Das Experiment (2001)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writers:

Mario Giordano (novel)
Mario Giordano (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 March 2001 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Bist du stark genug?

Plot:

The movie is based on the infamous "Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab...

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Violence | Experiment | 1970s | Undercover Journalist

Awards:

13 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Tarek Fahd - Häftling Nr. 77 / Prisoner #77
Christian Berkel	...	Steinhoff - Häftling Nr. 38 / Prisoner #38
Oliver Stokowski	...	Schütte - Häftling Nr. 82 / Prisoner #82
Wotan Wilke Möhring	...	Joe - Häftling Nr. 69 / Prisoner #69
Stephan Szasz	...	Häftling Nr. 53 / Prisoner #53
Polat Dal	...	Häftling Nr. 40 / Prisoner #40
Danny Richter	...	Häftling Nr. 21 / Prisoner #21
Ralf Müller	...	Häftling Nr. 15 / Prisoner #15
Markus Rudolf	...	Häftling Nr. 74 / Prisoner #74
Peter Fieseler	...	Häftling Nr. 11 / Prisoner #11
Thorsten Dersch	...	Häftling Nr. 86 / Prisoner #86 (as Thorsten J.H. Dersch)
Sven Grefer	...	Häftling Nr. 94 / Prisoner #94
Justus von Dohnanyi	...	Berus - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard (as Justus von Dohnànyi)
Nicki von Tempelhoff	...	Kamps - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Timo Dierkes	...	Eckert - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Antoine Monot Jr.	...	Bosch - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Lars Gärtner	...	Renzel - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Jacek Klimontko	...	Gläser - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Markus Klauk	...	Stock - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Ralph Püttmann	...	Amandy - Strafvollzugsbeamter / Guard
Edgar Selge	...	Professor Dr. Klaus Thon - Wissenschaftler / Scientist
Andrea Sawatzki	...	Dr. Jutta Grimm - Wissenschaftler / Scientist
Philipp Hochmair	...	Lars - Wissenschaftler / Scientist
Klaus Spinnler	...	Assistent / Assistant
Tristan Vostry	...	Assistent / Assistant
Maren Eggert	...	Dora - Die Anderen / The Others
André Jung	...	Ziegler - Die Anderen / The Others
Uwe Rohde	...	Hans - Die Anderen / The Others
Heiner Lauterbach	...	Dennis - Die Stimmen / The Voices (voice)
Fatih Akin	...	Taxifahrer / Taxi Driver - Die Stimmen / The Voices (voice)
Christiane Gerboth	...	Nachrichtensprecher / Newscaster - Die Stimmen / The Voices (voice)

Directed by
Oliver Hirschbiegel

Writing credits
Mario Giordano		(novel "Black Box")
Mario Giordano		(screenplay) &
Christoph Darnstädt		(screenplay) &
Don Bohlinger		(screenplay)

Produced by
Marc Conrad	....	producer
Philip Evenkamp	....	executive producer
Benjamin Herrmann	....	co-producer
Ulrike Leibfried	....	associate producer
Norbert Preuss	....	producer
Friedrich Wildfeuer	....	producer (as Fritz Wildfeuer)

Original Music by
Alexander Bubenheim		(as Alexander van Bubenheim)

Cinematography by
Rainer Klausmann

Film Editing by
Hans Funck

Casting by
An Dorthe Braker

Production Design by
Andrea Kessler

Art Direction by
Uli Hanisch

Costume Design by
Claudia Bobsin

Makeup Department
Mary May	....	makeup artist
Sylvia Reusch	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Stephan Bechem	....	assistant unit manager
Alexander Dominitzki	....	unit manager
Klaus Spinnler	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Uli Hampeter	....	second assistant director (as Ulrike Hampeter)
Isabel Kleefeld	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Markus Baum	....	carpenter
Uwe Belke	....	carpenter
Uwe Brauer	....	painter
Laura Engels	....	art department intern
Stefan Isfort	....	property master
Kai Koch	....	assistant art director
Oliver Koch	....	carpenter
Fee Kolb	....	painter
Markus Krüll	....	metalworker
Elmo Langenberg	....	metalworker
Uli Langenberg	....	construction coordinator
Lenny Lehmann	....	carpenter
Daniel Peeck	....	construction coordinator
Doriano Quintavalle	....	carpenter
Thorsten Sabel	....	set dresser
Katja Schlömer	....	set dresser
Dieter Schmidt	....	carpenter
Ricky Stecker	....	props buyer
Christoph Steeger	....	sketch artist
Jo Teh	....	painter
Saskia Trixa	....	prop intern

Sound Department
Achim Böcking	....	sound intern
Christof Ebhardt	....	sound editor
Lisa Geffcken-Reinhard	....	foley editor (as Lisa Geffcken)
Florian Gross	....	sound production manager
Monika Gussner	....	adr editor
Magda Habernickel	....	supervising sound designer
Hans Hohenwarter	....	technical director: sound
Frank Lehner	....	boom operator
Peter Notz	....	adr mixer
Jörn Poetzl	....	foley artist (as Joern Poetzl)
Annette Prey	....	sound editor
Max Rammler-Rogall	....	sound re-recording mixer
Thomas Schwenke	....	technical director: sound
Philipp Sellier	....	foley mixer
Marcel Spisak	....	sound editor
Wolfgang Wirtz	....	production sound mixer

Special Effects by
Karl-Heinz Bochnig	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Thilo Gottschlich	....	film recording
Lutz Lemke	....	composite layouts
Marian Mavrovic	....	digital compositor
Verena Pohlmann	....	assistant datacine operator
Angela Reedwisch	....	visual effects producer
Rainer Schmidt	....	datacine operator
Jürgen Schopper	....	visual effects supervisor
Christoph Steeger	....	modeler
Steven Stueart	....	scanning supervisor
Christian Zeh	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Ernst Reimann	....	stunt coordinator
Randy Wittur	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Thomas Balder	....	second assistant camera
Stefan Biebl	....	additional camera operator
Moritz Bleibtreu	....	camera operator: special glasses camera
Holger Fleig	....	additional assistant camera
Uwe Fuchs	....	electrician
Udo Heinz	....	electrician
Ingo Hilden	....	grip
Wolfram Koch	....	video technician
Peter Krammer	....	gaffer
Bernd Mayer	....	key grip
Ralf M. Mendle	....	additional camera operator (as Ralf Mendle)
Axel Näther	....	video technician
Jens Piotrowski	....	first assistant camera
Roland Scheidt	....	assistant electrician
Bernd Spauke	....	still photographer
Dominik Stöcker	....	additional assistant camera
Jürgen Tomadini	....	electrician
Tom Trambow	....	property photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Tanja Schwichtenberg	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Martina Geddicke	....	costumer
Ursula Münstermann	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Sabine Allerdisse	....	assistant editor
Katja Birklein	....	assistant editor
Christa Garmeier	....	negative cutter (as Christine Garmeier)
Nicholas Goodwin	....	assistant editor
Traudl Nicholson	....	color timer

Music Department
Alexander Bubenheim	....	conductor (as Alexander van Bubenheim)
Alexander Bubenheim	....	orchestrator (as Alexander van Bubenheim)
Tommy Eberhardt	....	musician: drums
Alexandre Frank	....	music supervisor
Lou Handman	....	composer: song "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"
Alex Klier	....	musician: bass
Woepf Lechenmayr	....	music editor
Woepf Lechenmayr	....	music scoring mixer
Olaf Mierau	....	music production supervisor
Georg Naschke	....	music supervisor (as George Naschke)
Max Rammler-Rogall	....	musician: trumpet
Max Schaefers	....	assistant music engineer
Hanno Simons	....	musician: cello
Günter Strebl	....	music recordist
Roy Turk	....	composer: song "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

Transportation Department
Jochen Behle	....	driver
Diana Schwieger	....	driver
Marcel Winterscheidt	....	driver

Other crew
Regine Baschny	....	unit publicist
Marika Dornbusch	....	production accountant
Christl Druxeis	....	production accountant: Fanes Film (as Christl Druxeis-Chawki)
Friederike Jacob	....	unit publicist
Otto Kiefer	....	legal affairs: Typhoon Film
Hermann Koenen	....	caterer
Christina Kügelgen	....	unit manager intern
Claudia Lehmann	....	electronic press kit
Heike Manzke	....	script supervisor
Frank Meter	....	location scout
Michael Otto	....	title designer
Bettina Plasdick	....	assistant production accountant
Gottfried Reisecker	....	consultant: film laboratory
Maria Sobecki-Grimm	....	caterer
Jochen Strate	....	legal advisor
Ariane Thiede	....	production coordinator: Fanes Film
Ulrike Thiede	....	production coordinator
Rolf Thissen	....	unit publicist
Peter Vit	....	projectionist
Tristan Vostry	....	production intern
Oliver Wissmann	....	production coordinator
Anke Zindler	....	unit publicist

Thanks
Helmut Dietl	....	thanks
Stefan Gärtner	....	thanks
Alfred Holighaus	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Fanes Film
• Senator Film Produktion
• Seven Pictures (co-production)
• Typhoon

Distributors

• Senator Film (2001) (Germany) (theatrical)
• EuroVideo (2002) (Germany) (DVD)
• IDP Distribution (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
• Samuel Goldwyn Company, The (2002) (USA) (theatrical)
• Samuel Goldwyn Films (2002) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (VHS)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (2001) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Belga Films (2001) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Belga Films (2001) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• Central Partnership (Russia)
• Future Film (2002) (Finland) (theatrical)
• GAGA Communications (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2002) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Madman Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Manga Films (Spain)
• Metrodome Distribution (2002) (UK) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2003) (France) (theatrical)
• Nexo (2002) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Nu Visión de Argentina (2003) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Oro Film A/S (2002) (Norway) (theatrical)
• Prooptiki (2001) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Sherlock Media S.L. (Spain)
• Universal Pictures Video (200?) (Netherlands) (video)

Also Known As:

Black Box (Germany) (working title)
The Experiment (International: English title)
El experimento (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) [es]
A Experiência (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
L'expérience (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Эксперимент (Russia) [ru]
A kísérlet (Hungary) [hu]
Deney (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Eksperimentet (Norway) [no]
Eksperimentet (Denmark) [da]
Eksperyment (Poland) [pl]
Es (Japan) [ja]
Experiment - Ihmiskoe (Finland) (TV title) [fi]
Experimentet (Sweden) [sv]
L'expériment (Canada: French title) (DVD title) [fr]
O Experimento (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]
The Experiment (Italy) [it]
To peirama (Greece) [el]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, disturbing situations, language, sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

Canada:114 min (DVD) | South Korea:109 min (cut version) | Germany:120 min (uncut version)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA | Brazil:18 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-15 | France:-16 | Germany:16 (w) | Italy:VM14 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:18 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 (cut) | Spain:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Fanes Film

Trivia:

Oliver Stokowski (Schütte) is actually claustrophobic. In an early scene where the prisoners are crammed into the elevator, a hint of his genuine uneasiness is visible.

Goofs:

Continuity: At the end of the movie the Elvis Presley imitator gets knocked down and attached to a prison cell with handcuffs. But after that he suddenly is on the loose.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Tarek Fahd, Häftling Nr. 77: [voiceover, reading newspaper ad] Test subjects wanted. Earn 4000 marks for a 14-day experiment in a simulated prison.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Does Your Soul Have a Cold? (2007)

Soundtrack:

Be Bop A Lula

Interesting, involving and exciting – made more interesting with revelations involving the US troops in Iraqi prisons

Taxi driver and freelance journalist Tarek Fahd spots an advert in a newspaper for volunteers to take part in a psychological experiment over two weeks. He arrives along with a group of others, to be divided up into prisoners and guards before being placed into a simulated prison and provided with rules, Tarek being prisoner number 77. Initially everyone is enjoying themselves but soon the guards tire of the prisoners taking the p*ss and decide it is time to clamp down on their behaviour. As they realize that they have no limit on their powers, the actions of the guards become increasingly brutal and uncaring.

Based on the infamous experiments carried out at Stanford in the 1970's, this film had it all going for it in terms of being an effective thriller while also looking at the ways that human nature will gravitate towards the cruel once they are placed in positions of power. I decided to watch this film because it seemed interesting on this basis but also very topical considering the behaviour of the US soldiers in the Iraq prisons – mostly poor 'white trash' types who were corrupted when they suddenly found themselves in a position they had never been in before – control. Like them, the characters here gradually get more extreme – just like they did in the real experiment as well. With this topicality it is no surprise that I was easily taken in by the film and was never really bored by it. Being a thriller in its own right, the film has to settle into the eventual action conclusion but even this works pretty well and doesn't detract from what has gone before in terms of interest.

This is not to say it is perfect, because it could have been much better than it was. The constant cutting to Tarek's girlfriend now and in flashback only took away from the film and she could have still played her part at the end with much less time during the main body of the film. Also it became a little too far-fetched for the sake of drama – a recent television drama in the UK did it differently by actually recreating the same experiment as opposed to this film which needed to go harder and faster in order to reach the eventual running and fighting stage! But it still works and, to be honest, it is well worth seeking out for the 'human nature' aspect alone – it had a special resonance in Germany but it is hard not to be put in a thoughtful mood given recent events in Iraqi military prisons.

The cast are roundly good and all slip one way or the other in a convincing manner. Beibtreu is good once he gets past the stage where he is making trouble for the sake of it – this is necessary to speed the descent into cruelty but it was laid on a bit thick at the start. After this his performance is much more evenly balanced and he is a good lead. I struggled to pick up the names of all the others because they were mostly unknown to me but the head guard was very good while the rest of the cast did more than just deliver their pigeon-holed characters, where really they could have been nothing more than 'prisoner who goes crazy', 'timid guard', 'angry guard', 'silent prisoner' etc – they weren't, they were all pretty real people.

Overall this is not the best thing to come to if you are after a sort of documentary drama about the original experiment but it is still a very good film. It is exciting and dramatic while still having a bit of a brain on it – an asset made more interesting by what we have seen in Iraq over the past few months with guards becoming even worse than those we see in this film! Not a perfect film but a well made one that is interesting, involving and exciting and one that is well worth looking up.