Good things come in threes–or is that bad things? No matter, the point is that today, I have three reviews for you, all of them being for documentaries regarding Iraq. I actually watched all three of these, back to back, which was a pretty cool experience in and of itself, considering how much of the material seemed to interweave the docs. In the end, it gave me perhaps a greater understanding on how these stories fit against each other and the subtext that might have been overlooked in one and the other. While I would not suggest you spend your time watching them back to back like I did, I would definitely encourage you to take a look at each of these docs if you have not already.

-Fco.

The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

Director: Petra Epperlein, Michael Tucker
Genre: Documentary – Iraq
Year: 2006

I was always under the impression that a good documentary ought to be unbiased, but over the last decade a number of politically charged documentaries have hit the mainstream with a vengeance and it seems the new sub-genre of loaded docs is becoming more and more acceptable. Michael Moore comes to mind, but even this particular doc seems to be skewed, mostly because it is merely told form one person’s point of view: a reporter wrongly arrested by the Americans under charges that he had conspired to kill British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

While normally I would balk at the idea of a lop sided doc, this one works and it works because it is essentially an autobiographical story, supported by a good amount of evidence, including the fact that he was eventually released without a single charge. The story given to us is but one in a number of tales of abuse at the hands of American’s (and I suppose their allies as well) in a very badly managed war. At time amusing and often head-shakingly wrong, the story tells us of Yunnis Abbas, background, his eventual wrongful capture, his imprisonment at Abu Gharib, and his eventual release, given to him without answering any of the important questions.

Given that a number of the arguments made hold no visual evidence, a large part of this story is recreated in a style of animation reminiscent of Waltz with Bashir. Entirely told through his eyes, the story is an eye opening story that went on to get a good reception at festivals and acquired a nomination for Best Documentary in 2008. My only reminder to you is that this IS a first person account and therefore ought to be seen as that and that alone.

Rating:
Comments: While the content, visually speaking is kept pretty tame, the themes themselves are rather disturbing, particularly during the recounting of Abbas’ time at Abu Gharib.

No End in Sight

Director: Charles Ferguson
Genre: Documentary – Iraq
Year: 2007

There are documentaries that are one sided because they have an agenda and then there are the ones that have to be one sided because the people being put on the hot seat are too afraid to even talk about it. This is one of the latter, giving us an disturbingly clear picture of how badly managed the Iraq war during its first years, and how corrupt the Bush Administration was throughout the process.

Utilizing the stories of various ‘insiders’ to put together one of the most clear pictures of the events that transpired just prior to Bush taking us into the Iraq invasion and then the year to follow. Pointing out as if off a checklist, they go through all the issues that came up and the way they were not only mismanaged but at time clearly swept under the rug. And when shizz hit the fan, the way the administration used their scapegoats to get out as cleanly as they could have wanted.

In this case, attempt to reach those in question was made, each one of them high enough in the administration to shed some light on any of the accusations, but they each bowed out of comment, cementing their guilt as pointed out in the documentary that much more. The few brave enough to argue their point on film, build up such a ludicrous argument that it nearly becomes laughable.

If ever you wanted to get a clear picture of the complexity of events that led us to the Iraq war, this is a great source to get you started. If it is important to you, this film has also been highly acclaimed, nominated for 15 awards, including an Oscar and winning a good number of them.

Rating:
Comments: War and prisons are discussed. I do not recall much graphic material here at all and most of the themes surround politics more so than actual war details…but my memory is a bit hazy on this.

Standard Operating Procedure

Director: Errol Morris
Category: Documentary – Iraq
Year: 2008

I know I have used the word disturbing a number of times in regards to the three previous documentaries, but this takes disturbing to a whole new level, particularly because it deals with the ugliest side of our own soldiers. Unless you have been living under a rock the last half decade, you have already heard of the atrocities and human right violations that were taking place in the American run prison of Abu Gharib in Iraq. One can’t even bother to use the word alleged, because there are so many photographs documenting the horrible treatment of the prisoners that denial becomes moot. The very people involved do not deny the incident and THAT is what makes this documentary so mind gruelingly interesting, in that it becomes a psychological breakdown of what happened, who was involved and how to compartmentalize the blame, because everybody involved is pointing fingers.

To watch this film, you will have to have a steady stomach, because they take in a number of the photographs taken from the soldiers cameras, they are aligned in chronological order and they take us through one of the most disgusting stories ever told regarding abuse of prisoners and what is worse? It is our own side doing it, not them. That is not to argue that they may not treat our soldiers unfairly, because I think every army in a war zone, seems to show its ugly side in one way or the other. What is shocking here is that the American’s, with our ‘high standards’ of morale and air of superiority fell to their level, if not lower.

What makes this even more interesting is that each of the people involved tells their own story, some accepting part of the blame, others none and a rare couple accepting the blame openly. They go through the story in chronological order and describe in detail what they saw, what they did and in some cases why. What results is a stomach churning story, which investigates which actions were considered criminal and which ones were – as the title of the documentary implies – standard operating procedure, and you would be surprised!

This is one hell of a documentary, not suggested for the feint of heart and sure to break down, if only a little, your faith in humanity. Which is a really really sad thing, so after this, have an episode of the Care Bears ready, cause you are gonna need it.

Rating:
Comments: Very difficult to watch, none of the evidence is hidden here and the atrocities are discussed in detail and examined. This is most definitely not a family film and most adults are cautioned on the content.