[NON]Standard Operating Procedure

June 5, 2008 by Lex  Send to a Friend

Sometimes a girl likes to take a Sapporo down E street lane, and she feels a bit more justified upon realizing that the movie beertender challenges beer-during-movie enthusiasts to finish their Sapporo at his counter, in exchange receiving it complimentary. She does not take him up on this said challenge, but promises to not forget and to spread his words. So, go see the fun beertender at the far right counter before seeing Errol Morris’s Standard Operating Procedure, which I’ve effortlessly detailed below.

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Painstakingly true, obvious ergo the photographs and interviewees’ words and sheer speaking presence, this film reveals to you a heart-chilling, detailed inspection of the abuse performed on the mates at Abu Ghraib. What was once a heap of single and scattered two-dimensional photographs floating atop a media-induced blood pool, becomes a very deep three-dimensional story, as testimonies and meta data time stamps intertwine, seamlessly connecting in stretch.

Outside of the spoonful of inedible information you must swallow to endure Errol Morris’s film [as you may have to close your eyes tight and push away the way a baby would a spoonful of pea puree], the aesthetic presentation and editing I felt was very pleasing and successful. Though I was often distracted by the studio lights seen reflected in each of the interviewee’s eyes as the intensity and number of lights changed drastically from skin tone to skin tone, I at the same time appreciated the strive to produce an even blanket of luminosity per person–many times an aspect overlooked in a fast and dirty type documentary.

Not all viewers will enjoy the somewhat stock-like footage reenacting scenarios, but I personally think that these moments not only supplied a nice fill between the still photographs and the interviews, but also helped adhere the imagery from the still photographs and the stories told during the interviews.

Lastly, the visual tour constructed of the photographs in a immense black space created an awe-inspiring constellation-esque platform in which I could readily understand and engage in the timeline of happenings at Abu Ghraib. I thought this delivery very impressive and rewarding to see.

Thank you Errol, I feel well informed.

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