The Experiment (2001)

Germany, United States of America

Drama, Thriller

Seven Pictures, Typhoon, Fanes Film, Senator Film, Senator International

Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Stephan Szasz, Andrea Sawatzki

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Don Bohlinger, Christoph Darnstädt

Taglines: You are invited to participate

prison, journalist, rape, prisoner, experiment, authority, asylum, prison cell, blackbox, scientific study, aggression, test person, imprisonment, manipulation, torture, humiliation

Das Experiment is a shocking psycho thriller about the potential for brutality that humans hide. Even more shocking is the fact that it’s based on an actual occurrence — a 1971 psychological experiment at Stanford University that was aborted prematurely when the experimenters lost control.

Reviews:

Author: John Chard
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