''Standard Operating Procedure'' is a 2008 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

written and directed by Errol Morris that explores the meaning of the photographs taken by U.S.

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

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 othexposé 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,

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Military Police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

* 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

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 ''

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'' named it the 7th best film of 2008, and Kenneth Turan of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' 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 The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Enterprises. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. The 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

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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

References

External links

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard Operating Procedure (Film) 2008 films American documentary films Documentary films about the Iraq War Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse Films directed by Errol Morris Sony Pictures Classics films 2008 documentary films Films scored by Danny Elfman Participant (company) films Documentary films about torture Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winners 2000s English-language films 2000s American films English-language documentary films