I posted a comment years ago in reference to the differences between the actual Stanford Prison Experiment and the film inspired by it. (Check out Dr. Zimbardo's website for details on what actually occurred during the experiment.) Now, I have finally seen the film myself. (My wife is German and she saw it in Berlin when it came out. We had several conversations by phone at the time, which prompted my original comments.) Once you consider that this film is merely inspired by, and not a depiction of the original experiment, there are some real storyline problems with the film nonetheless. First, the unrealistic time line -- almost instantly, both guards and prisoners assume their roles with vigor and the psychological effects seem instantaneous. Second, the experimenters are under-developed as characters or participants in the drama, which will later just confuse the viewers. Third, the subplot of the girlfriend doesn't work, and is totally unnecessary to the storyline (Billy Wilder cautioned filmmakers that if it doesn't advance the plot, throw it out.) Fourth, the fellow prisoners would most likely have punished Number 77 themselves for causing trouble that resulted in their own punishment at the hands of the guards -- we don't even have some verbal abuse thrown at him. Fifth, it is unrealistic to think that the experimenters would have given the guards batons after telling them "No violence." This would be sheer stupidity and criminal negligence, as we see later on. Sixth, the experimenters do not take measures (given point #5) to ensure that they can prevent or stop violence from occurring. Seventh, outside of the two characters Tarek and Berus, no one behaves in an independent manner, but slavishly follows these two dominant personalities -- possible, but unlikely, and there is no adequate explanation for this given. Eighth, for all the careful screening of the participants, are we to believe that the experimenters had no idea that Berus was psychotic, or that if he was as authoritarian as they admit in more than one scene, that he could not possibly be pathologically sick? Ninth, the experimenters are not held responsible in the final reel. What could have been an interesting film is undermined by the filmmakers' desire to manipulate audience emotions. We are supposed to feel repulsion and hatred for Berus and his weak companions, yet the thinking viewer will be more led to blame the experimenters themselves, which I don't believe is what the director intended.
Review of The Experiment
