Date: Thu, 21 Nov 2002
Movie Review: The Emperor's Club
Thomas M. Miovas, Jr.
I got a free movie pass to see a sneak preview of the new movie "The
Emperor's Club," which I had wanted to see based on the advertisements. I
was expecting to see some connection being made between Ancient Greece and
Ancient Rome to America, and while there was a brief mention of Aristotle,
Socrates, and these ancient civilizations to the founding of America, it
certainly didn't live up to what I expected--or rather, what I had hoped for.
Most disconcerting was the disconnection it presented between virtue and
vice and one's success in life; in fact, it seemed to assert that virtue
and vice have nothing whatsoever to do with success or failure, and that
one will never pay a price for one's vices.
Or maybe I'm downplaying some subtlety in the movie, primarily a
conversation between the professor and one of his students near the end of
the movie. Nonetheless, aside from the equivalent of a stubbing of one's
toe due to a misstep, I can't see where the villain of the story paid any
great price for his pretentiousness, which I was fervently hoping to see by
the end of the movie.
I do not recommend seeing this movie, but if you do happen to see it,
perhaps you can tell me what I missed, if anything.
