Standard Operating Procedure

Aroview: To see or not to see: that is the question posed by acclaimed director Errol Morris as he attempts to understand what took place inside the walls of Abu Ghraib.

Allowing the subjects at the centre of the scandal to frankly recount their experiences, the director draws some disturbing insights from the prevailing atmosphere of power abuse and ethical ambiguity, though his trademark stylised recreations tend to undermine the impact of the notorious photographs at the heart of the film. Increasing its focus on the subjective nature of photography and the difficulty of accessing the truth through images, this provides plenty of food for thought - not least of all the limits of meaning within the documentary genre itself - even if it lacks the kind of emotional depth one might usually associate with Morris.

NZ International Film Festival 2008

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