Boing Brody Boing

June 3, 2011 by Editor
Filed under Film Reviews

The Experiment (2010)

Directed By: Paul Scheuring

Review Written By: Colleen Wanglund
Mondo Film & Video Guide Feature Contributor
IMDb.com Link

THE EXPERIMENT (2010) directed by Paul Scheuring is a remake of the German film DAS EXPERIMENT (2001) directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel. Both are based on the book Black Box written by Mario Giordano which itself is based on a 1971 experiment overseen by Psychology professor Philip Zambardo of Stanford University.

Starring Adrien Brody as Travis and Forest Whitaker as Barris, the film is about twenty-six men who are chosen to participate in an experiment in which some will be prison guards and others prisoners. The experiment is supposed to last 14 days and each participant will be paid. The rules state that the prisoners cannot touch the guards, they must finish every meal and no violence is to be committed, otherwise the experiment will end and no one will get paid. Within only a few days things begin to change dramatically when the participants’ personalities begin to reflect their positions as either prisoner or guard.

Things get real ugly when Travis demands that Barris do something to help one of the “prisoners’ who needs insulin and is getting sicker by the day. Travis begins to rebel against the repressive Barris and a couple of his cronies. As a result a fight breaks out and Travis is put into solitary confinement while the other “prisoners” are locked in their cages. Violence has been committed but the experiment has not been stopped so Barris sees this as a reinforcement of his brutal regime. As expected the “prisoners’ revolt and riot and ultimately the experiment is ended and the men are picked up and brought back to civilization after being fully compensated for their participation.

The fact that THE EXPERIMENT is based on an actual experiment that ended prematurely and is still viewed with much controversy makes it worth the watch. The acting is very good and the tension between the two groups holds up throughout. Adrien Brody’s character is a hippie-type who gets a little preachy but it didn’t turn me off to the film. It definitely brings across the fact that a situation can have a profound affect on an individual, regardless of the person’s personality traits. Unfortunately THE EXPERIMENT was released straight to DVD with no theatrical release. I think it should have been released to theaters because it is a very well-done film.