APT PUPIL Cast: Ian McKellan, Brad Renfro, Bruce Davison, Elias Koteas, Joe Morton, David Schwimmer Director: Bryan Singer Screenplay: Brandon Boyce based on the novella by Stephen King Reviewed by Luke Buckmaster
On the Buckmaster scale of 0 stars (bomb), to 5 stars (a masterpiece): 3 and a half stars
Standard horror films keep characters and their actions in check. They produce shrieks and squeals from violence that is either meaningless or irrelevant, and rarely look at what motives evil actions. It is sort of an irony that Stephen King - whom you may expect would produce this sort of stuff - wrote the novella on which Apt Pupil is based. Brandon Boyce has skillfully adapted King's work and made it accessible for the big screen, while director Brian Singer (who astonished audiences with The Usual Suspects) and the film's performers give it impact. The result is a subversive and gripping experience; one that crawls under your skin and stays there. Sometimes disturbing, at other times merely entertaining, this is a solid piece that grounds itself in a truly frightening subject matter, but occasionally deviates into ordinary urban scenarios.
Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) is an apt pupil. He is a straight A's student who is destined to top his class. After a week of learning about the Holocaust, Todd is fascinated - so much so that he immerses himself in extra-curriculum study of the era. In his research, he discovers an incredible secret that nobody else has: Nazi war criminal Kurt Dussander (Sir Ian McKellen) has been quietly living in Todd's hometown under the assumed name of Arthur Denker. Denker has lived a quiet, uneventful life - until now. Todd confronts Denker and blackmails him with a deal he can't refuse - Todd will keep silent about his true identity, and in return Denker must tell him about the atrocities he committed in the war. Thus a dangerous relationship begins, in which Todd learns valuable lessons about having the upper hand.
The character of Kurt Dussander is one of the most fascinating in recent years. His fragile elderly body is deceiving, as is his serene existence. As Todd unlocks Dussander's memories, he also unlocks the man's true character - his sinister actions have obviously only been in hibernation. Sir Ian McKellen brings Dussander to life with eerie skill, and Brad Renfro is also great as a teenager whose world is turned topsy-turvy. McKellen and Renfro first appear to be a hostile odd couple, but as the plot goes along Singer draws parallels. There is no hero in this story, nor is there a bad guy. Apt Pupil makes it quite clear that everybody has the capacity for evil - the temptation to perform wicked deeds is as much alive in Nazi war veterans as it is in youth.
The film's most chilling moments are when we learn of Dussander's dark past. In one scene he explains in explicit detail what the gassing chambers were like - though it is purely dialogue, a painful visual illustration is carved. Had the film followed this rapid psychological momentum, it may have been a mind-rousing classic. But Singer deviates too often from his exhilarating central plot. In comparison to the nightmares of war told by one of its fomenters, the slip of Todd's school grades seems woefully uninspired. But still, this film is often a powerful examination on what drives people to commit evil actions. Apt Pupil is a must see for anybody who ever thought a horror film can't have a brain or a heart. Though far from perfect, this film evokes a morbid fascination that is hard to shake.
Read more of my reviews at In Film Australia http://infilmau.iah.net
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