Pacionsbo
Absolutely Fantastic
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
rsvp321
Too bad they don't illustrate the atrocities of the captured scum.I'm surprised Michael Moore's name isn't attached to this one.S1E1 was enough for me. Bail!
MlKE
It is a fine documentary but, as a tax payer and a thinking member of society (American or otherwise), it makes you angry – that was probably the filmmakers' intention (I hope). It boils down to a very simple human - if not more so - social thing. Responsibility. I'll sound like one of those Al Qaeda propaganda videos but I don't really care – as "western" societies, we should tread very carefully when it comes to interfering with "other people's business". Having powerful armies does not buy us the monopoly on being right.But let's get back to the responsibility thing. Sending thousands of "PlayStation Generation" children (especially the American ones, educated to a level of an infant, over privileged, immature, shallow, religious and totally convinced of their superiority, too boot), trigger happy and loaded with testosterone morons to a "far away land" for the purpose of pacifying it is irresponsible! Those people need moms and dads, not automatic weapons and armoured infantry fighting vehicles!!! And just so we're clear, dear "far right" friends - to me, it is personally insulting when "you" or the media call those people "heroes"! I think, Nazi Germany did it once – let's not copy them too much, shall we? I realize that there are many good servicemen and servicewomen who have something more in their heads than, pardon me, spunk, but they are outnumbered by idiots. Sorry. Intelligent, well educated, responsible, sensitive, critically thinking and open minded individuals don't make it to the army! Period. They just don't. Few do but that's as rare as a hooker with a doctorate.So who are those "heroes" if all the reasonable and responsible folks are sitting in their homes and watching "the other" part of society - the iron fist of democracy - represent them on CNN? Well, answer that question yourselves...The Abu Ghraib incident, I'm sure, is not an isolated one. Common rather, I'd say. No wonder the whole planet despises the United States and Great Britain. I understand that hatred. I am privileged though...to be on the other side of the argument and not worry about some cluster bomb blasting my asss to smithereens even though I don't even comprehend the reasons for the bombs falling. Feels good, doesn't it? To be save knowing that your side is the one delivering the blows and not receiving them. I'm sure that Wehrmacht and the SS personnel would tell you, with at most conviction, they were fighting the good war and for all the right reasons.That is the "responsibility" I'm talking about. Social, moral and human responsibility for one's actions. From the Government down to the least important private in the service. But that's the kind of thinking we're not ready for yet. Too forward. Army responsible for their actions, ha ha! See, if the military is a profession, why don't they have unions? It is because they are slaves! Obeying orders is a domain of slaves...or animals. That's what I could never understand – how can you possibly, as a sovereign individual, act simply because "someone" tells you to? And that "someone" is not at all obliged to explain themselves to you or explain the reasons for using you to carry out their wishes. Someone defined war once by saying "War is old people talking and young people dying". A truly profound quote.I think, ultimately, the power and responsibility for wars and what happens within their chaos lies with the man/woman holding the rifle. Let's leave it at that...
bob the moo
Errol Morris has covered some interesting and weird subjects and I found his last film (Fog of War) to be quite fascinating, so I was looking forward to seeing where he went next. I was quite surprised that he chose to do a documentary on Iraq. Sure, it is totally the subject of our time but it has become a very cluttered subject – not only in documentary films but also the amount of news coverage etc that is available. When I learnt that the film would be a tight focus on Abu Ghraib I hoped that Morris would explore the total human aspect of it and do a really good job of delivering this part of it.Unfortunately what Morris manages to produce is a film that is solid but not as remarkable as the subject deserves. Part of this, it must be said, is familiarity with the subject; having seen many films that do it better. Taxi to the Dark Side comes to mind specifically because it uses the prison as its starting point before following the smell upwards and outwards to paint a much bigger picture of failure and things that are impacting beyond specific acts of torture. By remaining within the world of the prison, Morris potentially could do enough to standout as being THE film on the subject. The early signs are good because I was surprised to see several of the main names/faces that I knew from the news coverage of the scandal and thus this was going to be the story from those involved firsthand. This was a gamble in a way because the problem with the aftermath of Abu Ghraib was that it was only the "little people" that got the spotlight and nobody else and, by focusing on them, Morris needed to get a lot from them or else his film would end up the same way.He does this to a point as they discuss in detail what they did and what they saw and it does still have the power to shock and depress. In some regards the anger described makes the violence a little understandable but what I was shocked by was the sheer banality and boredom-inspired viciousness of it all. It helps this aspect that so many of the contributions are delivered in such matter-of-fact manners that it does jar that they don't seem shocked by what they are describing. The truth is probably that they aren't – partly because it was "normal" but also that they have discussed it many times. Everyone is a bit defensive and Morris doesn't ever manage to draw much emotion from them in the telling – factually the material is engaging but Morris never really gets beyond that. While "Taxi to the Dark Side" moved up the chain of command, Morris needed to move into his interviewees' soul – something he doesn't manage to do.The second failing of the film is the overuse of "recreated" scenes and asides. In Thin Blue Line, it cost him (at very least) an Oscar nomination but here it has a negative impact immediately as you are watching it. With so much shocking reality to discuss and so many real images, some of the recreations are clunky in how out of place they are. I'm not talking about the creative sequences that Morris uses as a bed for dialogue (eg a cellblock full of shredded paper, the letters written back to a partner in the US) but rather the recreations and stuff "around" the pictures. It was unnecessary and distracted from what as real and powerful enough.The film still works as a good summary of events within Abu Ghraib but it is hard to get excited about it since so much of it feels familiar. The tight focus itself is not an issue but it is when Morris cannot manage to produce searing questions, a bigger picture or intimate soul-searching it doesn't ever do anything that makes it standout in a crowded marketplace.
Squaredealer33
I recommend this film for viewing. The film maker was able to obtain direct interviews with some of the soldiers involved in this chapter of American history. I don't think it's unfair to say that it is an important record concerning the events at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq during the American occupation. As such, it should be viewed by anyone interested in this subject.I credit the film maker with allowing the soldiers involved to present some part of their story and also allowing one soldier to point out that only soldiers at lower levels would suffer prosecution.The film would be better if it addressed the White House's views on torture and the legal documents giving rise to the same. Also, the film should have presented more opinions from the legal community regarding accepted standards of care for prisoners, prisoners of war, enemy combatants and the like.Nonetheless, I found the film informative. I would not classify most documentaries as objective, and therefore, I don't mind the slanted view on the screen, but as far as film goes, the film maker did try to give the soldiers some opportunity to tell their story -- and their side of the story (that superiors were responsible for the policy) has some merit.I'm saddened that these events were committed by Americans. As one of the soldiers pointed out – others actions have occurred that are more troubling – but nobody took pictures.We as citizens of the US rely on our elected representatives to direct the foreign affairs of our country. Our Congress has oversight authority concerning these matters. Don't give up on the American system.I did chuckle at the score during the human pyramid scene – truly stuporous.
