There are few Stephen King stories I have found as absolutely chilling as his novella Apt Pupil. Perhaps because it didn't deal with ghouls and the supernatural but a far more real and tangible evil. It was a story firmly grounded in reality. Bryan Singer's adaptation of that story into a feature film starring Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro managed to capture the same feeling as the book, creating a film every bit as frightening as the source material.
After learning about the Holocaust in school, Todd Bowden (played by Brad Renfro) starts researching the topic more extensively. One night, much to his surprise, he recognizes an old man on the bus from his research as Auchwitz SS Commander Kurt Dussander (played by Ian McKellan). Todd confronts Kurt at his home and Kurt initially denies who he is. When it becomes clear the boy won't leave, he asks Todd what he wants. Todd proceeds to blackmail Kurt into telling him everything that happened in the camps, that he wants to know everything they won't tell him in school. Kurt begrudgingly agrees and from then on everyday after school, Todd goes to Kurt's house to hear gruesome stories of Kurt's time working in the Concentration Camp. As more and more stories are told, they start impacting Todd. He begins having nightmares and his grades begin to slip. But he presses on, continuing to visit Kurt. There is another unexpected side effect as the telling of these stories starts to re-awaken Kurt's more sadistic and violent side as well.
Bryan Singer, fresh off The Usual Suspects, wanted to adapt King's novel into a feature film. The script by Brandon Boyce manages to capture the essence King's novella while also adjusting some aspects of it for the film. The bulk of the story is a battle of wits between Todd and Kurt and both Brad Renfro and Ian McKellen capture this struggle wonderfully. There is also a growing tension throughout the film as both Kurt and Todd's twisted friendship grows and also Kurt's darker Nazi self begins to re-emerge. In one of the most harrowing scenes of the film, Todd brings Kurt a replica SS uniform and insists Kurt put it on. Once Kurt does, Todd orders him to march in place and at first Kurt plays along, but as the orders continue Kurt's Nazi persona starts to come out and you once again begin to see the man who at one time ordered the gassing of thousands of Jewish people. McKellen's performance in this scene is absolutely chilling and the whole time I was thinking, "Oh my god kid, you have no idea what you are doing."
Not unlike Todd, I went through a period of my young adult life when I was a bit fixated on the Holocaust. It was something I just found myself interested in. It was more of a need to try and understand something so horrific could actually happen, rather than the more twisted needs of Todd. But still, I could relate to his interest, at least to a certain extent. I even took a course in college about it. It was specifically a media relations class, since I was a journalism major, about Propaganda in WWII but the Holocaust and how it came about was a big part of the course. It was both incredibly fascinating and incredibly depressing. Needless to say, it cured me of such fascination and aside from the occasional film with it as a topic, I haven't thought of it much since. But I only bring it up because of that shared interest was something I brought to this film as a viewer.
Apt Pupil is an absolutely chilling film for me about two people flirting with evil and subsequently the corruption of youth. It's a dark and at times intense film anchored by a pair of great performances from the two lead actors. It manages to capture King's novella quite well I thought. But, if you think the movie is messed up, you should read the book. It's even more messed up. It's part of the Different Seasons collection, which also gave us two other novellas that formed the basis of The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me. The film does a good job of standing on it's own though, as it should.
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