Rating: 
Summary: Some reservations, but interesting...
Review: Oliver Hirschbiegel's film 'Das Experiment' is loosely inspired by the famous (infamous?) Stanford Experiment of 30 years ago. In that experiment, students at the university were housed for a few weeks in a make-shift prison, to see what happens to the mentality of the inmates and guards as they adjust to their new roles. The experiment itself had many flaws, and is hardly representative of prison life in general (or boot camps, or other such environments), but did serve to highlight some of the problems that are possible, and argues for some of the safeguards that are necessary.Hirschbiegel's film departs from that experiment in key ways, but perhaps the primary way is by having an undercover journalist Tarek/Prisoner 77 (played by Moritz Bleibtreu) purposely trying to instigate problems to enable his story to have more substance. The primary protagonist to Tarek is the guard Berus (played by Justus von Dohnanyi), whose oppressive nature takes over. The last half of this film is very violent, far more so than the Stanford Experiment ever became. The cinematography is a bit lacking - perhaps the German art-house intention was to make this a mock-documentary, at least at first, to draw the audience in before letting the situation get out of control, and by then it is too late (for the audience and for the characters). One does have to have a willing suspension of disbelief here, as the allowance for violence becomes almost a parody (after all, this is supposed to be a in Germany sensitive to post-Holocaust issues such as letting guards have free and absolute reign over the subjects) - but perhaps that was part of the intention of Hirschbiegel, to let it serve as a reminder about how easily humanity can slip back into such roles. The film suffers from lack of character development, as the plot and substance of the film is event-driven rather than personality driven; the undercurrents are lacking, and occasional subplots are introduced that do not really help the film along. Some judicious editing and perhaps a few character development scenes, at least of the major characters, would be helpful in getting the audience to understanding the underlying motivations. Again, perhaps the intention of Hirschbiegel was to argue that this could happen to any group of men, regardless of background or personality, but that is a bit lost here. Overall, I tentatively recommend this film, but give strong warning for both the psychological and physical violence portrayed as sometimes being beyond the necessary.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly Gripping Psychological Thriller from Germany
Review: Recently we have seen many brilliant German films -- such as "Run Lola Run" -- and now, another superb film comes from that country, with the same Moritz Bleibtreu (who was Manni, Lola's love). But this time, the thrilling film "Das Experiment" is excellent for totally different reasons. A taxi driver Tarek (Bleibtreu) sees an ad on a newspaper that looks very interesting, which read: "Participants Needed. 2 Weeks in a Mock Prison. Reward 4,000 German marks." He decides to apply, is accepted, and goes to a university where this experiment is to be done. The "experiment" is conducted as follows: 20 participants are divided into to groups, 8 "guards" and 12 "prisoners." The former group were given uniform, handcuffs and other equipments while the latter are required to live in a small cell, wearing only a long white jacket. Though no violence is allowed on both sides, the "guards" set up 6 rules for the "prisoners" to obey. In case of emergency, the professors provide monitoring cameras that relay the images to the controlling room where the supervisors are supposed to watch over every detail of the behaivors of the participants. In this way, the first day starts. But, as the days pass, the at first peaceful relations between the two groups start to get intensified. Some slight scuffle develops into a bigger and more serious fight and even the uprising of Tarek (now called No. 77), and those "guards" and "prisoners," ordinary people up until then, seriously start to struggle for the power, using unnecessary method of torturing and humiliating prisoners. The "experiment," revealing the brutal human nature under ever-increasing pressure, goes more than the intellectual professors expected, and everything results in inevitable catastrophy. The premise of this psychological thriller is so simple (and some may remember Samuel Fuller's "Shock Corridor") that you may be incredulous reading my summery, but I can tell you that this film is really harrowing and traumatic, and at the same time very gripping as a thriller. If my review lead you to think that this film is all about violence, you are mistaken. "Das Experiment" is, in my opinion, a first-rate psychological drama, or psychological thriller that will rivet your heart slowly but steadily, like any best Hitchcock films. But you must be also warned. Some scenes realize those humiliations of characters including Tarek in a so disturbing way -- for instance, his hair is all shaven by the secret attack by the guards -- that you stop even breathing with eyes nailed on the nightmare visions the first-time director (as feature) Oliver Hirschbiegel shows. "Das Experiment" is an example of superb storytelling and observations on humans (and surprisingly, it contains some romance in it). Though some parts of the film seem to go too far (the university will not, I think, do this sloppy job), "Das Experiment," absorbing thriller and thought-provoking study on humanity, should not be missed. Finally some confusing things should be made clear. The film is based on the book "Black Box" by Mario Giordano, of which story is based on the psychological experiment conducted by Stanford University. Some audience might think that this film is directly based on this "Stanford Prison Experiment." The experiment itself is really a historical truth, but the film, set in today's German, clearly doesn't draw what actually happened at this university. But this fact doesn't reduce the value of the film at all.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly Gripping Psychological Thriller from Germany
Review: Recently we have seen many brilliant German films -- such as "Run Lola Run" -- and now, another superb film comes from that country, with the same Moritz Bleibtreu (who was Manni, Lola's love). But this time, the thrilling film "Das Experiment" is excellent for totally different reasons. A taxi driver Tarek (Bleibtreu) sees an ad on a newspaper that looks very interesting, which read: "Participants Needed. 2 Weeks in a Mock Prison. Reward 4,000 German marks." He decides to apply, is accepted, and goes to a university where this experiment is to be done. The "experiment" is conducted as follows: 20 participants are divided into to groups, 8 "guards" and 12 "prisoners." The former group were given uniform, handcuffs and other equipments while the latter are required to live in a small cell, wearing only a long white jacket. Though no violence is allowed on both sides, the "guards" set up 6 rules for the "prisoners" to obey. In case of emergency, the professors provide monitoring cameras that relay the images to the controlling room where the supervisors are supposed to watch over every detail of the behaivors of the participants. In this way, the first day starts. But, as the days pass, the at first peaceful relations between the two groups start to get intensified. Some slight scuffle develops into a bigger and more serious fight and even the uprising of Tarek (now called No. 77), and those "guards" and "prisoners," ordinary people up until then, seriously start to struggle for the power, using unnecessary method of torturing and humiliating prisoners. The "experiment," revealing the brutal human nature under ever-increasing pressure, goes more than the intellectual professors expected, and everything results in inevitable catastrophy. The premise of this psychological thriller is so simple (and some may remember Samuel Fuller's "Shock Corridor") that you may be incredulous reading my summery, but I can tell you that this film is really harrowing and traumatic, and at the same time very gripping as a thriller. If my review lead you to think that this film is all about violence, you are mistaken. "Das Experiment" is, in my opinion, a first-rate psychological drama, or psychological thriller that will rivet your heart slowly but steadily, like any best Hitchcock films. But you must be also warned. Some scenes realize those humiliations of characters including Tarek in a so disturbing way -- for instance, his hair is all shaven by the secret attack by the guards -- that you stop even breathing with eyes nailed on the nightmare visions the first-time director (as feature) Oliver Hirschbiegel shows. "Das Experiment" is an example of superb storytelling and observations on humans (and surprisingly, it contains some romance in it). Though some parts of the film seem to go too far (the university will not, I think, do this sloppy job), "Das Experiment," absorbing thriller and thought-provoking study on humanity, should not be missed. Finally some confusing things should be made clear. The film is based on the book "Black Box" by Mario Giordano, of which story is based on the psychological experiment conducted by Stanford University. Some audience might think that this film is directly based on this "Stanford Prison Experiment." The experiment itself is really a historical truth, but the film, set in today's German, clearly doesn't draw what actually happened at this university. But this fact doesn't reduce the value of the film at all.
Rating:
Summary: Good flick though a stretch in places...
Review: Rented this at the suggestion of a friend of mine (who's European and had pretty similar views on the film), and I wasn't disappointed. I also wasn't blown away. Would have given it 3.5 stars if the rating system had let me, so I rounded up. The plot has already been summarized enough, so I'll skip that and get to what I think didn't work in the movie and what did. Suffice it to say, similar territory has been explored in other movies, the two obvious ones coming to mind being "Lord of the Flies" and "The Wave," a made for TV movie from the early 80's. Both took an interesting look at people's tendencies to define (or even change) themselves in relation to the rules and expectations laid out (or removed) for them. Character development in this movie seemed uneven. We learn quite a bit about the main character (Bleibtreu), and some as well about his fellow prisoners. Concerning the guards we learn very little, except their occupations and that some of them are fathers. What might have been factors contributing to their behavior and the escalation that occurs? This examination of how human character can go astray would have played out better if we understood something more about how the human character developed in a few more of the key roles. It didn't seem realistic that the man who adapted to his "guard role" the most enthusiastically (and violently) was so meek and mild when his character is first introduced. We might be able to buy off on the transformation had we a little more background on the guy (ex. he was abused as a kid, victim of a bully, dominant wife at home, etc). And why would the head doctor, who so totally believes in this experiment, just take off for some business meeting. He comes across like this experiment is the most important thing in his career/life, he has only 14 days to thoroughly study this case, and he decides to take off for business? Puh-leeez. And what about Bleibtreu's girlfriend? Say what? Plot device is the only thing that comes to mind. In a nutshell, the escalation of emotion and tension seemed artificial and to happen too quickly. I've been through military training that puts people in similar roles (though not to this extreme), and I just had a hard time believing that everything could decay that rapidly with a bunch of average Joes (or "Kerle" as the Germans would say). BUT, I still enjoyed the movie. What could have been a REALLY good movie was just decent given the holes in the character development and a more "hollywood-ish" ending. Pretty strong performances from a lot of people whose acting credits mostly consist of German television shows (Bleibtreu being the main exception). I also expect this topic might resonate a little more in Germany, a nation that seems to sometimes struggle with the issues of personal role definition and citizen responsibility. Can a good person who follows the rules still be good even when the rules are bad?? Addendum to my review: since I wrote the above review, I've done some reseach on the '71 Stanford Prison Experiment (which the movie was based on), and I have to admit, the movie did give a more accurate interpretation of reality than I would have thought. Minus the heavy violence and the deaths that occurred in the movie, a lot of the plot did closely follow what happened in the actual experiment. Based on the newer info, I'd recommend the flick even more so.
Rating:
Summary: Just when an experiment became the reality itself...
Review: The film is based on an actual psychological based prison experiment that took place in Stanford laboratories back in 1971. The aim of the experiment, in my view, is to test the limits of a man's self-control and aggression. And, indeed, the resultscome out to be quite interesting, as the participants become the experimenters at some point of the movie. Moritz Bleibtreu, plays 'Fahd', a taxi-driver, who is an underground journalist, with the mission of catching the excitement during the experiment. We also know Moritz from 'Run Lola Run', which is yet another good german movie. Moritz, seeing the ad on the newspaper, which tells that a big amount of money is to be given to participants in a pyschology experiment, decides that this is 'the' chance. 19 other people, rather ordinary citizens, but with different individual problems, decide to take a part, too. They all seem to take the experiment and the directions easy; however, as days go by, each goes through different problems, which is the exact case the experimenters have intended to create. We see the professor's increasing delight, as the interactions between the prisoners and guardians get more intense and aggressive. As we proceed to day three, money gets vanished from the minds of many. Instead, it is survival, that is at stake this time. In fact, it will be the professor's surprise to see what has happened, when he comes back from his business trip... Oliver Hirschbiegel has directed the movie excellently, in a perfect sequence of events, that raises tension, excitement, and curiosity in the audience. The cast has been chosen with particular care, the roles are greatly performed by many of the actors and actresses. I think that 'Das Experiment' is one of the top-notch German movies ever made so far. Seeing this movie is not only highly recommended, but even essential.
Rating:
Summary: The Experiment - very great movie from Germany!!!
Review: The movie is based on the infamous "Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab... The story is easy,there's an experiment going on and they choose 20 men to make it happen,it's a mock prison,8 of those guys are guards and 12 are prisoners, They'll all get well paidd for lasting 20 days and they can go away from the experiment anytime they feel like it.The main character is a prisoner and he doesn't like rules very much so that's when the punishment begins. Excellent camera work,great casting because they really deliver and great timing makes this movie a masterpiece you have to see.
A Masterpiece from Germany...unbelieveable... Adriano
Rating: 
Summary: Disgustingly homophobic
Review: The Neanderthal Tarek decides to participate in an prison experiment losely based on the famous Stanford Prison Experiment of the 1970's. Of course, things go terribly wrong, the "guards" abuse the "prisoners," there is psychological manipulation and torture, and only Tarek's memories of his pure, chaste, unsullied romance with some girl keep him sane. I cannot possibly imagine anything more trite, overdone, unrealistic, and just plain offensive. But we're not done yet. If the guards or prisoners want to insult each other with the worst possible insult, they simply use the German for "gay."...
Rating:
Summary: Well Done
Review: This film is based on the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted in 1971 and the first part is somewhat faithful to how the experiment went. Of course this gives it the German Avant-garde treatment which makes it more interesting. The acting was good, especially Moritz Bleibtreu from Run Lola Run, and the others did a good job. Of course conducting this with Germans where study participants who play the "role" of guards quickly transform into fascists has an extra meaning. I thought Maren Eggert was good as Dora, Tarek's girlfriend. And contrary to some reviews the Dora element really added a lot to this film. I felt solidarity with the "prisoners" as they are humiliated and abused more and more as the film goes on. And what happens to the psychologists running the Experiment could be considered poetic justice. The ending was over-the-top, but it worked as a film. And just think of what actual prisoners have to endure every day. I think the wider point is the human rights issue. Here in the US we have millions of people imprisoned, dehumanized, with no real rehabilitation, and we're all the worse off for it. One thing this (as well as the actual experiment) shows is we shouldn't let Psychologists control things either...because that industry is one of dehumanization in itself (drugs, coercion, institutions, etc.) What we need is a world run by human rights activists.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Film - why the silly cover?
Review: This film is great! Plain and simple. For all the reason that have been mentioned before but primarily for its realism in depicting actual events. You really get a sense of how it must have felt to be in this bizarre psychological experiment.
As for the criticisms of the subplot and seemingly meaningless flashbacks to the girl etc etc - i think this accurately depicts the kind of 'daydreaming' you would do when youre locked up 24/7. My only criticism is the silly American release cover of the dvd! Why is mr Fahd wearing a shirt saying 82 when his number is 77? And the wires on his head business happened before the experiment began - This cover insults the depth of the movie and gives it a shiny, bright hollywood-esque cover that bears little relation to the feel of the film at all. Download the original release cover from somewhere else and stick it on your dvd - is all i'm saying... ahait!
Rating:
Summary: Corrupted power
Review: This movie is a deep look into the human condition: what is to be done when man has power over others? Is it possible to keep things in peace. A scientist and his staff bring together a group of men to stay behind bars during two weeks, while another group is meant to look after them. The prissoners must obey and the guards must keep things in order without physical violence. Money is seen at the end of the path. Things start quite peacefully, but as the prisoners don't take things too seriously and the guards do, violence finds a way out. Humilliation and degradation begins to be inflicted on the prisoners on the part of one of the guards, who seems to have kind of a B.O. problem. The movie increases gradually the violence and tension and ends in a terrifying chaos, which is unraveled as the guards take control of the experiment and turn the scientists into prisoners. This is a great german movie, which is worth having.
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