Showing posts with label 2001. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2001. Show all posts
Sunday, July 10, 2011
The Tunnel (Der Tunnel) - 2001
In this acclaimed drama inspired by true events, Olympic swimmer Harry Melchior (Heino Ferch) defects from East Germany in the 1960s and hatches a daring plot to help his sister (Alexandra Maria Lara) and others flee East Berlin through a 145-yard underground tunnel. With the help of an engineer (Sebastian Koch), Melchior leads the risky plan, under constant threat of being discovered by the authorities.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Das Experiment - 2001
Das Experiment (English: The Experiment) is a 2001 German film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, about a social experiment, based on Mario Giordano's novel Black Box, which resembles Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment of 1971. When I saw this film in a movie theater I recall the palms of my hands sweating due to the suspenseful nature of it. The film was inspired by the events of the Stanford prison experiment in the US. It is based on the novel Black Box by Mario Giordano.
In a newspaper advertisement, taxi driver Tarek Fahd discovers an invitation to participate in an experiment. 4000 German marks are offered to the participants of the experiment, in which a prison situation is simulated. The experiment is led by Professor Klaus Thon and his assistant, Dr. Jutta Grimm.
Tarek participates as a journalist while wearing a pair of glasses with a built-in mini-camera. Tarek has a car accident shortly before the experiment, after which he meets a woman called Dora. She spends the night with him and Tarek keeps thinking of her, shown in flashbacks. The 20 volunteers are pronounced guards and prisoners and are being observed by a team of scientists. The prisoners lose their civil rights and have to obey certain rules, such as completely eating their meals. The guards are given nightsticks but are told not to use violence in any case. Each prisoner’s name is taken away and replaced by a number. Tarek (prisoner number. 77) initially refuses to acknowledge the guards' superiority, by drinking the milk of his co-prisoners because of his lactose intolerance or by throwing his blanket out of his cell to provoke the guards. He befriends his cellmates, Steinhoff and Schütte. Psychological changes develop and the situation becomes a serious matter. The circumstances seem to be escalating after a few days. It becomes clear that certain limits are not just being reached but even surpassed.
In a newspaper advertisement, taxi driver Tarek Fahd discovers an invitation to participate in an experiment. 4000 German marks are offered to the participants of the experiment, in which a prison situation is simulated. The experiment is led by Professor Klaus Thon and his assistant, Dr. Jutta Grimm.
Tarek participates as a journalist while wearing a pair of glasses with a built-in mini-camera. Tarek has a car accident shortly before the experiment, after which he meets a woman called Dora. She spends the night with him and Tarek keeps thinking of her, shown in flashbacks. The 20 volunteers are pronounced guards and prisoners and are being observed by a team of scientists. The prisoners lose their civil rights and have to obey certain rules, such as completely eating their meals. The guards are given nightsticks but are told not to use violence in any case. Each prisoner’s name is taken away and replaced by a number. Tarek (prisoner number. 77) initially refuses to acknowledge the guards' superiority, by drinking the milk of his co-prisoners because of his lactose intolerance or by throwing his blanket out of his cell to provoke the guards. He befriends his cellmates, Steinhoff and Schütte. Psychological changes develop and the situation becomes a serious matter. The circumstances seem to be escalating after a few days. It becomes clear that certain limits are not just being reached but even surpassed.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Brotherhood of the Wolf - 2001
Brotherhood of the Wolf is a 2001 French film directed by Christophe Gans, starring Samuel Le Bihan and Mark Dacascos, and written by Gans and Stéphane Cabel. Its original French title is Le Pacte des loups, which literally means "the pact of the wolves."
The film is loosely based on the book L'Innocence des loups ("The Innocence of the Wolves"), by the French zoologist Michel Louis, a study about a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century and the famous legend around the Beast of Gévaudan. Parts of the film were shot at Château de Roquetaillade. Being a historical drama film, it has anachronistic martial arts fight sequences; it also contains elements of erotica, mystery, horror, politics, romance, and fantasy.
This $29 million-budgeted film was an international box office success, grossing over $70 million in worldwide theatrical release. In the United States of America, the film also enjoyed commercial success; Universal Pictures paid $2 million to acquire the film's United States distribution rights and this film went on grossing $11,260,096 in limited theatrical release in the United States, making it the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades (this film also did brisk video and DVD sales in the United States).
The film is loosely based on the book L'Innocence des loups ("The Innocence of the Wolves"), by the French zoologist Michel Louis, a study about a real-life series of killings that took place in France in the 18th century and the famous legend around the Beast of Gévaudan. Parts of the film were shot at Château de Roquetaillade. Being a historical drama film, it has anachronistic martial arts fight sequences; it also contains elements of erotica, mystery, horror, politics, romance, and fantasy.
This $29 million-budgeted film was an international box office success, grossing over $70 million in worldwide theatrical release. In the United States of America, the film also enjoyed commercial success; Universal Pictures paid $2 million to acquire the film's United States distribution rights and this film went on grossing $11,260,096 in limited theatrical release in the United States, making it the second-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades (this film also did brisk video and DVD sales in the United States).
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