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Syriana

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This article is about the film. For the term's use in international relations, see Pax Syriana.
Syriana
Directed byStephen Gaghan
Written byStephen Gaghan
Produced byJennifer Fox
Michael Nozik
Georgia Kacandes
Steven Soderbergh
George Clooney
StarringGeorge Clooney
Matt Damon
Jeffrey Wright
Chris Cooper
Amanda Peet
William Hurt
Christopher Plummer
Tim Blake Nelson
Alexander Siddig
Mazhar Munir
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
December 9, 2005
June 20, 2006 (DVD)
Running time
128 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50,000,000

Syriana is a 2005 Academy Award-winning geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan and produced by George Clooney. Gaghan's screenplay is loosely adapted from Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil. As with Gaghan's screenplay for Traffic, Syriana uses multiple, parallel storylines, jumping from locations in Texas, Washington D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and the Middle East, leading film critic Roger Ebert to describe the film as hyperlink cinema.[1]

The ensemble film focuses on petroleum politics, and the global influence of the oil industry, whose political, economic, legal, and social effects are experienced by a CIA operative (George Clooney), an energy analyst (Matt Damon), a Washington attorney (Jeffrey Wright), and a young unemployed Pakistani migrant worker in an Arabic country in Persian Gulf (Mazhar Munir).

George Clooney won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Agent Bob Barnes, and Stephen Gaghan's script was nominated by the Academy for Best Original Screenplay. As of April 20, 2006, the film grossed a total of $50.82 million in the U.S. box office and $42.9 million in the rest of the world, for a total of $93.73 million.[2]

Plot

American energy giant Connex is losing control of key Middle-East oil fields in a kingdom ruled by the al-Subaai family. The emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig) has granted natural-gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the American oil industry and the energy interests of the U.S. government. To compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady merger with Killen, a smaller oil company which recently won the drilling rights to key oil fields in Kazakhstan. Connex-Killen ranks as the world's twenty-third largest economy, and American anti-trust regulators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) have misgivings. The Washington law firm headed by Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer) is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DOJ, alleviating any allegations of corruption.

The filmmakers used the exterior of the Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai as the emir's estate in Marbella, Spain

Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) is an energy analyst based in Geneva, Switzerland. Woodman's supervisor directs him to attend a private party hosted by the emir at his estate in Marbella, Spain, to offer his company's services. At the party, Woodman is prevented from speaking directly with the emir, who is busy showing off the estate's remotely controlled electronic systems to Chinese oil executives. They try to control the swimming pool's lighting system, but it is not working due to faulty wiring. As this is happening, Woodman's son jumps in the pool and is electrocuted.

In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir grants Woodman's company oil interests worth US$75 million, and invites Woodman to become his economic advisor. Prince Nasir is dedicated to the idea of progressive reform, and understands that oil dependency is not sustainable in the long term; Nasir desires to utilize his nation's oil profits to diversify the economy and introduce democratic reforms, in sharp contrast to his father's repressive government, which has been supported by American interests. Nasir hopes to succeed his father as emir, but his younger brother is willing to continue the status quo and American military presence, and is chosen as the King's successor instead. Nasir plans a military coup, but American intelligence assassinates him and his family via a remote missile attack on his convoy.

Robert Barnes (George Clooney) is a veteran CIA field operative trying to stop Middle Eastern illegal arms trafficking. While on assignment in Tehran to assassinate two Iranian arms dealers, Barnes notices that an anti-aircraft missile intended to participate in the explosion was diverted to a blue-eyed Arab. Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft, and is subsequently reassigned to a desk job; however, unaccustomed to the political discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong person by speaking his mind and is sent back to the field with the assignment of assassinating Prince Nasir. Prior to his reassignment, Barnes confides with his friend and ex-CIA agent, Stan Goff (William Hurt), about returning to Lebanon and Goff advises him to notify Hezbollah of his arrival. Barnes travels to Lebanon and seeks safe passage from a Hezbollah leader, and hires a mercenary named Mussawi to murder Nasir. But Mussawi turns out to be an Iranian agent, who has Barnes kidnapped and tortured. The Hezbollah leader ultimately arrives at the scene of Barnes' torture and stops Mussawi from beheading Barnes.

When the CIA learns that Mussawi plans to broadcast its intention to kill Nasir, the agency seeks to distance itself by scapegoating Barnes and portraying him as a rogue agent. Whiting becomes worried, first about Robert talking about the Nasir assassination plan, second that the coup that Nasir is organizing would have a greater likelihood of success, and thirdly that the assassination of Nasir by Predator drone would be evident as an American hit. However, after being threatened, Whiting ensures the release of Barnes' passports through his powerful political connections. Barnes eventually learns why he was portrayed as a rogue agent, and approaches Prince Nasir to warn him of the assassination plan. It is too late and Nasir, his family and Barnes are killed in the explosion.

Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan (Shahid Ahmed) and his son Wasim (Mazhar Munir) board a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery, only to discover that they have been laid off due to a Chinese company outbidding Connex for the rights to run that facility. Since the company has provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of poverty and deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work. Wasim and his friend join an Islamic school to learn Arabic in an effort to improve their employment prospects. While playing soccer, they meet a charismatic blue-eyed Muslim fundamentalist cleric (Amr Waked), who eventually leads them to execute a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen LNG tanker using a shaped-charge explosive from the missing Tehran missile.

Bennett Holiday meets with U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III, who is convinced that Killen bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating Connex-Killen's records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that is traced back to a transaction between Danny Dalton (Tim Blake Nelson) and Kazakhstani officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with corruption in order to serve as a "body" to get the DOJ off the back of the rest of Connex-Killen. Farish then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DOJ information about illegal activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not enough. Holiday meets with ex-Killen chief Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper), and informs him that the DOJ needs a second body to drop the investigation. Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday's firm, above him, would be sufficient as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the DOJ would stop the investigation, and allow the merger.

Holiday brings his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt (Nicky Henson) to meet with the CEO of Connex-Killen, Lee Janus (Peter Gerety). In a surprise move, Holiday reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DOJ as the second body, thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to attend the ceremony "oil industry man of the year" with a load taken off his shoulders.

Production

The scene depicting Marbella (Spain), was filmed at the Royal Mirage hotel in Dubai, UAE. The scenes on the campus of Princeton University were shot on the campus of Loyola College in Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland.

Casting

Harrison Ford turned down the role of Robert Barnes (the role played by George Clooney), regretting it later, stating, "I didn't feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake". [3] This is the second Stephen Gaghan-written role Ford has declined, having turned down the role of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, a role that eventually went to Michael Douglas.

Score

Main article: Syriana (soundtrack)

Cast

  • George Clooney as Bob Barnes: A veteran CIA field agent stationed in the Middle East. Clooney injured himself filming the torture scene, requiring spinal tap surgery to stop fluid leaking from his spinal column.
  • Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman: An energy analyst living in Geneva with his wife and two sons
  • Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday: An attorney investigating the proposed merger of oil companies, Connex and Killen
  • Chris Cooper as Jimmy Pope: Owner of the Killen oil company
  • William Hurt as Stan Goff: Retired CIA agent and associate of Bob Barnes
  • Mazhar Munir as Wasim Ahmed Khan: Pakistani migrant worker laid off from Connex
  • Tim Blake Nelson as Danny Dalton: Oilman from Texas and member of Committee to Liberate Iran (CLI)
  • Amanda Peet as Julie Woodman: Bryan's wife
  • Christopher Plummer as Dean Whiting: Managing partner of Sloan Whiting law firm. Member of the Committee to Liberate Iran (CLI). Employer of Sydney Hewitt and Bennett Holiday.
  • Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai: Gulf prince who is the first born successor to the Emir. Prince Nasir is compared by Bryan Woodman to the Hashemite King Faisal I of Iraq – a character Siddig actually played in the film, A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia (1990).
  • Robert Baer in a guest role, as a CIA officer.

Title

The movie's title is suggested to derive from the hypothesized Pax Syriana, as an allusion to the necessary state of peace between Syria and the U.S. as it relates to the oil business. In a December 2005 interview, Baer told NPR that the title is a metaphor for foreign intervention in the Middle East, referring to post-World War II think tank strategic studies for the creation of an artificial state (such as Iraq, created from elements of the former Ottoman Empire) that would ensure continued western access to crude oil. The movie's website states that "‘Syriana’ is a very real term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East."[4] Gaghan said he saw Syriana as "a great word that could stand for man's perpetual hope of remaking any geographic region to suit his own needs."[5]

The word Syriana derives from Syria + the Latin suffix -ana, a neuter plural form; it means, roughly, "things Syrian." Historically, Syria refers not to the state that since 1944 has borne the name, but to a more extensive land stretching from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the middle Euphrates River and the western edge of the desert steppe, and from the Tauric system of mountains in the north to the edge of the Sinai desert in the south. This land was part of the Fertile Crescent, and has historically been a geopolitically crucial junction for trade routes from the east, from Asia Minor and the Aegean, and from Egypt, and has long been a focus of great power conflicts. The word Syria does not appear in the Hebrew original of the Scriptures, but appears in the Septuagint as the translation of Aram. Herodotus speaks of "Syrians" as identical with Assyrians, but the term's geographical significance was not well defined in pre-Greek and Greek times. As an ethnic term, "Syrian" came to refer in Antiquity to Semitic peoples living outside Mesopotamian and Arabian areas. Greco-Roman administrations were the first to apply the term to a definite district.[6]

Reception

Syriana received generally very positive reviews. Film critic Roger Ebert named it the second best film of 2005, behind Crash, while his co-host on the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper, named Syriana the best film of the year. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave it his highest rating,[7] in addition to naming it as the third best film of 2005.[8]

As a motion picture, the main criticism, even among reviewers who praised the film, was the confusion created by following so many stories. Most critics stated that it was almost impossible to follow the plot, though some, notably Roger Ebert, praised precisely that quality of the film. The audience confusion mimics the confusion of the characters, who are enmeshed in the events around them without a clear understanding of what precisely is going on. Some people have suggested watching the film two times in a row to fully comprehend what is going on.[citation needed]

Syriana has also been criticized for political reasons. Baer's book describes his attempts to assassinate Saddam Hussein, but in the movie the figure whom Clooney is to assassinate is a benevolent, liberal prince. (This may have been changed for authenticity, as the capture of Saddam Hussein took place two years before the movie's release.) Many, though not all, of its critics come from the political right. Charles Krauthammer criticized the film for "anti-American" views and moral equivalence, stating that "Osama bin Laden could not have scripted this film with more conviction."[9] Fellow Post columnist Richard Cohen calls its portrayals of terrorists, the CIA, oil companies, and the U.S. government "crude clichés".[10]

Overall reception by critics was positive. On Rotten Tomatoes the film received 74% overall approval from critics, and a 87% from the "Cream of the Crop".[11] The film also received a 76% ("Generally favorable reviews") on Metacritic.[12]

Awards

Nominations

See also

References

  1. ^ Rogert Ebert's review of Syriana
  2. ^ Syriana at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ Harrison Ford: 'I should have been in Syriana'
  4. ^ Syriana official website
  5. ^ Stephen Gaghan's discussion with The Washington Post in November 2005
  6. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed.
  7. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/6165451/syriana
  8. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/8952409/king_clooney_and_the_10_best_movies_of_2005
  9. ^ Krauthammer's critique of the film
  10. ^ Richard Cohen's critique of Syriana
  11. ^ Syriana at Rotten Tomatoes
  12. ^ Syriana at Metacritic
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