Reviewers rating : 7 out of 10

Big Brother and Survivor were made for 'wuzz' audiences - Das Experiment is a film about human dynamics in a simulated prison environment that went woefully wrong, leaving two ppl dead and the rest questioning their sanity after only four days!!

This German production based on the infamous Stanford prison experiment of '71 follows the lives of 20 Volunteers who were attracted for the 4,000 Mark payment for two weeks role play. Sadly still, in this day and age there are people who offer there minds and bodies for experimentation purposes to the scientific world who come up with these drug and psychological schemes.



In this film the volunteers were narrowed down to 20 and divided up into two lots at random by computer as to who would play the role of prison guards and those who would be the prisoners. They had all come from different backgrounds and positions in society, but all held the lure of the money as the main attraction for their participation. The experiment was supervised 24 hours a day by the Herr Docktor and his assistant who monitored their progress and interaction. 24 hours a day can be taken with a grain of salt as their absence on day four was one of the factors in the guards uprising against the prisoners.

The inmates were treated exactly like prisoners and were expected to role play as such. They wore a prison smock as standard issue. No names were allowed, People were addressed by prisoner number only. The guards who never had any experience of the role of prison officers were also thrown in at the deep end. Amongst both sides there was no one leader.... only at the beginning :-) !!
Everything was video taped, every conversation was bugged, every interaction observed.

The film begins with Tarek Fahd #77 operating his taxi in Cologne and reading a newspaper advertisement looking for the volunteers. Tarek a former newspaper hack likes what he sees and enlists. Before he goes inside, he sells the story to his former newspaper editor who equips him with a secret camera concealed in a pair of specs and a voice transmitter concealed in a walkman (which somehow never gets used). On one of his last taxi jobs before entering his car is slammed into by another car driven by Dora, who happens to be your typical legs up to her ears German Frauline who was returning from her fathers funeral - totally by the by... Anyhow the two end up in the sack as one does after burying your father and so the 'link' is made.

Cut to inside mock prison..Day 1 everyone is taking on their new roles with a pinch of salt with much fun and banter. Interesting characters are built up on both sides. from the weakling (read normal) Bosch and Elvis - the would be rapist, to the military pilot observer Steinhoff. The film concentrates on three prisoners, Tarek,Steinhoff who share the same cell and Schutte who is coshed to death. On the guards side the main character was Berus, Elvis and Bosch.

After game set and match to the prisoners on day one, the guards decide that they must do something radical to regain control. Game rules forbid the use of violence by both parties... the ideal experiment rules!.

Berus has read that the only way to regain control in a similar situation is by humiliation of the prisoners, and this they do with vengeance. Brus skilfully becomes top dog and is seldom questioned by his fellow guards. Those that do get convinced of his lunacy.

The film is with out doubt brutal, though not gratuitously so. Remember it portrays a power hungry dominant system and is being conducted to study human failings, interaction and pack instinct. Its riveting stuff and despite being two hours long, it goes all too quickly.

This movie will really appeal to the Lube gang and those who love the uniform, cuffs and domination side of things.
Without giving away the plot, suffice to say, days two and three get progressively worse. Berus goes off the rails totally, rules are ignored and blood is spilt.There is a thrilling finish to it all which involves the bra-less Dora who comes to rescue Tarek and the good Herr Docktor screaming that the experiment has ended... 

Unfortunately Schutte lay dead in the cells and a guard is totalled by Bosch who dents a fire extinguisher on his fellow guards head. The finale is played in the basement kitchens of the medical school with everyone sitting around nursing wounds, trauma and disbelief. Sounds like the front of the central bank after the George closes!
Don't miss it.

Reviewed by Tomer Avshalom