Errol Morris is a great filmmaker, but when you look past the hundreds of shocking and uncensored photos from Abu Ghraib there’s really very little here. As viewers we’re often given what we expectÑinterviewees that are far from repentant, angry that they were present for those terrible actions rather than apologetic for actually committing them. They spend far more time being nostalgic, as though participating in a warped and disturbing “Memories” video for some sort of reunion: Lynddie England recalls with seeming awe how a prisoner, when forced to pleasure himself, did so for 45 minutes, while another remembers how country music was used to deprive prisoners of sleep, succeeding where hip-hop and heavy metal failed.
Perhaps it’s too soon. When Morris sat down with Robert McNamara, 30 years had passed since the end of the Vietnam War; history, wisdom, and retrospection all had decades to set in. The same with Fred Leuchter and, to a lesser extent, the subjects of The Thin Blue Line. Perhaps if Morris had waited another ten or fifteen years, after the maelstrom of partisanship had dissipated, the participantsÑon both sides of the cameraÑcould have offered more.
by Adam Balz | Source: 35MM Theatrical Print
22 Jun 2008 9:11 PM | Submit Comment