Standard Operating Procedure (2008)

Standard Operating Procedure is a 2008 American documentary film written and directed by Errol Morris that explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S. military police at the Abu Ghraib prison in late 2003, the content of which revealed the torture and abuse of its prisoners by U.S. soldiers and subsequently resulted in a public scandal.

Commenting on the relationship of his film to the notorious photographs, Morris has said his intent was "…not to say that these 'bad apples' were blameless… but… to say that they were scapegoats. It was easy to blame them because, after all, they were in the photographs… Photographs don’t tell us who the real culprits might be… They can also serve as a coverup, they can misdirect us… Photographs reveal and conceal, serve as [both] exposé and coverup".

Synopsis

An examination of the intended consequences of the Iraqi war with a focus on events at Abu Ghraib prison which began to appear in global media in 2004. The prison quickly became notorious for the photos of the abuse of terror suspects, their children, and innocent civilians by military men and women.

People featured in the film

Interviewed

Janis Karpinski, Brigadier General, 800th MP Brigade

Tim Dugan, Civilian interrogator, CACI Corps

Sabrina Harman, Sergeant, Military Police

Lynndie England, Private First Class, MP

Javal Davis, Sergeant, MP

Megan Ambuhl Graner, Specialist, MP

Jeremy Sivits, Specialist, MP

Brent Pack, Army Special Agent, CID

Ken Davis, Sergeant, MP

Tony Diaz, Sergeant, MP

Jeffrey Frost, Specialist, MP

Roman Krol, Specialist, Military Intelligence

In photographs

Charles Graner

Ivan Frederick

Manadel al-Jamadi (Died during CIA interrogation)

Satar Jabar

Re-enactors

Christopher Bradley

Sarah Denning

Joshua Feinman

Alim Kouliev

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 79% of 107 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "Well researched and finely crafted, Standard Operating Procedure is another gem from master documentarian Errol Morris." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Scott Tobias of The A.V. Club named it the 4th best film of 2008, J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader named it the 7th best film of 2008, and Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times named it the 8th best film of 2008 (in a two-way tie).

During the Berlinale 2008 it received the "Jury Grand Prix – Silver Bear".

Controversy

Morris's practice of compensating his interview subjects has caused controversy, although it is not an unusual practice in documentary filmmaking, according to the producer Diane Weyermann, who also worked on An Inconvenient Truth. In a private interview during the Tribeca Film Festival, Morris said: "If I had not paid them, they would not be interviewed."

Soundtrack

Danny Elfman composed the film score for Standard Operating Procedure. The soundtrack is much different from Elfman's other scores as it includes electronics and distortion.

Track listing

"S.O.P. Theme #1: Standard Operating Procedure" – 5:56

"The Infamous Pyramid" – 3:48

"Photos" – 2:56

"The Shooter" – 3:26

"Dogs" – 3:42

"The Wolf" – 1:11

"Saddam’s Egg" – 3:30

"Main Titles: Vacation in Iraq" – 2:07

"S.O.P. Theme #2: Amnesty" – 1:33

"What Is Going on Here?" – 2:32

"Gilligan" – 3:02

"Story of the Ants" – 3:36

"The Table Breaker" – 1:00

"S.O.P. Theme #3: Feelings & Facts" – 5:26

"Unusual, Weird & Wrong" – 2:32

"A Bad Feeling" – 2:22

"Birdies" – 1:38

"S.O.P. End Credits" – 1:26

"Oli’s Lullaby" – 2:00

See also

2008 in film

372nd Military Police Company, the MP unit assigned to Abu Ghraib

Taxi to the Dark Side

Torturing Democracy

References

External links

Standard Operating Procedure

Standard Operating Procedure at IMDb

Standard Operating Procedure at Rotten Tomatoes

Standard Operating Procedure at Metacritic

Standard Operating Procedure at Box Office Mojo

EyeForFilm.co.uk – Tribeca Film Festival Q&A with Errol Morris about the film

Berlinale 2008