The Experiment

Unrated

3/8/20012h 0m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ You are invited to participate ~

Overview:

20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.

Director:

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Status:

Released

Language:

German

Buget:

$0.00

Revenue:

$13,782,896.00

Key words:

prison
journalist
rape
prisoner
experiment
based on novel or book
authority
prison cell
blackbox
scientific study
aggression
test person
imprisonment
manipulation
torture
humiliation
angry
absurd
dramatic
critical
antagonistic
audacious
awestruck
baffled
defiant
demeaning
earnest

Cast

Moritz Bleibtreu

~ as ~

Tarek Fahd, Prisoner Nr. 77

Christian Berkel

~ as ~

Robert Steinhoff, Prisoner Nr. 38

Justus von Dohnányi

~ as ~

Berus

Maren Eggert

~ as ~

Dora

Edgar Selge

~ as ~

Professor Dr. Klaus Thon

Andrea Sawatzki

~ as ~

Dr. Jutta Grimm

Oliver Stokowski

~ as ~

Günther Schütte, Prisoner Nr. 82

Wotan Wilke Möhring

~ as ~

Joe Maier, Prisoner Nr. 69

Nicki von Tempelhoff

~ as ~

Kamps

Timo Dierkes

~ as ~

Eckert

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

John Chard
Written 6 year(s) ago
10
Berus V 77, Experiment, Das (2001), amazing experience!

So it took me close on 7 years to watch it, so it took me to do a thread about my personal prison based film project on IMDb to get some prompts for this film, I'm just like Novacaine, if you give me time, I get there.

Based on the real life Stanford prison experiment in 1971, Das Experiment is a fabulous construction of seams coming apart in the human psyche, the films triumph is that we are never left in any doubt that things are going to go pear shaped from the off, but the fact that it manages to bash you over the head with its bluntness to reinforce the point, is, magnificent story telling. As much as the film disturbs, it is as much an education of the human condition under trying circumstances. Moritz Bleibtreu & Justus von Dohnanyi play Tarek & Berus respectively, with both men giving superlative performances as the two lynch pins to the pic's unravelling terror.

This is not merely an experiment, but a test where the results are dangerously grounded in facts, it's bleak, it's at times harsh, but it actually is essential cinema for those looking for a kicker where the boot on the foot is all too real, one that and was once worn by the man next door to you. The rating on some internet sites is a disgrace IMHO, I have drop-kicked Der Untergang over the goal posts to make this my new favourite German film. I probably shouldn't go 10/10 for the film after it has scarred me from ever listening to The Beach Boys classic "Wouldn't It Be Nice" ever again - for now that tune will never seem jolly, it will just serve as a reminder of what a brilliantly bleak film Das Experiment is. 10/10