Errol Morris examines the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.
Genre(s): Documentary, Crime, War
Runtime: 116 minutes
Rating: 7.5/10 (1,254 votes)
Release Date: 12 February 2008
Country: USA
Languages: English
Company: Participant Productions
Sound: Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated R for disturbing images and content involving torture and graphic nudity, and for language.
Director(s): Errol Morris
Producer(s):
Julie Ahlberg – producer
Amanda Branson Gill – co-producer
Robert Fernandez – executive producer
Errol Morris – producer
Ann Petrone – co-producer
Diane Weyermann – executive producer
Cast:
Christopher Bradley – Military Police (as Chris Bradley)
Sarah Denning – Military Police
Robin Dill – OGA
Joshua Feinman – Military Police (as Josh Feinman)
Jeff L. Green – Military Police (as Jeff Green)
Roy Halo – Detainee
Cyrus King – Military Intelligence
Alim Kouliev – OGA / Interrogator
Daniel Novy – Military Police
Zhubin Rahbar – Detainee
Music: Danny Elfman
Tagline: I wouldn't recommend a vacation to Iraq anytime soon
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Standard Operating Procedure is a very disturbing documentary. Themusic and the images allow us to understand the prison and to see whatwent on in the prison. The clear context of the crimes against humanitythat is so off putting and mainly off camera is contrasted withinviting film work that draws us into this story. There are veryinteresting images and techniques that are used that must be seen againfor the simplicity and elegance of them. It is therefore a bitunsettling. Questions are asked and answered, but in doing so otherquestions arise. We find ourselves again asking for more informationand questioning the truthfulness of everyone interviewed. Where are thecommanders that ordered this to happen? Where are the political leadersthat legitimated these behaviors? They are in the background. They seemto have run away to hide from the story and from history. Withoutpictures would we have been unable to see the abuses reported? Are weyet, with pictures, unable to see the real abuses? The aberrant seemsto be the Standard Operating Procedure. We find ourselves questioningour own beliefs and wrestling with our own culpability.
The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the torturedwho turn into torturers."
Carl Yung Any film that reveals the manipulation of neocons such asDonald Rumsfeld has my full attention and sympathy. Errol Morris'sStandard Operating Procedure, however, is not his Fog of War. In thelatter, the images and testimonies make their case without much help.In the former, re-enactments, arty images, and sublimating musicmitigate the honesty of soldiers testifying in front of the cameraabout their stupidity and a system that made them torture at theinfamous Abu Ghraib.
The images of Lynndie England with her thumb up over a detainee'sgenitals are not new to anyone alert to the Iraq War. The additionalimages Morris adds do little to further help us understand themotivations of Americans who abused prisoners 4 years ago. The best heand they can offer is the old chestnut that they we ordered to do so.But as in any documentary that allows the camera to linger on itssubject for an extended period, eventually the subject will make small,but not insignificant, admissions.
In the case of those interviewed and some at staff sergeant and lowernow serving time, it seems to come down to Bill Clinton's reason forengaging Monica Lewinsky: because they could. However, the mostconsistent mea culpas are always that the devil (officers) made them doit. Yet Morris consistently re-enacts, not a favorite companion for meto the documentary, adds Danny Elfman's mysterious X-Files-like music,and most egregiously intersperses slow motion, formalist shots out ofplace in a documentary, albeit a docudrama in minimum attire.
The artful documentary gold standard for me is Alain Resnais' Night andFog (1960), where the music and narration about the Holocaust areunderstated, almost flat, to allow the story its own message. Whenimages change from historical black and white to modern color, theirony of blissful forgetfulness is more powerful than any re-enactmentor manipulative music.
Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side (2008) may do a better job showingthe purpose of Cheney and Rumsfeld to keep soldiers unprepared fortheir responsibilities, but Morris has succeeded in providing furtheroriginal images that tell the truth we should never forget.
What a crashing bore of a movie on a topic that deserved a much bettertreatment. Morris displays his customary heavy handedness in drivinghome the trivial and obvious points with excess, unneeded imagery. Ifyou want to see a compelling story on this issue, told with much moreflare and skill, see Taxi to the Dark Side. Don't waste your time onthis, unless you need a good snooze. On display are Morris's usualtechniques, employed to similar head-scratching ends as in Fog of War.At least there, we had an interesting character at the heart of thestory and Morris lucked out with some poignant on-screen moments fromMcNamara. Here, he demonstrates that he has no intellectual or criticalfilter with which to sift facts. So, when one interviewee mentions thethree cameras used to take the pictures at Abu G, we get a specialeffects image of each camera model floating in space as if this weresome revelatory moment. When it is revealed that during an amnestyperiod after the Abu G scandal was revealed many photos and otherdocuments were handed in a shredded, we get, not just a slow mo ofshredded paper falling through the air, we get also get an entire cellblock filled with bits of paper. In other words, every moment ispunctuated with Morris's subtext: you're just too dumb to get what youjust heard and I'm so enthralled with my movie making skills that I'mgoing to beat you over the head with this. This is not documentaryfilm-making. This is rampant narcissism.
I recommend this film for viewing. The film maker was able to obtaindirect interviews with some of the soldiers involved in this chapter ofAmerican history. I don't think it's unfair to say that it is animportant record concerning the events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraqduring the American occupation. As such, it should be viewed by anyoneinterested in this subject.
I credit the film maker with allowing the soldiers involved to presentsome part of their story and also allowing one soldier to point outthat only soldiers at lower levels would suffer prosecution.
The film would be better if it addressed the White House's views ontorture and the legal documents giving rise to the same. Also, the filmshould have presented more opinions from the legal community regardingaccepted standards of care for prisoners, prisoners of war, enemycombatants and the like.
Nonetheless, I found the film informative. I would not classify mostdocumentaries as objective, and therefore, I don't mind the slantedview on the screen, but as far as film goes, the film maker did try togive the soldiers some opportunity to tell their story — and theirside of the story (that superiors were responsible for the policy) hassome merit.
I'm saddened that these events were committed by Americans. As one ofthe soldiers pointed out – others actions have occurred that are moretroubling – but nobody took pictures.
We as citizens of the US rely on our elected representatives to directthe foreign affairs of our country. Our Congress has oversightauthority concerning these matters. Don't give up on the Americansystem.
I did chuckle at the score during the human pyramid scene – trulystuporous.