Standard Operating Procedure
by Errol Morris
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christopher Bradley, Javal Davis, Megan Ambuhl Graner, Robin Dill, Sarah DenningDirector: Errol Morris
Brand: MORRIS,ERROL
Cinematographer: Robert Chappell
Producer: Errol Morris
Producer: Amanda Branson Gill
Producer: Ann Petrone
Producer: Diane Weyermann
Producer: Julie Ahlberg
Producer: Robert Fernandez
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); Chinese (Subtitled); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Portuguese (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 2.40:1
Running Time: 116 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-10-14
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Standard Operating Procedure
Movie Review: Haunting
Summary: 5 Stars
With all due respect to the reviewer who was so bitterly disappointed with the limited scope of this movie -- it doesn't identify any of the higher-ups who clearly enabled the abuses at Abu Ghraib -- this troubling documentary still reminds us of the ways a blighted tree bears rotten fruit.
I also wonder if that reviewer saw the DVD of S.O.P. Director Errol Morris' commentary here addresses many of the issues the reviewer raises, and indeed asks questions that any thoughtful American needs to consider.
These include: why were the photographs of abuses taken? According to letters home written by one of Rumsfeld's infamous "bad apples" at the time of the abuses, this soldier took the photos to document what was happening. To hide her intent, she would smile and give thumbs-up in the shots in which she appeared. Yet she also took the post-mortem photos of the prisoner killed by intelligence officers during interrogation -- none of whom have yet been held accountable for this murder of a prisoner not even proven guilty.
Another question Morris raises: did any of the harsh interrogation techniques yield valuable information? Apparently not -- Saddam himself was captured by soldiers on foot, unaided by prisoner confessions. The director also points out something that he claims is well known among the intelligence community: that the most effective Nazi interrogator -- the one who got useful information -- was the one who treated his interrogation subjects well. So much for Cheney's claim that harsh interrogation "works".
And finally: did the photographs help or hinder the investigation of abuses? On the one hand, they yielded irrefutable proof that prisoner mistreatment had occurred, defying the Geneva conventions and "basic human decency". At the same time, the only people who have yet been brought to justice were the whistle-blowers themselves -- the "bad apples" shown in the photos. This film makes it clear that the policies of prisoner mistreatment and degradation were already in place when the apples first came to the prison. In other words, the photos gave the higher-ups a visual scapegoat: see, those bad apples did this; they should be punished.
Meanwhile, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and all the "military intelligence" personnel go on to open self-laudatory libraries and make money giving speeches and writing memoirs.
Let us hope that the Obama Administration will root out the higher-ups who degraded the prisoners and disgraced America in the process. Until justice is done, every American is complicit in these shameful acts.
Yes, I cried tears of shame as I listened to Morris' sad commentary. I would like to think my response is not unique...
Summary of Standard Operating Procedure
Genre: Documentary
Rating: R
Release Date: 14-OCT-2008
Media Type: DVD
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