The Experiment - DVD

Film: With "Das Experiment" Oliver Hirschbiegel has created one of the few German films that could also celebrate great success abroad. No wonder, then, that there is now a US version of the material. Paul Scheuring, creator of the prison series "Prison Break", sticks much closer to the book "Black Box" by Mario Giordano in his version, but the parallels to Hirschbiegel's film are unmistakable. And while Scheuring even surpasses the successful German film in a few moments, it falls well short of its class in other places.

It was actually only supposed to be a psychological experiment: a group of test subjects are subjected to an artificial prison situation, divided into guards and prisoners. In this extreme situation, especially the development of their aggressive behavior is to be examined. Among the prisoners is the idealist Travis (Adrien Brody), who participates in the experiment only for lack of money. While he initially gets along well with the reserved Barris (Forest Whitaker), who is assigned as a guard, the maladjusted Travis and the staid Barris clash again and again soon after the experiment begins. And quickly what started as a harmless study and simple role-playing game turns into a psycho trip into the deepest abysses of the participants, who soon don't shy away from violence either...

"The Experiment" can score with its oppressive atmosphere and some very haunting moments. The feeling of claustrophobia grows stronger with every second and finally culminates in a scene that was also seen in the German version in a similar form, but is no less powerful here. The viewer feels very well how the tension between the participants slowly but surely heats up and finally tips into a very dangerous direction. Paul Scheuring has staged all of this very effectively and stylistically engaging.

What the film ultimately clearly suffers from, however, is the drawing of the characters. Aside from the two main characters, who leave an intense impression thanks to great performances by Oscar winners Adrien Brody and Forest Whitaker, most of their co-stars remain rather pale. Instead of drawing strong characters, the script confines itself to cliché-laden decals that barely manage to elicit any emotion from the viewer. This is a pity in so far as Scheuring was able to get great actors like Clifton Collins Jr, Cam Cigandet or Fisher Stevens for the supporting roles as well, who all do their job very well despite the rather thin character drawing.

However, it should also be mentioned here that the US version is superior to the German version in one respect. True, it is also implied here that Travis can survive the ordeal by thinking of his girlfriend. But her role is then also limited to that. The completely pointless inclusion of the female supporting character in Hirschbiegel's version (pointless because even her appearance at the end doesn't really help, as she is overpowered beforehand) is dispensed with here, as is the greater inclusion of the doctors leading this study. This is interesting in that the viewer, like the subjects, doesn't know who is being watched by whom and when, which creates a certain sense of helplessness.

Although "The Experiment" is unfortunately not much more than a crude prison thriller and squanders much of its psychological potential, the film is well worth watching for the two strong leads alone. Qualitatively not really on a par with Hirschbiegel's film, but still decent thriller fare!

Picture + Sound: Since to the test was not the final product, no final rating on the technical implementation of the film can be given here.

Extras: Also the bonus material is missing on the press DVD, so in this point also a rating must be omitted. Announced are interviews (approx. 20 min.), an 8-minute look behind the scenes, a featurette (approx. 7 min.) and actor info.

Conclusion: "The Experiment" is a decent thriller that shouldn't necessarily be compared to its predecessor from Germany. On its own, the film has some very intense moments and two great leads. Even if the supporting characters remain rather pale and the finale flattens out a lot, the film can definitely be recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp