APT PUPIL

SYNOPSIS:
Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro), an academically successful American High School student becomes interested in the Holocaust and his further studies take him to a library where he pores over articles, journals, cuttings – and photos of the era. One day on the bus he recognises an old man as an SS officer, and after further research, confronts Kurt Dussander (Iam McKellan) with an unusual request: to be told all about it, in return for Todd’s silence. It makes for a clandestine, volatile relationship which leads Todd down a hellish path, and Kurt into deadly danger.

"Apt Pupil is a remarkable film; it peers into the dark soul of man with an unusual perspective and extracts some fascinating observations. Whether you agree with the filmmaker’s conclusions about evil being contagious is another matter. But he presents a good argument. (Actually, the argument might begin by asking whether the young man had a natural touch of evil or was it implanted…) Intellectually stimulating and often emotionally engaging, Apt Pupil is engrossing by its premise and by its execution; by the performances and by the filmmaking style. Of course, what engages us above all is the incredibly intimate view of two individuals who, in different cultures, different generations and from different backgrounds, peel off to show the barbed edge of the human condition in such an unusual way. McKellen creates a compelling, complicated and confounding character, while Renfro matches him with surprising finesse of performance. The soundtrack adds enormously to the emotional hit, making good use of excerpts from Tristan and Isolde as well as some powerful original work from John Ottman. The film also boasts three very legitimate endings in sequence; as I say, it’s remarkable. It’s best enjoyed when you feel like a heavy red, a big steak and generally a Wagner of night."
Andrew L. Urban