Standard Operating Procedure (USA; Errol Morris, 2008)

   An investigative documentary covering the events that took place in Abu Ghraib prison during the Iraq war, Standard Operating Procedure is also a testament to the power of photography as the ultimate truth-recording tool. As is mentioned more than once throughout this devastating picture, the fact that these horrid human-rights violations were caught on camera is the only reason they are known at all. Furthermore, the humiliation bestowed upon the detainees were intended to prepare them for interrogations, the latter never being witnessed or recorded. The revealing yet compartmentalized nature of the photographs makes us wonder just how much there is that we do not see, a point returned-to frequently in the film. Through Morris' unique approach, including his free-talking interviewing style and use of dramatic re-enactments, the abuses exercised at Abu Ghraib are re-lived by those responsible and witnesses alike, the prison itself coming to life as Danny Elfman's score adds weight to the already-heavy images we are being subjected to. Like the detective he once was, Morris searches for empirical truth amongst a variety of subjective ones, his cinematic methods always actively engaging the audience to weigh the speakers' credibility for themselves as it attempts to let the statements speak for themselves. His films might in part be compared to visual investigative reports, even if the pretense of objectivity seems to be dropped with the re-enactment segments, Morris' expressive use of photography another example of the medium's evocative powers. Very much like his phenomenal The Thin Blue Line (1988), Morris uses repetition to get to the true source of the events, which in turn makes his latest investigation sometimes harder to take as your head is constantly shaking in shameful amazement.