SFIFF: Standard Operating Procedure

Every time we see an Errol Morris film, we're always astonished by his subjects' self-incrimination and displays of delusion. We had suspected that Morris is drawn to delusional people as subjects, or at least, the unusually obsessed. With Standard Operating Procedure, screened at the SFIFF on Tuesday, April 29th, Errol Morris once again attempts to answer the question that recurs in many of his movies, "What were they thinking?" In a pre-screening chat with B. Ruby Rich, Morris commented that what he aims to accomplish in his films, is to present how his subjects perceive the world.

Standard Operating Procedure presents the perspectives of several soldiers punished for their roles in the Abu Ghraib torture photo scandal, including Lynndie England (the infamous leash-holder, who had a more flattering haircut in the film), Sabrina Harman (who claims she smiles and makes the thumbs-up gesture in all photos taken of her), but excluding Charles Graner (who most of the interviewees point to as the mastermind of many of the more iconic images, probably evoking jealousy in a number of immature art school students who have since paid homage to his "compositions"). At the end of the film, it was noted that the Military forbade an interview with Graner.

After the jump: Are Donald Rumsfeld and Robert MacNamera morally equivalent?