Μύ George Clooney won an Oscar for his role as CIA agent Bob Barnes in Syriana. But this intricate film by Stephen Gaghan isn't just Clooney's latest bit of liberal grandstanding; it's a conspiracy thriller "pregnant with urgency and dread." Using a tapestry of interweaving storylines, it tells the story of our crippling dependence on oil, a subject that resonates with politically and ecologically-minded audiences.
A Slippery Subject
As usual Clooney has a lot to say about world affairs, but in A Conversation... featurette he makes it clear that, "We didn't want to make a political stand out of this film. " Instead he talks about the complex dynamics between the consumers and providers of oil as well as the thorny family relationships that also provide drama in the story. He goes on to talk about the "element of danger that comes with working in Morocco" and his meeting with real-life spook Bob Baer who inspired his character. In between, there are glimpses behind the scenes and we get to listen in as Clooney confers with Stephen Gaghan before the cameras roll.
Although Clooney tells us that the private struggles of the key characters are an important part of the story, the relationship drama between Barnes and his wife Margaret (Greta Scaachi) was a casualty in the cutting room. At least we get to see a bit of this in two deleted scenes; one in a cafΓ© where Margaret asks her husband to show a bigger commitment to their family and the second in a hospital room after Barnes is subjected to a brutal interrogation.
One more deleted scene allows Barnes to neatly encapsulate his philosophy of intelligence gathering as "Two people in a room, one of them asking for a favour that's a capital crime..."
A Call To Action
Cast and crew ask us to consider our own tacit complicity in the "venality, and mendacity, and brutality" that hold up the oil industry in the Make A Change, Make A Difference featurette. Gaghan admits to driving a fuel-hungry sports car, so that doesn't get us off to a good start although it does highlight what this film is really about. Bob Baer, who was a consultant on the film, sums it up best when he talks about our collective addiction mentality when it comes to oil - just like the abuse of drugs, it's a self-destructive pattern of behaviour in the long term. Meanwhile Alexander Siddig (who plays Prince Nasir Al-Subaai) prompts a discussion on the representation of Arab militants in the film, which aims to show the causes of fundamentalism.
Unfortunately Gaghan doesn't provide a commentary for the main feature and there isn't a lot on the mechanics of making the film, but this set of extras does at least provide a proper context for the story's geopolitical themes. Just try to keep your carbon footprints to a minimum when you rush out to buy it...
EXTRA FEATURES
Syriana is released on DVD on Monday 10th July
