Movies: Short List
Here's a movie for adults. I might wannna see this one, even though, or maybe especially because Grist Magazine says it is "not at all the feel-good film of the year." Written and directed by Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, Syriana is a brave and daunting piece of filmmaking. It plunges without apology into hot-button territory few U.S. news outlets, much less Hollywood productions, have dared explore, and does very little to smooth the rough edges for a moviegoing audience accustomed to frictionless entertainment."
The global oil system is portrayed as a gigantic, impersonal machine that crushes human lives, families, even whole nations. The CIA agent, the reformist prince, the oil analyst, the federal prosecutor: they all show small glimmers of idealism and hope, but all are ultimately dispatched, leaving not so much as a ripple.
But there is an odd and rather glaring omission. Gaghan follows a long, grim chain of greed, corruption, and deceit, but he doesn't trace it to its terminus: the folks using the oil. Us. The viewers of his movie. Conspicuous U.S. consumption serves as his unquestioned backdrop -- and his silence about us ultimately reveals his fatalism about the fortunes of democracy.
Is there really so little spark left in the American experiment that public acquiescence to escalating global resource struggles is a fait accompli? There's no chance we could self-organize to use less, and twist the arms of our elected representatives until they help us? Are we so apathetic, so powerless?
"I'm not ready to give up that hope. Not yet" says the Grist author, David Roberts. But honestly, I think I've given up that hope. Our addiction runs too deep and we would rather go extinct than change in time.
I think this movie hasn't been released yet. Anyone know for sure?
Comments
The film was released before Christmas and has all but faded from view. It is still showing as a nighttime-only feature at a couple of theaters in Roanoke but will probably be gone when new films open on Friday.
Posted by: Doug Thompson | December 28, 2005 5:35 AM
Hollywood does an excellent job of preying on ignorance and fear. I am game for this type of entertainment. I would also like to see the film, "Munich".
I am hearing that energy consumption is increasing owing in large part to electronic devices such as this computer I am currently using.
Is there another energy source that can produce anywhere near a significant amount to supplement or replace oil?
Posted by: Jim | December 28, 2005 2:26 PM
I'm visiting the in-laws in Ames, IA, home of ISU. My wife and I went to see Syriana playing on campus last evening. I found it entertaining while my wife disliked it severely. We both agreed that the movie tried to incorporate too much in that there were at least half a dozen subplots, which made it confusing to follow.
I liked the scenery and the attempt to fill in the behind-the-scenes action of big oil; however, the conspiracy and corruption theory spun was typical Hollywood overhype. For example, it is true that everyone is vyeing tooth and nail for Middle East oil as other easily accessible sources have been harvested, but an oil company CEO that risks his good fortune for a few million extra barrels of oil seems too stretched. In addition, the portrayal of the CIA as political assassin for oil deals also begs for reproach.
The movie's point can be summarized in depicting oil as an endless vicious treadmill that Americans and the rest of the world are willing to stay on at the highest cost and through the most despicable methods. Corporations are led by criminals who want to supply an artificially high priced commodity through fighting alternative energy sources and maintaining some unrest in the Middle East. BTW - If anyone can tell me what George Clooney was thinking in the last part of the movie then I would like to enlightened.
Lastly, I agree that the world will continue to predominantly use petroleum as it is an amazing resource used in so many applications and because human nature dictates that we will use what we have until it is gone BEFORE we seriously seek alternatives (i.e. we are lazy).
Posted by: Jim | December 30, 2005 1:48 PM
In Dallas, it is currently at the Cinemark and AMC multiscreens. Don't know how it is doing. Haven't seen any movies yet this season myself.
Posted by: bill | December 31, 2005 11:27 AM
Syriana fell from the top 10 this week and has done approx $30. mil. in business since the Nov 23rd release in 1725 theaters.
One could suggest that Gaghan, Clooney et al released in late 2005 for maxiumum MSM/ Oscar buzz.
One could suggest that the Oscar podium was the real goal, not box office success, if one were as cynical as this movie.
We haven't walked out of a film in ages, but we bailed on Syriana and sneaked into "Memoirs Of A Geisha" (which was as disappointing as the book riveting)
IMO- the "serious" adult films currently showing are deadly dull political tracts that make "Triumph Of The Will" seem like a date movie by comparison.
Posted by: BJ | January 4, 2006 12:19 AM