Film Review (H'wood): Syriana (2005)

The title's catchy - it rolls off the tongue and is clearly suggestive of the Middle Eastern region of Asia. After some attempts at figuring out why it was picked, to tell us a story about oil, a fellow blogger lets us in that it's a seemingly fictional name assigned by certain Washington think-tanks, to a hypothetical construct of the Middle East, after hypothetically applying a coat of 'democracy' paint.

The stars - Matt Damon, George Clooney, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer etc.- will definitely bring in the crowds and just for that, its great to see the big names lend their acting skills to such compelling stories, despite the controversies they get drawn into - these controversies fuelled by the very political interests depicted in the movie. It's the same writer that brought us the film Traffic, centered around the drug trade. This story unfolds in a similar fashion, in the way it is told - a set of tight concurrent sub-plots that are loosely held together to emphasize the central plot - The vicious cycle that has been in motion in the oil industry for several decades now.

What does this cycle mean for governments of the the middle eastern states and the biggest consumer of oil - the US? Is there a dark nexus between industry, government, and the justice system? How does it affect the lives of people who are so embedded in this cycle that they can't simply opt out? Is there a conscience at all in any remote corner? The film doesn't offer clear answers; it lets you decide. For that reason, it has been called a 'complex' film in several reviews. If you've sampled another must-see film of the genre - an at times over-the-top but hard-hitting doc called 'The Corporation', this is a fairly simple film for the viewer. The viewer has then probably mulled over the behavior that drives a profit hungry oil industry. Very simply, it is quite like the opposite of the Google philosophy - Do whatever it takes to deliver profits, evil or not.

The treatment of one sub-plot, that of an average Pakistani immigrant teenager working in the tough vicinity of an oil field, was the only weak link for me. It was driving a sensitive point home and, therefore, didn't take the risks that it needed to convince me of how the oil industry in particular shaped the mental make-up of the teenager. This apart, every element of the intelligence agencies' manipulative stance in foreign policy, special interests around the US capital, and the selfish interests that overpower the best of middle eastern royals are all brilliantly captured. Idealism is quashed with the lure of greed, power and other such simpler-to-understand human motives.

Like the best of political statements made on screen, the audience is asked not to go back home and forget what they just absorbed but is forced to think. Yes - for those who can get past their love for Matt, George and Amanda, its a 'thinking-movie', as a South Asian would say. Is the cost of oil $2.19 at the nearest gas station or $2.22 at the next? Research has shown that a good majority of people will drive a mile to save a few cents per gallon of gas. And yet the real cost of guzzling gas should be measured in actions around the world, taken to bring you that gas profitably - actions that will shape a few more generations. What if we really do start running out of gas, despite drilling the sh*# out of every corner of the world, ecological political correctness notwithstanding? I wonder what the ones in power at that juncture will be driven to do (please refer recent history lessons)! Syriana only offers us a snapshot of the chessboard as it stands today, not knowing the end game. Choices everyone of us makes around consumption of energy and the questions we ask of our governments, for starters, will help us avoid a checkmate on the board......... "Check"!