Das Experiment (2002)
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
That's what this film is truly all about.
There was a famous experiment at
Stanford University, either in the late 60's or the
70's, that psychologist to this day still site as
an interesting example of man's inherent cruelty.
I don't know that much about it (after this film I
want to read much more about it) but basically volunteers
were separated into two groups, some would be prisoners
and some would be captors in an isolated, enclosed
area. Within the matter of a few days, the captors
had become cruel, sadistic and violent and the experiment
had to be stopped. "Das Experiment" takes its cue
from this well-known psychological study but how deeply
it relies on what happens at Stanford I do not know.
I only know it is a fascinating and riveting movie.
(By the way, an opening title card claims that the
film is not based on actual people or events, which
is somewhat misleading).
The setting is modern day Germany
and the study is advertised in the newspaper. Volunteers
who are selected will be paid a large sum of money
after 14 days. Into this mix comes a taxi driver who
used to be a reporter of some type. There is definite
trouble in his past but he sells the story to an editor
anyway. He also meets a young woman and they engage
in a sexual relationship right before the experiment
begins.
The reporter is made a prisoner
in the study. (He now has motivation to stir the shit).
One of the things I didn't like about the film is
how long it took to get the story underway. This isn't
like "Jurassic Park 3" where - boom - you're on the
island and dinosaurs start chomping away. The scripters
here, and there are five of them including director
Oliver Hirschbiegel, take forever to get to the meat
of the story. And the whole subplot with the new-found
love interest eventually has no real relevance to
the plot. Yes, this character shows up in the middle
and the end of the film, but I don't really know why
she is there.
But once the film does get going
and the plot starts to thicken, as they say, the film
becomes fascinating. We have a general idea of how
things are going to go from knowing just the basics
about the Stanford Experiment but this film really
riffs off of that idea, it has nothing to do with
its specifics. There are little monkey wrenches and
other plot devices put in here and there to keep us
guessing as what is going to happen next. All the
while we see unfolding this disturbing and underlying
tension that is evolving. Partially sexual, but more
about mans' inherent brutal nature, mans' underlying
sadism. This is a film about nothing less than man's
cruelty to man. And watching it evolve, watching the
characters we have come to like here, turn from either
man to brutal tormentor or man to victim is nothing
short of gruesome and repulsive. The character arcs
here of the principles are extraordinary. And, like
seeing the proverbial car accident, you can not look
away.
Towards the end of the film, it
must be said, the plot gets a little elongated and
a few turns are hard to accept. But we must remember
that not only is this an intelligent and well- written
script, but it is also not a Hollywood film. The leaps
here require us to often to think for ourselves. When
the main character prison guard turns to a truly brutal,
manic, it is not because the screenwriter simply devised
it as so. This is a true act where reality snaps and
man's underlying beast comes through. It is important
to remember, too, that this is a German film, the
home of Nazism, as the final reel of the film becomes
nothing less than a Nazi Prison Camp Escape Movie.
This final reel has a few more problems
than just some leaps of faith that the viewer must
make. It also has really bad fast-paced music underscoring
the "action" scenes. The film has been relatively
silent and meditative up to this point. When real
action breaks out, the music does too, but it doesn't
work exactly. This is jarring, generally, because
up until this point, the music usage has been almost
strictly Fassbinderian, that of incidental music used
in the actual plot as the only music heard. For example,
one of the guards sings a lot of Elvis, and the prisoners
sing songs in unison as well. Also, a Beach Boys'
record is played over the sound system in a way that
is very reminiscent of the way Fassbinder used songs
in film. (By the way, the sound work in this film
in general is awesome)
If you are interesting in the psychology
of the human mind, "Das Experiment" is a fascinating
and consuming film. Perhaps the script could have
been tightened up a bit and perhaps the ending could
have been better explained but no matter, it's still
a remarkable film. Watching it, becoming engrossed
in its final 30 minutes, I often thought it was one
of the best films I have seen all year.
Note:
In German with subtitles.
People you can expect to see in
the American remake, if they cast actors who look
like the German thespians: Billy Zane, Gillian Anderson,
Kurtwood Smith and Austinite Bob Ray.
