Award winning documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy explores the human and political consequences of one of the most bitter scandals of the war in Iraq in this feature. In the 1960's, a prison was built in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city west of Baghdad, and during the regime of Saddam Hussein it became a center of torture and abuse where political dissidents were subjected to agonizing punishment or death. Following the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, the prison was taken over by American
military authorities, and was used as a holding facility for prisoners of war and suspected terrorists captured by U.S. forces. The prison's reputation as a site of widespread abuse rose again when journalists discovered photographs of Iraqi prisoners being tortured and humiliated in an ugly variety of ways by American soldiers, a scandal which had a major impact on international thinking about the war. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib offers an in-depth look at the story behind the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, featuring interviews with observers on both sides of the national divide. Ghosts of Abu Ghraib received its world premiere at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Not only does the film thoroughly and skillfully explain the context in which something as heinous as Abu Ghraib could happen, it attempts to understand the psychology of those involved.
Methodically relating the story -- as told by several of the U.S. soldiers involved -- whose leak to the media badly damaged U.S. credibility, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib makes grim but worthwhile viewing.
An inquisitive film like Rory Kennedy's documentary is important simply for the way it circles back to known events and weaves them together into a logical series of causes and effects.
To Kennedy's credit, she manages to control her own sense of social injustice and outrage in order to present an even-paced and well-rounded body of largely anecdotal evidence.
An essential declaration of the truth behind that cliché: Taking the gloves off is no guarantee the job will get done; it is a guarantee that you'll get your hands dirty.
Part broad exploration of human nature, part specific examination of Abu Ghraib, the film posits the question: how does one fight an enemy who recognizes no set laws of engagement?
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