Das Experiment

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel

Starring: Christian Berkel, Moritz Bleibtreu

Genre: psychological thriller

Year: 2001

Running Time: about 2 hours.

Plot synopsis: Volunteers sign up to be guards and prisoners in a two-week simulated prison observed prison experiment, based on the famed Stanford Experiment.

Review: First things first. This is the German version. Also known as the original version. Also known as the good version. Please, for the love of everything that is good in this world, please do not watch Adrien Brody try too hard to win another Oscar so he can kiss Halle Berry again in the de-plotted American version.

Alright. Now that that’s out of the way. I loved this film. The subtle directing approaches and symbolic quiet scenes that you would not expect in this type of film, took it from being grit for grit’s sake, to being a true look at the human psyche and sociological reactions to authority, dehumanization, money, learned behaviors, and projected expectations. By the end of the film, there are so many different ideologies represented, that you’re not really sure who you should be rooting for. Yet somehow, you also care about the characters; so you land on someone to root for, and immediately question your own motives for doing so.

Brilliant film. What makes it all the more brilliant is doing research after you watch it. Because the little things you think might be stretching it to make the plot better, have actually happened in experiments over the last 50 years. Stunning, engaging, and thought-provoking.

Watch for:

• Christian Berkel stealing, yet again, every scene he is in. This guy is Germany’s Mark Strong or William Fichtner.
• getting involved in the film in a way you did expect.
• one of the best antagonist performances since ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, by Justus Von Dohnanyi. And the director’s approach to humanizing him.

Film or Movie: Film.

Change the World Factor: Yep.

Buy It: Every day.

Rent It: This too.

‘Uh-oh. Forty.’
Karl.

(Christian Berkel being awesome. Ever notice how close actors have to be to each other? I would never be that close to someone in real life. Must be awkward.)