Syriana
—1. Overview
—2. Reviews and Blogs
—3. Cast and Crew
—4. Photo Pages
—5. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—6. Posters (George Clooney)
—7. Production Notes (pdf)
—8. Spiritual Connections
—9. Presentation Downloads
Syriana is the political thriller, whose thriller is replaced by character study. From the minds that produced Traffic comes an equally disjointed, multifaceted story about the U.S. government’s involvement in the Middle East, specifically in the oil business. As I am tied to neither political party, I saw this less as a condemnation of government and more as a critique of humanity. As Jesus asked in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?�
Bob Barnes (Clooney), Bryan Woodman (Damon), and Bennett Holiday (Wright) are the main characters in different pieces of the Syriana puzzle. Barnes is a CIA operative on the way out of the business, but he’s also a man yearning for a connection with his teenage son, and haunted by the rocket launcher that he ‘misplaced’ in the Middle East. Woodman is the analyst who gains the trust of Prince Nasir (Sidding), only after his eldest son is accidentally killed. And Holiday is the lawyer intent on clearing the oil company of wrongdoing, who is also the angry son of a junkie.
In this mockumentary, I half-expected to be barraged with data and dates as the credits rolled, but the movie had rarely focused on cold, hard facts. Instead, we see that Barnes is the pawn of his superiors, who works hard at what he does, never betrays what he’s told to do, and ultimately pays for being a ‘good’ man. Woodman’s success can only be seen in light of the drowning of his son, yet he coldly moves along to the benefit of his company and the detriment of his soul. Holiday seems the least prepared to make decisions based on truth, but the paperwork and drudgery of his portions in the movie left me prying my eyelids open, so maybe I missed it!
Barnes comes to see his ‘calling,’ when the truth or the absence of truth, sets him free from his previous obligations. And here, with calling, guilt comes into play. To what extent would we confront the demons of our past, regardless of how long ago they had been and what had caused them, and try to make them right? While I find the answers in Syriana to be rather bleak and unfulfilling, they still explore good questions.
Finally, regardless of your ‘side’ in the present political climate, the truth for Christians is that we should be pursuing peace. In Syriana, the peace is broken by the governments who wage war on each other but it is affected by the private citizens who seek their own ends, their own gain, their own greed. We may never be the presidents of corporations or the heads of state, but we allow our ‘power’ to be bought and sold with our purchases, our time, and our attention…everyday. So, in what ways am I responsible for people like Barnes before and after his ‘conversion experience?’ How have I made my life a commodity rather than a series of choice that I make for myself?
Quoting that Jesus again, “you can’t serve both God and money� and “you can’t serve two masters.� That’s true regardless of your political affiliation, religious affiliation, or job situation—when your allegiances are divided, you fall. We’d all do well to watch the character study that is Syriana, whether it thrills you or not.
—Overview
—Reviews and Blogs
—2. Reviews and Blogs
—3. Cast and Crew
—4. Photo Pages
—5. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—6. Posters (George Clooney)
—7. Production Notes (pdf)
—8. Spiritual Connections
—9. Presentation Downloads
Syriana is the political thriller, whose thriller is replaced by character study. From the minds that produced Traffic comes an equally disjointed, multifaceted story about the U.S. government’s involvement in the Middle East, specifically in the oil business. As I am tied to neither political party, I saw this less as a condemnation of government and more as a critique of humanity. As Jesus asked in Mark 8:36, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?�Bob Barnes (Clooney), Bryan Woodman (Damon), and Bennett Holiday (Wright) are the main characters in different pieces of the Syriana puzzle. Barnes is a CIA operative on the way out of the business, but he’s also a man yearning for a connection with his teenage son, and haunted by the rocket launcher that he ‘misplaced’ in the Middle East. Woodman is the analyst who gains the trust of Prince Nasir (Sidding), only after his eldest son is accidentally killed. And Holiday is the lawyer intent on clearing the oil company of wrongdoing, who is also the angry son of a junkie.
In this mockumentary, I half-expected to be barraged with data and dates as the credits rolled, but the movie had rarely focused on cold, hard facts. Instead, we see that Barnes is the pawn of his superiors, who works hard at what he does, never betrays what he’s told to do, and ultimately pays for being a ‘good’ man. Woodman’s success can only be seen in light of the drowning of his son, yet he coldly moves along to the benefit of his company and the detriment of his soul. Holiday seems the least prepared to make decisions based on truth, but the paperwork and drudgery of his portions in the movie left me prying my eyelids open, so maybe I missed it!
Barnes comes to see his ‘calling,’ when the truth or the absence of truth, sets him free from his previous obligations. And here, with calling, guilt comes into play. To what extent would we confront the demons of our past, regardless of how long ago they had been and what had caused them, and try to make them right? While I find the answers in Syriana to be rather bleak and unfulfilling, they still explore good questions.
Finally, regardless of your ‘side’ in the present political climate, the truth for Christians is that we should be pursuing peace. In Syriana, the peace is broken by the governments who wage war on each other but it is affected by the private citizens who seek their own ends, their own gain, their own greed. We may never be the presidents of corporations or the heads of state, but we allow our ‘power’ to be bought and sold with our purchases, our time, and our attention…everyday. So, in what ways am I responsible for people like Barnes before and after his ‘conversion experience?’ How have I made my life a commodity rather than a series of choice that I make for myself?
Quoting that Jesus again, “you can’t serve both God and money� and “you can’t serve two masters.� That’s true regardless of your political affiliation, religious affiliation, or job situation—when your allegiances are divided, you fall. We’d all do well to watch the character study that is Syriana, whether it thrills you or not.
—Overview
—Reviews and Blogs
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