The Experiment (2001)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A Disappointing Continuation

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

A psychological thriller that observes the behavioural changes people undergo when they're placed in a position of power or submission in a confined atmosphere, Das Experiment is a patiently crafted, concisely narrated & brilliantly performed feature that begins slowly but escalates soon enough into a nail-biting tale of survival.Das Experiment tells the story of Tarek Fahd; a taxi driver who, in order to make some quick cash, decides to take part in a social experiment after learning about it in a newspaper. The volunteers are assigned the role of guards & prisoners in a simulated prison situation but it soon spirals out of control when the guards become aware of the power they have.Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (best known for Der Untergang), Das Experiment borrows its concept from the real life Stanford Prison Experiment and pushes it into a dangerous realm but there are a few subplots it could have possibly done without for it only slows down the entire narrative and at times, is an unnecessary distraction. But the final act still brings it all together quite nicely.The situation under the prison is ingeniously captured on camera for we see human nature coming into play as the psychological effect of the roles assigned to these volunteers lead them to act in ways they possibly wouldn't in a different scenario. The regulated movement of the camera steadily intensifies the given circumstances as the story progresses and the cast chips in with convincing performances.On an overall scale, Das Experiment is an escalating nightmare that illustrates how a given situation attributes to unexpected changes in the behaviour of an individual and tends to intensify more n more as the plot moves forward, eventually culminating on a devastating note. Although a tighter editing would've benefited its narrative, Das Experiment delivers the goods for the most part and is definitely worth a shot.

I could not stop thinking about the fact that they had no security measures taken while conducting the experiment. Then again, this helps increase the suspense through the course of the experiment. I just did not find the take on "security" very convincing, since the only emergency protocol they had was to "call the professor". From the beginning of the movie, I couldn't stop thinking such an experiment where people are asked to surrender some of their civil rights would require supervision by government authorities and such. Apart from that, I was also troubled by the ability of the guards to access the outside world, while prisoners could not. The audience is not given much information about the layout of the experiment.

A scientific and psychological experiment where two groups of regular people will get money by spending two weeks serving as guards and prisoners in a simulated prison is what's inside of "Das Experiment" ("The Experiment"). The scientists are trying to see how the relations between inmates and guards occur and the way they change and why they change inside of closed spaces. We have all the sorts of characters and different backgrounds playing those guinea pigs but the main focus is on Tarek Fahd (Moritz Bleibtreu), a taxi driver who, like most of them, is there for the money and for a chance to sell to a newspaper his experience there. In this place he's selected to be one of the prisoners (the number 77), playing the provocateur type who tries to get some attention from the guards and from there things are never going to be the same. They're all together on the same space, they're under emotional and physical pressure, limited to certain things, going for the same purpose. The main difference between the groups is between who calls the shots and who is obeying to them. If in real life with real and dangerous prisoners, and sometimes abusive officers, things get out of control how come these people (and I include the scientist too) would imagine things always going well? After some small arguments over how tyrannic the guards were in giving orders (including force a guy to drink milk, something he doesn't like), the guards explode in their pressure and decide to be even more firm with the inmates, specially with Tarek. This one seems to try to prove a thing by pushing everybody (even his colleagues) too far but as long the doctors controlling the experiment are not complaining he'll try everything.Yes, this is pretty much like "The Wave", an good experiment that goes wrong simply because it goes, there are uncontrollable things and there's "blind" people behind them who fail to foresee the consequences of their acts, predict at some level when the danger is approaching and stop before it reaches the point of no return. To make things more appealing to audiences we're informed that this was based in real events, although in the real experiment things didn't get so darker as the things depicted in here. Even so, it's very believable the characters motivations, their actions, all the absurd. For those who complained about the plausibility of the story, specially the one concerning the guard's change of behavior, I admit the film failed a little in showing us why they changed but on the other hand I don't think the film needs to clearly answer that to us; the answer is there an you just have to see it. The man is a product of his environment and he adapts himself according to the situations given to him, simply as that. And that's why the outbursts of violence; the guard who attempts to rape one of the doctors, and other situations. Of course, the film could be better developed if the story was placed in another country where racial and sexual tensions are more violent in prisons, places where the excess of human degradation really puts a man in the worst possible conditions that he can't do the right thing and think about the others around him but always trying to do the best for himself. In terms of film "The Experiment" is a film to be viewed more than just a thrilling entertainment (the final minutes forget about the pertinent discussion, going for a more exciting and rushed conclusion, effective but without higher arguments to cause an debate). It shows a lot about how prison systems should be modeled in the best possible way, with good treatment for both sides; guards must receive a proper training and not do what they feel like to, things like that. But do governments out there know how to make great investments in the prison system just like the ones (supposedly) made in this experiment? Things would follow in a proper way between both divisions of this space? Things to wonder while watching the film...I loved the film, loved the performances by the cast, and the script was pretty good even with some predictable moments (loved the irony at the ending though). Don't know why it took me so long to watch it, always interested me but only recently I watched it. Again quoting about the man being a product of its environment and the way goals to achieve might be a problem in the process, and people locked in a small place go through that it makes me wonder why some of us keep insisting in watching reality shows (at one time so called "experiments" as well) that doesn't add anything to their lives when a film like this can do so much more? 10/10

At least it did on the screen. The story behind this movie isn't as charming. I must note that Das Experiment caught my attention after I recently watched the remake of this movie (The Experiment). After being disappointed with that movie (but somewhat fascinated by the matter) I read that the original is much better. And the critics weren't wrong. Das Experiment is the total package. A movie with depth, realism and great directing and acting. The movie makes you think. The tension build up. Nothing feels forced. We are sucked into the movie and feel like we're dealing with real people and real behavior. No silly copouts or plot holes. A movie about human nature, group-dynamics; what will happen when you put a group of people (all with very different personalities) in a small, stressful environment for a long period of time.. All around a great and quite brutal movie about human nature. 10/10