Apt Pupil (1998)

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

Director:

Bryan Singer

Writers:

Stephen King (novel), Brandon Boyce (screenplay)

Stars:

Ian McKellen, Brad Renfro, Joshua Jackson

6 wins & 6 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 | murder | cat | war criminal | 

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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:

Crime | 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:

El aprendiz

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,583,151, 25 October 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$8,838,938, 3 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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Editor and Composer John Ottman 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

Dussander is wearing glasses in the hospital as he falls asleep and Kramer goes and looks him in the face. Later, as he wakes up to find Weiskopf speaking in German, Weiskopf hands him his glasses. He then suddenly discovers Kramer's absence so it was obviously the first time he'd woken up since falling asleep with them on.

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Quotes

Isaac Weiskopf: When you were a boy, what did you do for fun?
Dan Richler: Went to the movies. Why, what did you do?
Isaac Weiskopf: I used to chase girls.
[they laugh]
Isaac Weiskopf: And now I chase old men.

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Connections

Referenced in An Interview with John Ottman (2002)

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Soundtracks

Prelude And Liebestod
from Tristan Und Isolde
Written by Richard Wagner
Performed by Charles Münch (as Charles Munch) and Boston Symphony Orchestra
Courtesy of BMG Classics/RCA Victor

User Reviews

A psychological thriller

Directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects and both X-Men features), Apt Pupil is a story of adolescent curiosity and evil intentions. Ian McKellen (X-Men) plays the role of an aged, former Nazi soldier living alone in a quiet town with Brad Renfro (Sleepers) as a young, high school teenager in the search of finding the truth about Nazi life in wartime Germany.

Adapted from the Stephen King novella of the same name, Apt Pupil is a psychological thriller with an Alfred Hitchcock-like presence, leaving quite a bit to the viewer's imagination. Much like a game of cards, the action moves back and forth between characters, each trying to take control of one another. While Kurt Dussander (McKellen) wants to keep his past in the past, Todd Bowden (Renfro) keeps probing (and sometimes threatening) to unleash the stories of the reign of Hitler and the torture of the Jews.

While this movie is much like other Stephen King-adapted novels in the sense that it doesn't always translate well to the big screen (with all of the little nuances that made King famous), the superb acting and directing makes Apt Pupil a worthwhile venture into the nature of mental wickedness. Both Singer's vision and McKellen's portrayal of Nazi war criminal bring excitement and intrigue to this movie making it a must-see.