picks up on lots of information.
From here, Todd has had his mind polluted with a text he has done every attempt to read up on and is now in a different sort of mindset but since we did not know him before the film started, it is his psyche that has been attributed to him. Similarly to the American couple who went on a spree after seeing Badlands; similarly to the French couple who shot and robbed a liquor store after seeing Natural Born Killers and similarly to the hoodlums in Britain who dressed up and beat tramps after seeing A Clockwork Orange, media texts and texts in general can inspire and influence. Todd's story is a study of this and it become doubly dangerous when he realises local neighbour Kurt Dussander (McKellan) is an ex-Nazi in hiding.
From this intriguing set up comes a film that unfolds at a satisfying pace, delivers shocks and the odd surprise whilst maintaining a healthy amount of suspense. The film spends most of its first third informing us that the Holocaust was a 'bad thing' with its trailing off of stories that Kurt delivers to Todd and its dream sequences that Todd must endure. But at the same time, this only further emphasises Todd's fascination and displays how vulnerable he really is. There are two scenes in which Todd hallucinates about the Holocaust; one of which is when he is peering into a window at a dying Jew who cries out for help but Todd awakes in a cold sweat he didn't enjoy it. The second of which takes place in the shower when he imagines he is a Jew himself. But he snaps out of it and pants in relief it's over.
These reactions display fear and anxiety toward such visions but it is not long before he is treating friends like dirt, participating in animal cruelty and wanting to witness first hand a Nazi drill from the real thing. There are two symmetrical scenes during which both Todd and Kurt partake in animal cruelty emphasising that Todd is perhaps entering the mindset of a Nazi whilst one who has already been there and been one also tries his hand at animal cruelty disturbingly fitting how it involved an oven. But at this point, Todd has already bordered on the insane since his readings of the subject and the stories of the ex-Nazi have deterred him from the straight and narrow; it echoes the scene in Taxi Driver when Travis pretends to 'shoot' the porn stars on the screen in the cinema he has seen the filth and the bare bones of the subject first hand and is now building up a fascination; albeit and 'anti' fascination as opposed to Todd's fascination which makes him want to hurt, upset and maim.
And so as the film progresses, so does the intrigue and the deception. One of the films more memorable scenes involves a homeless man who for one reason or another gets in on the blackmail and believes he'll be permitted to stay at Kurt's house given a twist that occurs. Kurt may have other ideas and the scene in which he strokes the man's bald head (probably echoing the way he did for the Jews following their head shaving) is tense and unnerving. But the student/pupil relationship takes a bizarre route and Todd buys Kurt a uniform, demanding to see him in it and demanding a performance I don't think there is much of a homo-erotic 'gaze' that follows but there is certainly a lot more 'I'll look out for you, you look out for me' emphasis and everything gets a little more 'touchy-feely' if you know what I mean.
Despite, in my opinion, one of the biggest mis-castings in a film from last decade; David Schwimmer turns up with a silly looking moustache and some tacky looking glasses and plays a school counsellor. His presence adds another ingredient to the boiling pot but just when the game looks up in a forgettable scene, Todd is quite literally saved by the bell. Then there are the lingering close ups of the handshakes, the creepy smile and those eyes behind those glasses is there something we should know? Apt Pupil is engaging and good fun for what it is but there are some sloppy scenes and some incidental occurrences but what good there is, is either nerve jangling, tense or unpredictable.