German director Hirschbiegel‘s debut feature ‘Das Experiment‘ does not quite shine as an accomplished cinematic piece (it is plenty rough around the edges,) but what it does is that it brings ample material to the table for engaging in debates surrounding the psychological ramifications of incarceration, confinement and captivity. The distribution and struggle for power is thematically anything but novel, but in choosing to adapt Mario Giordano’s novel titled ‘Black Box‘, Hirschbiegel does manage to orchestrate (however imperfectly) a taut and bleak look at the ‘discipliners’ and the punished, housed in modern prison systems. Of interest to me also is the relationship between uniforms and the legitimization of the structures of power, and as thousands of human rights activists around the world will testify, a uniform (especially policing and such) inevitably leads to the accumulation of privileges and the possible abuse of those privileges. The protagonist Tarek, his associates and his opponents, will lead you on through their cells and outwards, and you will encounter partial nudity and some graphic violence along the way, so, mature audiences only. Watch.

Note: For subtitles, click on the CC option on the video ‘play’ bar, and choose ‘English.’