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May 7, 2008
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Standard Operating Procedure
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by Peter Bowen
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At first glance, Errol Morris‘s new documentary, Standard Operating Procedure (due out at the end of May from Sony Pictures Classics), would seem to be a worthy addition to the long march of films recounting our failed foreign policy in Iraq. In fact, its subject matter, the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, has also been explored in-depth in two previous films: Rory Kennedy‘s Ghosts of Abu Ghraib and Alex Gibney‘s Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side. But just a few minutes into the film, it becomes clear that Standard Operating Procedure has something different on its mind than simply an exposé of government foreign policy.
Carefully woven together as a three-way conversation between the infamous Abu Ghraib photographs, Morris‘s own meticulous reenactments and interviews with many of the guards who participated in and were ultimately charged with the abuses at the prison, Standard Operating Procedure patiently interrogates the people, events and circumstances that made up this scandal. But unlike the inexperienced army guards who were instructed to get answers at any cost, Standard Operating Procedure is more interested in finding the right questions. What do these photographs reveal? What do they cover up? How are we as viewers implicated as well?
Click www.filmmakermagazine.com for the whole story.
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