FilmBlather.com

G

Most people have a very narrow perception of a horror movie. We see it as consisting of someone chasing someone else with a knife. After all, if that's not scary, what is? But there are horror movies that deal with a different kind of evil. Perhaps the evil of the holocaust in the heart of a teenage boy. If that's not scary, then what is?

Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) is an odd twelfth grader. He seems to be very interested, obsessed with the horrors of the Holocaust. So, when he finds out that a Nazi General is basically living in his own backyard, of course he sees it as an opportunity to get some horrid Holocaust accounts first-hand. The problem? Well, this General, Kurt Dussander is a wanted man. He is living as an ordinary senior citizen, Arthur Denker. Todd blackmails the Nazi. He says that he will not reveal his true identity if Dussander tells him stories about his experience as an SS General.

Of course, it goes on from there, but in the interest of preserving some surprises, I will not, at least for now. I will say this however, Apt Pupil is a remarkably complex film, comparable in that regard to last year's Eve's Bayou. This is especially impressive considering that this is actually a Steven King story. As directed by Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects), it is also a great movie.

Now that you are enlightened as far as the quality of the film goes, I suggest that those who have not had the pleasure seeing this film leave the room, or else you will be enlightened with some crucial plot points as well. Now, I will explore further what I have mentioned in the previous paragraph -- the ingenious plotting and complexity of the picture. On the surface this is a movie about a man who wants his past to go away and a boy who won't let it. But let's look deeper, shall we? Could these two characters be bringing out the evil in each other? Don't forget both characters' sudden desire to hurt a living thing, manifested in the form of merciless animal abuse. Or, could Todd simply be learning from Dussander -- remember the devious blackmail of the school counselor at the very end and compare it to the "safe deposit box". Could it be both? Does the obvious homosexuality undercurrent symbolize Todd's love for the evil of the Holocaust or is it simply a plot point? And last but certainly not least, does Dussander kill himself to end his own suffering or prevent Todd's? Those are all questions that the movie had me thinking about after I walked out of the theater. And to this moment, the only thing I can be sure of is that there is no answer to any of these questions: we are left to interpert the events for ourselves, and there lies the brilliance of the film.

The performances are magnificent: Brad Renfro chooses, for better or for worse, to play his adolescent character as all-out evil, narrowing his eyes and bursting out in flares of anger. Ian McKellen as Dussander is also great, although some may argue that he's a little over the top.

So there you have it. One of the very best films of the year turns out to be based on a Steven King novella. I was shocked, surprised and very, very impressed.