The Emperor's Club (2002)

This is a movie about a teacher in what was an all boys school reminiscing about the past, and how one's character dictates one's future.

Mr. Hundert teaches the classics at a prestigious all boy's high school. Every year he holds a 'Julius Cesar competition' which is a series of trivia questions about the ancient world, and the student who answers the most questions correctly get the prestigious title of Mr. Julius Cesar. All of Mr. Hundert's students are hard working, studious boys who take their education very seriously, all until a new student enrolls in the class, a Mr. Sedgwick Bell. This kid isn't very bright, but is very charismatic, and very soon his disregard and contempt for school begin to rub off on the other students.

Mr. Hundert speaks to Sedgwick's father, a high-ranking man who seems to care little for his son, and Sedgwick seems to try to improve academically after that. He goes as far as to climb to the top of his class! Unfortunately he places one spot lower than is necessary to qualify for the Julius Cesar, so in an attempt to encourage him, Mr. Hundert switches his name with one of the students who actually got in. Unfortunately, this proves to be a mistake when he catches Sedgewick cheating during the final. Instead of humiliating him in front of the assembly, he asks a question that he would only have known by paying attention in class. The question had to do with the identity of a man named Hamiclar Barca, and could not be found in any textbook, so Sedgewick of course couldn't answer it. After this, he reverted back to his old self, causing trouble and being an all around delinquent.

Fast forward to present day, a very successful and wealthy Sedgewick called together a friendly rematch of the contest and asks that Mr. Hundert conduct the ceremony. What will happen I wonder.

The movie prods the viewer to consider a person's character, and how that character may or may not decide a person's life. More importantly, it puts forward the idea that, no matter how charismatic, successful, or popular a person is, unless he or she makes some sort of contribution to humanity, they will not be remembered. The man Sedgewick was asked about, Hamilcar Barca, was used as an example of this. He was a successful Carthaginian general who led many battles and caused many deaths, but his name will not be in any textbook because he made no contribution to humanity. He made an impact on the world, but unlike Julius Cesar, Socrates, Hammurabi, etc. he did nothing to better man-kind.

The story is well done, and while it's not overly philosophical in nature, it doesn't discourage the viewer from thinking further about some of the ideas they present.