Chichester Cinema at New Park
Standard Operating Procedure
CHICHESTER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
(With thanks to Sony Pictures for this screening)
The perpetrators of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib display hard-done-by attitudes that are almost as hard to stomach as the photographs themselves. But does that make them guilty as charged? Jeremy Sivitz claims to have gone along with the dominant culture because he was “a nice guy” – and remains bitter that his virtue has resulted in dishonourable discharge.
Lynndie England takes a soap opera defence: she was “in love” with scary Specialist Charles Graner and wanted to impress him. (Graner’s is the missing testimony in Errol Morris’ film: he is still in prison, and was not permitted to participate.) Sabrina Harman, who jumped up and down on a pile of naked Iraqi detainees and posed smilingly next to the corpse of a man murdered in custody, claims that she would act no differently given her time again.
The big grins – the undeniable sadistic enjoyment – remain tough to defend. And yet the impact of the photos operates as a diversion tactic: we ascribe responsibility to the low-ranking soldiers in the pictures, even though the whole point of low-ranking soldiers is that they act according to instruction from on high. The photos are a smokescreen; they misdirect our disgust.
With a big score by Danny Elfman, and flamboyant dramatic reconstructions as well as Morris’ trademark face-on long-form interviews, Standard Operating Procedure elevates itself from sombre issue doc to heavy-hitting blockbuster. This is a document for our times: a film to which it is simply impossible to remain indifferent.
USA 2007 116min
Wed 27 Aug 1.30 (Tickets £7)
USA · 2007 · Errol Morris · 116min
