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Syriana
The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.
2005 · Directed by Stephen Gaghan · 128 min · Drama · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 8 frames
Tagline
Everything is connected.
Plot
U.S. energy giant Connex Oil is losing control of key oil fields in a Persian Gulf kingdom ruled by the Al-Subaai family. The Emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir, has granted natural gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the U.S. oil industry and the U.S. government. To compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady merger with Killen, a smaller oil company that recently won the drilling rights to Kazakhstan's Tengiz Field. If Connex-Killen were a country, it would rank as the world's twenty-third largest economy, and antitrust regulators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) have concerns. Whiting-Sloan, a Washington, D.C.–based law firm headed by Dean Whiting, is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday, an associate of that firm, is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DOJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption.
Bryan Woodman is an American energy analyst based in Geneva. Woodman's supervisor directs him to attend a private party hosted by the Emir at his private estate in Marbella, Spain, to offer his company's services. The Emir's illness during the party prevents Woodman from speaking directly with him. At the same time, the Emir's younger son, Prince Meshal Al-Subaai, gives Chinese oil executives a tour of the estate's many rooms and grounds using remote-controlled cameras. No one notices that a crack in one of the swimming pool's underwater lights has electrified the water. Just as Woodman and the other guests are brought to the pool area, Woodman's son jumps into the pool and is electrocuted.
In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir, the Emir's older son, grants Woodman's company oil interests worth $75 million. Woodman, though initially insulted by the offer, gradually becomes 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 wants to use 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. His father, at the urging of the American government with the help of Whiting and his law firm, names the younger Meshal as his successor, causing Nasir to attempt a coup.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Written by: Stephen Gaghan
- Cinematography: Robert Elswit
- Edited by: Tim Squyres
- Music: Alexandre Desplat
- Production design: Dan Weil
- Produced by: Michael Nozik, Jennifer Fox, Georgia Kacandes
Cast
- George Clooney as Bob Barnes
- Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman
- Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday
- Chris Cooper as Jimmy Pope
- Amanda Peet as Julie Woodman
- William Hurt as Stan
- Christopher Plummer as Dean Whiting
- Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai
- Kayvan Novak as Arash
- Amr Waked as Mohammed Sheik Agiza
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: Arabic, English, Persian, Urdu, French, Mandarin
- Studios: Participant, 4M, Section Eight, FilmWorks
- Budget: $50,000,000
- Box office: $93,974,620
- Themes: petrol, central intelligence agency (cia), middle east, capitalism, globalization, persia, war on terror, conspiracy, false flag, geopolitics
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