(1998)
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(1998) |
An intelligent sixteen year-old discovers that an old man living near him is a former Nazi death camp commandant, then blackmails the old man into telling him stories--affecting both their lives in ways neither could forsee.
Also known as: Golden Boy (Japanese title)
Subgenres: psychological, social commentary
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Brad Renfro, Ian McKellan
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This film certainly has good points--it is chilling at times, and Brad Renfro and Ian McKellan are great (especially McKellan, in a layered performance). The cultural underpinnings with which Stephen King provided his story are endlessly fascinating, as well. However, "endless" is a word that suits this film all too well. It really drags toward the end and provides us with a finale (finales) that I feel doesn't suit the rest of the film. Still, worth watching for the symbiotic parasitism of the relationship between the boy and the old man. (Sep 9, 1999) | ||||||
Based on "Apt Pupil," one of four novellas from Stephen King's Different Seasons. That book also contained other stories that would be filmed as Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption.
