Standard Operating Procedure (2008)

Directed by

Errol Morris

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 58m

Rated

R

Rating

6.8 of 10 from 66 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This documentary looks at the photographs taken by U.S. military police at Abu Ghraib prison. It examines what the images show and what they hide about the torture and abuse of prisoners. The film argues that the photos were used to blame lower-ranking soldiers while hiding larger responsibility.

investigativesomberintrospectiveunsettlingslow-burnthought-provokingsoberdisturbing

What happens

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". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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