January 20, 2006
Movie Night: "Syriana"
We caught "Syriana" this past week. It's one of those rare films that immediately after you've seen it for the first time you want to see it again. It's not because "Syriana" is full of things that audiences might miss the first time. Nor is it because the movie is a cinematic thrill ride. The film is neither of those by a stretch. Rather it's because "Syriana" is gorgeous to look at from purely a cinematographic point of view.
But "Syriana" is also an excellent film, albeit highly unusual in the way it manages to be ultra spare in back-story and storytelling while simultaneously weaving multiple narrative threads. The threads are connected, but the key characters in each thread rarely, if ever, cross paths, hence the apt tagline "Everything is connected" that is being used in the film's advertising. In short stories of "Syriana" follow a half-dozen players from all sides of a major oil business deal between American companies and a major middle-eastern petroleum-rich nation, a la Saudi Arabia. There's the story of a laid-off immigrant Pakistani worker who joins an Islamic madrassa and becomes suicide bomber. There's the story of a C.I.A. field operative in Iran (played by George Clooney in the closest to what amounts to a starring role in the film) sent to covertly assassinate the heir-apparent prince of the middle-eastern nation. Then there's a Washington lawyer "investigating" the American oil companies involved in the deal. And so on and on.
"Syriana" is a fascinating look depiction of how the each of the players in the this global economic and political game thinks and views the world -- from the elites who call the shots to the downtrodden wage slaves that keep it running. The movie manages to come across as agnostic on political rights and wrongs. That's a pretty amazing feat, especially considering that the film's subject matter is so directly relevant to current geo-politics. Air Massive rating: 8 out 10.
Essential Links
Syriana Movie Web Site
Posted by Robsam at January 20, 2006 11:52 PM
