Das Experiment Free
- Genres: Drama, Thriller
- Rating IMDb: 77
- Year: 2001
- Duration: 01:00
Summaries
For two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence.
The movie is based on the infamous "Stanford Prison Experiment" conducted in 1971. A makeshift prison is set up in a research lab, complete with cells, bars and surveillance cameras. For two weeks 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards. The 'prisoners' are locked up and have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the 'guards' are told simply to retain order without using physical violence. Everybody is free to quit at any time, thereby forfeiting payment. In the beginning the mood between both groups is insecure and rather emphatic. But soon quarrels arise and the wardens employ ever more drastic sanctions to confirm their authority.
20 male participants take part in a social experiment. For two weeks they will be housed in a prison, with a portion of them being guards and the remainder prisoners. Initially things go well, but after a while matters relations start to deteriorate.
In need of extra cash, the part-time taxi driver, Tarek Fahd, volunteers to take part in a controversial social experiment which aims at faithfully reconstructing the psychology of prison life. In the following two weeks, within the walls of a controlled makeshift prison, twelve randomly chosen men are assigned to become prisoners--losing their clothing, their identities, and their civil rights--while eight other volunteers become uniformed guards equipped with billy clubs, to maintain peace and order. However, what started as an ambitious investigation into human behaviour, rapidly escalates into a dangerously volatile situation, as the first signs of conscious violence appear only two days into the experiment. Now, Tarek, or Prisoner #77, and the rest of the inmates have become real convicts. Are they strong enough to overcome their limits?
