During this time he discovers that one of his elderly neighbors, the reclusive arthur denker played by ian mckellen, is in fact the former german ss commander kurt dussander, a war criminal. Todd blackmails dussander into telling him the gory details of the holocaust in exchange for not turning him over to the authorities. This is stephen king done really well on a small scale. Apt pupil soundtrack from 1998, composed by john ottman. Apt pupil 1998 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and. Bryan singers 1998 psychological thriller apt pupil features a sequence where 16yearold high school student todd.
The following analysis reveals a comprehensive look at the storyform for apt pupil. His other credits included sleepers, deuces wild, apt pupil and the jacket. Seemingly, as though trying to prevail against the common lore of most king films being disappointments, stephen kings name barely featured in any of the publicity for the film. Apt pupil is that rare movie that makes an appearance of unmeasured access to itself and leaves as quickly. The 10 most interesting stephen king film adaptations the. Rather than turning in the man to the authorities, todd is instead. Based on a stephen king novella, the film featured renfro as a twisted student obsessed with nazism who blackmails an elderly neighbor ian mckellen and former concentration camp guard.
The film tells the story of the main character, todd bowden, played by brad renfro. In 1998, he starred in apt pupil, directed by bryan singer. Apt pupil is a 1998 american psychological thriller film based on the 1982 novella of the same name by stephen king. Apt pupil 1998 todd bowden played by brad renfro is an average high schooler that is studying in history class about the holocaust. Frankenstein 1931, the old dark house 1932, the invisible man 1933, and the bride of frankenstein 1935.
The film stars a 16yearold judy garland above as well as frank morgan, ray bolger, bert lahr, jack haley, billie burke, margaret hamilton, charley grapewin and the munchkins. I recently watched apt pupil 1998 which is based on a stephen king novella published in 1982. Apt pupil unfinished 1987 stephen king adaptation lost. Apt pupil certainly falls outside of the genre, although can also read as a horror film. Its one of those transitional films for a director in this case bryan singer where from one film thats a success to another theres a bridge in the middle that kind of floats and. October 1998 chicago international film festival usa 8 october 1998 austin film festival usa 23 october 1998. Apt pupil is a film i might possibly consider watching again, if i didnt have much to do during the day and had absolutely nothing else to watch including tv. Apt pupil dvd chicago public library bibliocommons.
Title music supervisor release date september 27, 1996. Read about the apt pupil dvd and browse other dvd movies. At the time of his death, renfro had completed filming on the informers with winona ryder and billy bob thornton. Apt pupil, bryan singers recent followup to his muchpraised usual suspects, was a flop.
The latter, in particular, created a sensation in hollywood, and mckellens role garnered him several of awards and nominations, including a golden globe and an oscar nod. The halffinished film was scrapped, but it would be made again and completed this time in 1998, starring ian mckellen and brad. Find great deals on ebay for apt pupil and apt pupil dvd. Apt pupil uses the horrors of the holocaust as an atmospheric backdrop to the more conventional horror devices of a stephen king story. Released by rca victor in 1998 09026633192 containing music from apt pupil 1998. Roles in various films, cold comfort farm 1995, apt pupil 1998 and gods and monsters 1998, riveted audiences. He discovers that a former ss war criminal, kurt dussander played by ian mckellen is secretly living in his home town. Display as images display as list make and model make and year year category importancerole date added new ones first episode appearance ep. Financial analysis of apt pupil 1998 including budget, domestic and international box office gross, dvd and bluray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. A high school student becomes obsessed with the holocaust and blackmails a former highranking nazi soldier into telling stories about his involvement.
Signet felt kings apt pupil to be so intense and horrifying that editors asked him to leave it out of the 1983 paperback. This film is another in a long line of creations that appeared today and were gone tomorrow, but whose impact is felt long after the credits have rolled, blackness fills the. At a professional crossroads, renfro proved himself dedicated to a more challenging career path with his starring role in bryan singers apt pupil 1998. In 1998 renfro starred in apt pupil, a disturbing film adaptation of a stephen king novel about a boy tutored in evil by an elderly nazi war criminal. An author suffering writers block has to face his own demons when his best friend shows up with a completed manuscript, a publishing deal, and the publishers daughter in tow. Apt pupil ist ein thriller des regisseurs bryan singer aus dem jahr 1998. Its set in 1984, for no readily apparent reason other than that was contemporary when it was written.
Travel guide to filming locations for bryan singers film of stephen kings apt pupil, with ian mckellen and brad renfro, around altadena and alhambra, california. Sorry i couldnt help myself sometimes a director can only do so much with a screenplay. Apt pupil unfinished film adaptation of stephen king. Expand your home video library from a huge online selection of movies at. If ratner is feeling the pressure, hes too much of a supersalesman to show it.
Apt pupil consists of 30 chapters, many of which are headed by a month. The film was directed by bryan singer and stars ian mckellen and brad renfro. Excellent acting, very disturbing and one of my new fav films. By the end of the film, as a death camp survivor is quoting john donnes poem about how no man is an island, were wondering what island the filmmakers were inhabiting, as they assembled this uneasy hybrid of the sacred and the profane. A boy blackmails his neighbour after suspecting him to be a nazi war criminal. The several films he starred in that followed gained little attention, with the majority going straight to video. Compelled to reveal the secrets of his death camp past to earn the boys silence, the german fugitive derives a sinister scheme to implicate the teenager in a dangerous psychological game. Its director bryan singers first film since the usual suspects, that enormously popular, rather heartless thrillermachine. Apt pupil is not a horror film, but its most certainly horrifying due to its subject matter. Apparently they shot about three quarters of what would be required, and then straight up ran out of money. With david hayter, alfonso freeman, anthony moore, karen rosa.
Controversy shrouded the production of apt pupil for years. Apt pupil dvd logan city council libraries bibliocommons. Through the window of a moving vehicle, we see a series of small, middleclass houses. A sixteenyearold honor student discovers a nazi war criminal in his. With brad renfro, ian mckellen, david schwimmer, joshua jackson, ann dowd, bruce davison and heather mccomb. Cnn apt pupil gets pretty spooky, and more than a bit strange. Brad renfro, ian mckellen, joshua jackson, bryan singer. The filmmakers of the descent decided to release their film before the cave, so they fasttracked production to be completed by the end of february 2005. This also means it has been incorporated into the dramatica story expert application itself as an easily referenced contextual example.
Apt pupil 1982 is a novella by stephen king, originally published in the 1982 novella collection different seasons, subtitled summer of corruption. Sep 05, 2019 a year later, schroder had aged too much and apt pupil was abandoned another adaptation was released in 1998. Finland 31 october 1998 night visions film festival finland 6 november 1998. Apt pupil is a 1998 american psychological thriller film based on the 1982 novella of the same. Bryan singer worked wonders with this stephen king novel move adaptation. With ian mckellen, brad renfro, joshua jackson, mickey cottrell. In the american cut, sarah escapes from the cave and sees juno, but the film does not cut. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Back in 1987, british director alan bridges began to film an adaptation of stephen kings 1982 novella, apt pupil about a teenaged boy named todd bowden who realizes that a man who lives in his town is actually a nazi war criminal named kurt dussander. Sometimes even the director doesnt know when to end the film.
Bryan singers apt pupil is a lesson in who controls the scene. Bryan singer directed apt pupil 1998 won 6 movie awards and was nominated for another 6 movie awards. Stanley wiater, author of the complete stephen king universe, wrote, as depicted on screen, todd is much more consciously evil, in his way. Apt pupil is the story of todd bowden, a brilliant kid that somehow finds out that a nazi war criminal, kurt dussander, lives nearby. High school student, todd bowden played by brad renfro, is fascinated by nazi germany. These videos show my appreciation and to help introduce in order to watch these fullhd and complete. Bryan singers questionable gas chamber shower apt pupil tristar pictures. Given its subject matter star student becomes obsessed with the nazi down the street a little controversy is expected. I was amazed to find out that there had been a previous attempt to make it into a movie in 1985. In 1987, british director alan bridges began to film an adaptation of stephen kings 1982 novella, apt pupil. In 1998, his film apt pupil generated controversy due to a lawsuit.
Shown at numerous 1998 film festivals venice, toronto, chicago, sitges, tokyo. A 1987 attempt to film apt pupil with rick schroder and nicol williamson ended when funding ran out. The scoring on the other hand had me turning up and down the volume constantly because it was so loud. The plot revolves around a recently deceased couple alec baldwin and geena davis who become ghosts haunting their former home, and an obnoxious, devious poltergeist named betelgeuse pronounced and occasionally spelled beetlejuice in the. Apt pupil unfinished film adaptation of stephen king novel. The outstanding cast also includes david schwimmer as a jewish guidance counselor pathetically impotent in the face of todds talent for evil, and bruce davison as todds all. Apt pupil dvd, 1999 brad renfro ian mckellen stephen king.
The film is set in nazi germany during world war ii and depicts the 20 july plot in 1944 by german army officers to assassinate adolf hitler and to use the operation valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. But instead of turning him out, todd decides to feed his own psychopathic tendencies and so he learns from dussander. Oct 16, 1998 the film stars a 16yearold judy garland above as well as frank morgan, ray bolger, bert lahr, jack haley, billie burke, margaret hamilton, charley grapewin and the munchkins. The halffinished film was scrapped, but it would be made again and completed this time.
Adapted from the book father of frankenstein by christopher bram, the new movie gods and monsters tells the story of film director james whale, who completed 21 movies in hollywood but will forever be remembered for only four. Apt pupil is a psychological thriller film based on a novella of the same name by stephen king. Apt pupil, movie, 1998 internet movie cars database. A boy blackmails his neighbor after suspecting him to be a nazi war criminal. Renfros film career began when he was 12, acting opposite susan sarandon and tommy lee jones in the client. Cast in credits order complete, awaiting verification. A legendary unreleased film is jerry lewiss the day the clown cried 1972. The descent was released in north america with approximately one minute cut from the end. Beetlejuice is a 1988 american comedy horrorfantasy film directed by tim burton, produced by the geffen company, and distributed by warner bros. Apt pupil distances itself from the shawshank redemption and stand by me in that it isnt as accomplished, most notably when it comes to the inevitable book film. Excellent acting, very disturbing and one of my new fav films this began as. A dark drama about a sixteenyearold honor student who recognizes an old man living in his hometown as a hunted nazi. I read the stephen king book apt pupil, and being a huge fan of ian mckellen, wanted to see the movie.
Please subscribe, like and share this video as it really. The film had too much nazism and references to the holocaust that is in the apt pupil film, which has something to do between nazi war criminal kurt dussander and high school student todd bowden in common in stephen kings novel homophobia caroline picart and david frank write that the face of evil is represented in the film as nazism, oftlabeled as quintessentially. Valkyrie is a 2008 thriller film directed and coproduced by bryan singer and written by christopher mcquarrie and nathan alexander. Compelled to reveal the secrets of his death camp past to earn the boys. Movies that began filming, but were never completed. Set in the 1980s in southern california, the film tells the fictional story of high school student todd bowden renfro, who discovers a fugitive nazi war criminal, kurt dussander mckellen, living in. But he is about to meet a different kind of teacher. Apt pupil by stephen king overdrive rakuten overdrive. This is the third feature film by 31yearold director brian singer.
Apt pupil dvd, 1999, closed caption brad renfroe b399 5 out of 5 stars 40 product ratings 40 product ratings apt pupil dvd, 1999, closed caption brad renfroe b399. The story centers around todd bowden, a teenager who realizes that a man who lives in his town is actually a nazi war criminal named kurt dussander. A somewhat disturbing movie that works as a suspenseful thriller, yet isnt completely satisfying. Jan 15, 2020 renfros film career began when he was 12, acting opposite susan sarandon and tommy lee jones in the client. Sometimes the source material just isnt strong enough, no matter how well the formal elements are controlled. Unlike most of the analysis found herewhich simply lists the unique individual story appreciationsthis indepth study details the actual encoding for each structural item. The film was directed by barry levinson and costarred brad pitt, who played the older version of renfros character. Bryan singer has a talented cast at hand and he takes every opportunity of the talent present to create.
He gets decent grades in his classes and has a girlfriend. Dec, 2017 apt pupil 1998 1998s apt pupil was inspired by the king story summer of corruption which came from different seasons, the series of novellas that contained stand by me and rita hayworth and shawshank redemption and as a movie adaptation, it does a decent job translating the dark, disturbing psychology of its source material. Todd confronts dussander and in exchange for his silence. In fact, the setting of the film subtly belies its age.
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