Five stories in one!. Review on Syriana Movie

Dark brooding frames, minimal dialogue and a serious, multi-layered plotline.

Five stories have been intertwined to make one movie. And I really had to pay attention to every frame of the movie. And even, after the movie got over, I was wondering about the complexity of the whole narrative.

But, I will try to simplify the stories as much as I can.

America is after crude oil in the Middle East, which is no surprise. While the Middle East has problems of its own - internal as well as from all its neighbours, which again is no surprise.

There are two main plotlines.

1) Connex is an oil major giant. Killen is another oil company that has somehow gotten the rights to dig in Kazakhstan. Seeing this as a major money making opportunity, Connex merges with Killen. However, some laws might have been flouted to manage that and a firm of lawyers is called in to make the process easier.

2) There is an emir (king) of an unnamed Arabian country. Predicatbly, he has two sons who are fighting over the throne. One of them is the proverbial bad penny and the other one, Prince Nasir, has big plans for improving his country.

Now, the sup-plots.

1) Matt Damon is an energy analyst. Through certain unfortunate events, he becomes the economic adviser of Prince Nasir.

2) George Clooney is a CIA operative who is being used by his own government. He was sent to assassinate Prince Nasir, but gets captured. And so, the U.S government distances themselves with him.

3) A Pakistani unemployed boy is misguided by Islamic fundamentalists to become a suicide bomber and blow up a Connex-Killen tanker.

The Pros:

The movie is an expose of American corruption and how far they are willing to go to ensure a continuous supply of oil. And it does manage to make you despise the underbelly. The whole story is dealt with a huge dose of reality. The way CIA operatives actually operate is also an eye-opener. We have been so used to the whole ‘spy image’ fed to us by Hollywood that we see it as this hugely glamorous sport.

The scenes have a sense of finality in them. This is what the truth is. So deal with it.

The Cons:

The story can get confusing. There are so many sub-plots that the writer could have done away with. The lawyer-drunken father connection. The CIA operative going to Lebanon and asking for Hezbollah’s permission. It would have made the whole narrative easier to digest.

Either ways, the movie is worth a dekko. But don’t get in the popcorn yet as it might divert your attention.