Country:
USA
Recognizable Faces:
Donald Rumsfeld
Lynndie England
Charles Graner
Directed By:
Errol Morris
Human existence is wrapped in a set of rules we call laws. If you disobey these rules, you go to prison and wither away around psychotic men. But war is a different animal. When two nations collide, the stronger and the smarter will prevail. There is no "laws" per se and despite the Geneva convention, there are a lot of grey zones where horrible things can happen. Abu Grahib prison was one of those horrible things. The most recent memento that war is not a movie where good vs evil collide. Documentary director extraordinaire Errol Morris took the hard road with his subject once again and decided to interview the most people he could, that were involved in the Abu Grahib incidents. Janis Karpinski, Javal Davis, Tim Dugan, Megan Ambuhl, Sabrina Harman and the fall girl herself, Lynndie England.
In 2001, demented German filmmaker Oliver Hirschbiegel made a movie called Das Experiment, which was based on true events. That movie has nothing on what was going on in Abu Grahib. Convict were undressed for a yes or for a no, had their genitals deliberately laughed at by female soldiers, were kept in a state of fear and sleeplessness, were beaten, humiliated. All kind of atrocities. And the most disgusting part is that the criminal investigation that sent Lynndie England and Charles Graner in prison amongst other, was to distinguish which of those degrading photos represented criminal acts and which photos would be "Standard Operating Procedure". Because interrogating people naked and handcuffed in terrible positions is considered O.K as long as it's only "discomfort" and it's not sexual. Because in military intelligence textbooks, being naked with a pair of women underwear on your head doesn't have any sexual connotation.
If soldier Sabrina Harman wouldn't have taken photo evidence of this, this would have been kept secret, no doubt. According to the testimonies of soldiers Errol Morris collected, the corpse of Manadel al-Jamadi has been deliberately moved around so that the Red Cross representatives wouldn't see it. Sergeant Javal Davis has been asked to put him on a gurney and plant an IV in his arm to make him look like a nursery patient. Fortunately, we have those photos to remind ourselves who Manadel was and what he died for. Talking about the pictures, if they are disturbing as all hell it's because the soldiers in them are looking like they have such a good time. Pointing at Iraqi prisoners genitals, laughing, giving thumbs up while one of them is punching a prisoner out. They looked like soulless savages, but when they are interviewed by Morris, they look like normal people. Like you and me. Lynndie England sure looked bitter as hell (and I would be bitter about it if I was her), but she doesn't look like the kind of woman who would diminish another human being. That's war right there. Allegiances and power are having the upper hand on humanity.
Errol Morris cracked another one out of the park with Standard Operating Procedure. Shooting a good documentary is a hard thing to do. You have to find a good subject, you have to convince every people involved to give their side of the argument and most important, you have to erase yourself from the picture. Morris has a knack at making people feel comfortable enough, so that they want to speak the truth. Of course, nobody feels like it was their fault, that they were told to do this and I believe them. The Bush administration used war as a business engine for their administrators and suddenly, soldiers were starting to behave like employees. Didn't mean they didn't enjoy it. The best part of Standard Operating Procedure to me was Javal Davis, explaining how he was told to keep the prisoners awake with music. He blasted "Hip-Hop Hooray" by Naughty By Nature and all he got for a reaction was that the prisoners started singing along: "Heeeey Hooo, Heeey Hooo". Even in the darkest places, there is a glimmer of humanity. Disturbing and enlightening movie.
SCORE: 92%