In chronicling the life and work of a psychologist who courted controversy, challenged accepted notions about behaviour and changed the course of his field, to understand the man is to understand his methods. Fittingly, Experimenter uses the latter to explore the former. In a film about a figure that investigated obedience — particularly when conforming to malevolent instructions, as demonstrated by Nazi soldiers during the Second World War — it refuses to simply comply with the standard biopic formula.
Instead, the adaptive, inventive survey of Stanley Milgram’s (Peter Sarsgaard, Black Mass) experiments and impact is lead by his work, plunging straight into his tests from the outset. That may seem an interesting choice; however it ensures the feature remains anchored by the social scientist’s theories about human nature. Other touches — Milgram intermittently interrupting the scenes on screen, striding down a grey hallway, breaking the fourth wall and addressing the audience with contextualising data and reflective background information; the actors being cast against projected images rather than physical sets, theatre-style, for example — are designed to achieve the same outcome.
The first of his experiments took place at Yale University in 1961, with two men assigned the roles of “teacher” and “learner”. One read word pairings aloud, with the other repeating them, risking receiving an electric shock should he answer incorrectly. The “teacher” is told to keep administering the current in increasing doses, regardless of the escalating pleas he might hear from the “learner”. Though the scenario is framed as an investigation into methods of learning, Milgram’s attention actually resided with the person pushing the buttons, to see when the threshold for inflicting pain upon another, under orders from a superior, would be exceeded.
A clinical and stirring first run through the situation gives way to an amalgam of others repeating the same conditions and largely reiterating identical results. The years pass, and more follow, sometimes delving further into conformity, sometimes broaching topics such as inherent prejudice, or discovering the now oft-quoted six degrees of separation. And while writer/director Michael Almereyda (Cymbeline) has proven an imaginative filmmaker previously, as his last effort and fellow unorthodox, Ethan Hawke-starring Shakespearean adaptation Hamlet demonstrated, there’s significance behind his chosen strategy. Jumping from test to test, he paints Milgram as equally spirited and serious, and realises that this clash manifested best in his work — and that it is his studies and their findings that engage, intrigue and provoke further lines of inquiry.
Indeed, so concerted is Almereyda’s focus that other aspects of Milgram’s life are almost treated like footnotes. His rise through the ranks at various tertiary institutions, his marriage to Sasha (Winona Ryder, TV’s Show Me a Hero) and even the fallout from his experiments all feature but remain cursory inclusions, as do the remainder of the cast — such as John Leguizamo (American Ultra), Taryn Manning (Orange is the New Black) and Anton Yelchin (5 to 7) in brief yet pivotal roles. Of course, intensive insights gleaned through their source demand such a concentrated approach, with Experimenter becoming as distinctive as its subject, as revealing as his work, and told in the only manner that could do both justice. It also becomes a showcase for Sarsgaard, who enthrals with quiet understanding whether he’s watching others cope with Milgram’s tests or performing for the viewer.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Experimenter
Director: Michael Almereyda
USA, 2015, 98 mins
Jewish International Film Festival
www.jiff.com.au
Sydney: 28 October – 18 November
Melbourne: 4 – 29 November
Perth: 31 October, 1 and 8 November
Brisbane: 21 – 22 and 29 November
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