The movie is based on the infamous “Stanford Prison Experiment” conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab, complete with cells, bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The ‘prisoners’ are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the ‘guards’ are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time, thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority.
Das Experiment (English: The Experiment) is a 2001 German thriller film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and starring Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Stephan Szasz, Polat Dal, Danny Richter, Maren Eggert and Tristan Vostry. It is based on Mario Giordano’s novel Black Box and deals with a social experiment which resembles Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment of 1971.
About the Story
While reading a newspaper advertisement, taxi driver Tarek Fahd discovers an invitation to participate in an experiment, in which 4000 German marks are offered to the participants of the experiment, in which a prison situation is simulated. The experiment is led by Professor Klaus Thon and his assistant, Dr. Jutta Grimm. He decides to join in.
Tarek participates as a journalist while wearing a pair of glasses with a built-in mini-camera. Tarek has a car accident shortly before the experiment, after which he meets a woman called Dora. She spends the night with him and Tarek keeps thinking of her, shown in flashbacks. The 20 volunteers are pronounced guards and prisoners, 12 prisoners and 8 guards, and are being observed by a team of scientists.
In the experiment, the prisoners lose their civil rights and have to obey arbitrary rules, such as completely eating their meals. The guards are given nightsticks, but are told not to use violence in any case. Each prisoner’s name is taken away and replaced by a number. Tarek (prisoner nr. 77) initially refuses to acknowledge the guards’ superiority by drinking the milk of one of his co-prisoners because of that prisoner’s lactose intolerance, or by throwing his blanket out of his cell to provoke the guards.
He befriends his cellmates, Steinhoff and Schütte. Psychological changes develop and the situation deteriorates. The circumstances seem to be escalating after a few days. It becomes clear that limits are not only being reached but being surpassed when the guards kidnap Tarek from his cell late in the night, order him to strip fully naked, shave his head bald and urinate on him.
The guards become excessively aware of their power and use the prisoners’ fear to make them obedient. On both sides, one person is considered dominant. On the prisoners’ side, this is Tarek, and on the guards’ side, it is the quiet guard Berus, a sadist, whose motto during the experiment is: “Humiliation is the only way we can solve these troubles.”
From that moment on, the guards start to use more and more violence against the prisoners. The scientists engage in a discussion whether or not to abort the experiment. Dr. Grimm suggests to put an end to the alarming situation, but Professor Thon refuses to stop the experiment until the violence has reached a maximum.
Dora meanwhile returns to Tarek’s apartment and discovers his participation contract for the experiment. She surprises him by showing up for a visit day. Tarek, who was forced to clean the toilet with his own clothes, pleads to the friendly guard Walther Bosch to secretly bring her a message. Berus intercepts Bosch, however, and tells Dora that everything is all right and refuses to let Tarek to see Dora.
The situation becomes critical and more violence is involved. The prisoners are being abused and their self-esteem is drastically decreased by the guard’s power. Most of the violence is directed against Tarek and they lock him up in solitary confinement inside a “black box” resembling a safe. Schütte, protesting this, is beaten severely, bound and gagged with duct tape and forced to sit on a chair. Later he suffocates to death due to his bloody nose drying up in addition to the duct tape on his mouth.
The Experiment – Das Experiment (2001)
Directed by: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Oliver Stokowski, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Stephan Szasz, Polat Dal, Danny Richter, Maren Eggert, Tristan Vostry
Screenplay by: Don Bohlinger, Mario Giordano, Oliver Hirschbiegel
Cinematography by: Andrea Kessler
Costume Design by: Claudia Bobsin
Set Decoration by: Uli Hanisch
Makeup Department: Mary May, Sylvia Reusch
Music by: Alexander Bubenheim
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, disturbing situations, language, sexuality and nudity.
Distributed by: The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release Date: March 7, 2001
Visits: 149
