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Syriana is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer s 2003 memoir See No Evil. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, and Mazhar Munir.

Syriana was shot in 200 locations in five continents, with large parts shot in the Middle East, Washington, D.C., and Africa. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Gaghan described incidents (including planned regime changes in Venezuela) from personal meetings and interviews with the most powerful oil owners, owners of media houses, lobbyists, lawyers, and politicians which were included in the film. As with Gaghan s screenplay for Traffic, Syriana uses multiple, parallel storylines, jumping between locations in Iran, Texas, Washington, D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and Lebanon.

Clooney s performance was critically acclaimed, earning him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as British Academy Film Award, Critics Choice Movie Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Gaghan was nominated for an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his screenplay. As of April 20, 2006, the film had grossed a total of $50.82 million at the U.S. box office and $43.2 million overseas, for a total of $94 million.

Gaghan changed the names of entities currently operating in the Middle East, while retaining their place in the story. Committee for the Liberation of Iran was based on an organization called Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

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 DOJ have concerns. A Washington, D.C.-based law firm headed by Dean Whiting is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DOJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption.

Emir storyline

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 while, at the same time, the emir s younger son, Prince Meshal Al-Subaai, shows the estate s many rooms and areas to Chinese oil executives via remote-controlled cameras. No one notices that a crack in one of the swimming pool area s underwater lights has electrified the water. Just as Woodman and all 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 utilize 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.

Assassination storyline

Bob Barnes is a veteran CIA officer trying to stop illegal arms trafficking in the Middle East. While on assignment in Tehran to kill two arms dealers, Barnes notices that one of two anti-aircraft missiles intended to be used in a bombing was diverted to an Egyptian, while the other explodes and kills the two arms dealers. The dealers are later revealed to be Iranian Intelligence agents. Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft and is subsequently reassigned to a desk job. However, unaccustomed to the political discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong people by speaking his mind and is sent back to the field with the assignment of assassinating Prince Nasir, whom the CIA identifies as being the financier behind the Egyptian s acquisition of the missile. Prior to his reassignment, Barnes confides in his ex-CIA officer friend, Stan Goff, that he will return to Lebanon. Goff advises him to clear his presence with Hezbollah so they know he is not acting against them. Barnes travels to Lebanon, obtains safe passage from a Hezbollah leader, and hires a mercenary named Mussawi to help kidnap and kill Nasir. But Mussawi has become an Iranian agent and has Barnes abducted. Mussawi tortures Barnes and prepares to behead him, but the Hezbollah leader arrives and stops him.

When the CIA learns that Mussawi plans to broadcast the agency s intention to kill Nasir, they set Barnes up as a scapegoat, portraying him as a rogue officer. Barnes s boss, Terry George, worries that Barnes might talk about the Nasir assassination plan and that killing Nasir with a drone would make it obvious as an American-backed assassination. He has Barnes s passports revoked, locks him out of his computer at work, and initiates an investigation of him. Barnes, however, learns from Goff that Whiting, working on behalf of a group of businessmen calling themselves The Committee to Liberate Iran, is responsible for Barnes s blackballing and the assassination, and threatens Whiting and his family unless he halts the investigation and releases Barnes s passports.

Barnes returns to the Middle East and approaches Prince Nasir s convoy to warn him of the assassination plan. As he arrives, a guided bomb from a circling Predator drone strikes the automobile of Nasir and his family, killing them and Barnes instantly. Woodman, having earlier offered his seat in Nasir s car to a member of the prince s family, survives the drone strike and goes home to his wife and remaining son.

Wasim storyline

Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan and his son Wasim board a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery, only to discover that they have been laid off. Since the company had provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work but is refused because he doesn t speak good Arabic. Wasim and his friend join a madrasa to learn Arabic in order to improve their employment prospects. While playing soccer, they meet a charismatic Islamic fundamentalist, the same man who received the missing Tehran missile, who eventually leads them to execute a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen tanker using the missile.

Merger storyline

Bennett Holiday meets with Dean Whiting, who is convinced that Killen bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating Connex-Killen s records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that leads back to a transaction between Texas oilman and Killen colleague Danny Dalton and Kazakh officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with corruption in order to serve as a body to get the DOJ off the back of the rest of Connex-Killen. U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DOJ information about illegal activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not enough. Holiday meets with the CEO of Killen Oil, Jimmy Pope, and informs him that the DOJ needs a second body in order to drop the investigation. Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday s firm above him would be sufficient as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the DOJ would stop the investigation and allow the merger.

Holiday is brought by his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt to meet with the Chairman & CEO of Connex Oil, Leland Lee Janus. Holiday reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DOJ as the second body, thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to accept the Oil Industry Man of the Year award with a load taken off his shoulders.

Cast

  • Kayvan Novak as Arash
  • George Clooney as Bob Barnes
  • Amr Waked as Mohammed Sheik Agiza
  • Christopher Plummer as Dean Whiting
  • Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday
  • Chris Cooper as Jimmy Pope
  • Robert Foxworth as Tommy Barton
  • Nicky Henson as Sydney Hewitt
  • Nicholas Art as Riley Woodman
  • Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman
  • Amanda Peet as Julie Woodman
  • Steven Hinkle as Max Woodman
  • Daisy Tormé as Rebecca
  • Peter Gerety as Leland Janus
  • Richard Lintern as Bryan s Boss
  • Jocelyn Quivrin as Vincent
  • Mazhar Munir as Wasim Khan
  • Shahid Ahmed as Saleem Ahmed Khan
  • Roger Yuan as Chinese Engineer
  • Jayne Atkinson as Division Chief
  • Tom McCarthy as Fred Franks
  • Jamey Sheridan as Terry
  • Max Minghella as Robby Barnes
  • Nadim Sawalha as Emir Hamed Al-Subaai
  • Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai
  • William Charles Mitchell as Bennett Holiday Sr.
  • Tim Blake Nelson as Danny Dalton
  • David Clennon as Donald
  • William Hurt as Stan
  • Mark Strong as Mussawi
  • Will McCormack as Willy
  • Michael Allinson as Sir David

Production

While working on Traffic, Stephen Gaghan began to see parallels between drug addiction and America s dependency on foreign oil. Another source of inspiration came from 9/11 and Gaghan s lack of knowledge about the Middle East. He said, When 9/11 happened, it suddenly was a war on terror, which I think of as a war on emotions. It all started to click for me. A few weeks after 9/11, Steven Soderbergh sent Gaghan a copy of ex-CIA officer Robert Baer s memoir, See No Evil. The screenwriter read the book and wanted to turn it into a film because it added another layer to the story that Gaghan wanted to tell. Soderbergh bought the rights to See No Evil and negotiated the deal with Warner Bros.

Gaghan met Baer for lunch and then, for six weeks in 2002, the two men traveled from Washington to Geneva to the French Riviera to Lebanon, Syria and Dubai, meeting with lobbyists, arms dealers, oil traders, Arab officials and the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. Meeting Baer, Gaghan realized that the man had gone out there and done and seen things that he was not allowed to talk about, and wouldn t, but he was angry about and also trying to make amends for. Before any filming took place, Gaghan convinced Warner Bros. to give him an unlimited research budget and no deadline. He did his own legwork, meeting with oil traders in London and lawyers in Washington, D.C. Moments after arriving in Beirut in 2002, Gaghan was taken from the airport in a blindfold and hood where he met with Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who was interested in films. He decided to grant the writer an audience even though he had not requested one. In addition, Gaghan dined with men suspected of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and met with former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle.

Gaghan has cited as influences on Syriana, European films like Roberto Rossellini s Rome, Open City, Costa Gavras Z, and Gillo Pontecorvo s The Battle of Algiers.

Another influence, or resource—one that might also explain the movie s use of a documentary clip featuring John D. Rockefeller—is the fact that Gaghan s fashion-designer wife Minnie Mortimer is the great-granddaughter of onetime Standard Oil executive Henry Morgan Tilford.

Harrison Ford turned down the role of Bob Barnes (the role played by George Clooney), regretting it later, stating, I didn t feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake. This is the second Stephen Gaghan-written role Ford has declined, having turned down the role of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, a role that eventually went to Michael Douglas.

Principal photography

Gaghan shot in over 200 locations on four continents with 100 speaking parts. Syriana originally had five storylines, all of which were filmed. The fifth storyline, centering on Michelle Monaghan playing a Miss USA who becomes involved with a rich Arab oilman, was cut when the film became too complicated. Also, a role played by Greta Scacchi, as Bob Barnes wife, was also cut before the final release. Parts of the film were shot in Lebanon, Dubai and other parts of the Middle East.

Score

Title

The film s title is suggested to derive from the hypothesized Pax Syriana, as an allusion to the necessary state of peace between Syria and the U.S. as it relates to the oil business. In a December 2005 interview, Baer told NPR that the title is a metaphor for foreign intervention in the Middle East, referring to post-World War I think tank strategic studies for the creation of an artificial state (such as Iraq, created from elements of the former Ottoman Empire) that ensured continued western access to crude oil.

The movie s website states that ‘Syriana’ is a real term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East. Gaghan said he saw Syriana as a great word that could stand for man s perpetual hope of remaking any geographic region to suit his own needs. The word Syriana derives from Syria + the Latin suffix -ana; it means, roughly, in the manner of Syria. Historically, Syria refers not to the state that since 1944 has borne the name, but to a more extensive land stretching from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the middle Euphrates River and the western edge of the desert steppe, and from the Tauric system of mountains in the north to the edge of the Sinai desert in the south. This land was part of the Fertile Crescent, and has historically been a geopolitically crucial junction for trade routes from the east, from Asia Minor and the Aegean, and from Egypt, and has long been a focus of great power conflicts. The word Syria does not appear in the Hebrew original of the Scriptures, but appears in the Septuagint as the translation of Aram. Herodotus speaks of Syrians as identical with Assyrians, but the term s geographical significance was not well defined in pre-Greek and Greek times. As an ethnic term, Syrian came to refer in Antiquity to Semitic peoples living outside Mesopotamian and Arabian areas. Greco-Roman administrations were the first to apply the term to a definite district.

Release

Syriana was released on November 23, 2005 in limited release in only five theaters grossing $374,502 on its opening weekend. It went into wide release on December 9, 2005 in 1,752 theaters grossing $11.7 million on that weekend. It went on to make $50.8 million in North America and $43.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $94 million. Censor authorities in some parts of the Middle East censored parts of the movie, because it depicted foreigners being ill-treated. Although abuse of foreign workers is rife, the censor authorities deemed such scenes as insulting.

Reception

Critical reception

Syriana received generally positive reviews, mostly for Clooney s performance and Gaghan s screenplay. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 73% based on 198 reviews, with an average score of 6.89/10. The website s consensus states, Ambitious, complicated, intellectual, and demanding of its audience, Syriana is both a gripping geopolitical thriller and wake-up call to the complacent. The film has a score of 76 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 40 critics indicating Generally favorable reviews .

As a motion picture, the main criticism, even among reviewers who praised the film, was the confusion created by following numerous stories. Most critics stated that it was almost impossible to follow the plot, though some, notably Roger Ebert, praised precisely that quality of the film and offered an interesting hidden story possibility (a covert deal between the U.S. and China involving oil being shipped through Kazakhstan and passed off as coming from a different source). The audience confusion mimics the confusion of the characters, who are enmeshed in the events around them without a clear understanding of what precisely is going on. As with Gaghan s screenplay for Traffic, Syriana uses multiple, parallel storylines, jumping from locations in Texas, Washington D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and the Middle East, leading film critic Ebert to describe the film as hyperlink cinema.

Time magazine s Richard Corliss wrote, Gaghan relies on Clooney s agnostic heroism to lure viewers into his maze. When they get there, they will find not a conventionally satisfying movie but a kind of illustrated journalism: an engrossing, insider s tour of the world s hottest spots, grandest schemes and most dangerous men. In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote, This is conspiracy-theory filmmaking of the most bravura kind, but if only a fraction of its suppositions are true, we—and the world—are in a world of trouble. USA Today gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, Gaghan assumes his audience is smart enough to follow his explosive tour of global petro-politics. The result is thought-provoking and unnerving, emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating. Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B− rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, it s also the kind of movie that requires a viewer to work actively for comprehension, and to chalk up any lack of same to his or her own deficiency in the face of something so evidently smart.

In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote: If anything, Syriana tends to oversimplify a mind-bogglingly multifaceted problem that cannot so easily be resolved by a diatribe against the supposedly all-powerful Americans. Rolling Stone magazine s Peter Travers gave the film his highest rating and praised George Clooney s performance: This is the best acting Clooney has ever done—he s hypnotic, haunting and quietly devastating. Philip French, in his review for The Observer, praised the film as thoughtful, exciting and urgent . In his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote, But what complicates the plot is writer-director Stephen Gaghan s reluctance to criticise America too much. Instead of complexity, there is a blank, uncompelling tangle, which conceals a kind of complacent political correctness.

Ebert named it the second-best film of 2005, behind Crash. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone named it as the third best film of 2005. Entertainment Weekly ranked Syriana as one of the 25 Powerful Political Thrillers in film history.

Top ten lists

Syriana was listed on many critics top ten lists.

  • 1st – Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
  • 2nd – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
  • 2nd – James Berardinelli, Reelviews
  • 2nd – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
  • 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press
  • 3rd – Alison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
  • 3rd – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
  • 4th – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
  • 6th – David Germain, Associated Press
  • 7th – Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
  • Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times

Accolades

Award / Association / Film festival Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Academy Awards March 5, 2006 Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Won
Best Original Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Nominated
African-American Film Critics Association 2005 Top Ten Films Syriana 5th place
American Film Institute January 13, 2006 Top 10 Movies of the Year Syriana Won
Art Directors Guild Awards February 11, 2006 Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film Dan Weil Nominated
Artios Awards November 1, 2006 Feature Film Casting — Drama Avy Kaufman, Lora Kennedy, and Lucinda Syson Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association 2005 Best Film Syriana 9th place
Belgian Film Critics Association January 6, 2007 Grand Prix Syriana Nominated
Black Reel Awards February 18, 2006 Best Supporting Actor Jeffrey Wright Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics December 11, 2005 Best Ensemble Cast Syriana Won
British Academy Film Awards February 19, 2006 Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Nominated
Costume Designers Guild Awards February 26, 2006 Excellence in Contemporary Film Louise Frogley Nominated
Critics Choice Movie Awards January 9, 2006 Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Nominated
Best Acting Ensemble Syriana Nominated
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association December 19, 2005 Top 10 Films Syriana 6th place
Best Supporting Actor George Clooney 4th place
Edgar Allan Poe Awards April 27, 2006 Best Motion Picture Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Won
Environmental Media Awards November 8, 2006 Feature Film Syriana Nominated
Golden Globe Awards January 16, 2006 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture George Clooney Won
Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards June 1, 2006 Best Drama Syriana Nominated
Hollywood Film Awards October 24, 2005 Hollywood Casting Director Award Avy Kaufman Won
NAACP Image Awards February 25, 2006 Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film Syriana Nominated
National Board of Review January 10, 2006 Top Ten Films Syriana Won
Best Adapted Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Won
New York Film Critics Online December 11, 2005 Top 9 Films Syriana Won
Robert Awards February 4, 2007 Best American Film Syriana Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards January 29, 2006 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role George Clooney Nominated
St. Louis Film Critics Association Best Picture Syriana Nominated
Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Won
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2006 Most Overrated Film Syriana Won
Turkish Film Critics Association January 22, 2007 Best Foreign Film Syriana 8th place
USC Scripter Awards February 11, 2006 USC Scripter Award Stephen Gaghan and Robert Baer Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards February 4, 2006 Best Adapted Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Nominated

Syriana is a 2005 American political thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan, loosely based on Robert Baer s 2003 memoir See No Evil. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, and Mazhar Munir.

Syriana was shot in 200 locations in five continents, with large parts shot in the Middle East, Washington, D.C., and Africa. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Gaghan described incidents (including planned regime changes in Venezuela) from personal meetings and interviews with the most powerful oil owners, owners of media houses, lobbyists, lawyers, and politicians which were included in the film. As with Gaghan s screenplay for Traffic, Syriana uses multiple, parallel storylines, jumping between locations in Iran, Texas, Washington, D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and Lebanon.

Clooney s performance was critically acclaimed, earning him an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as British Academy Film Award, Critics Choice Movie Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. Gaghan was nominated for an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for his screenplay. As of April 20, 2006, the film had grossed a total of $50.82 million at the U.S. box office and $43.2 million overseas, for a total of $94 million.

Gaghan changed the names of entities currently operating in the Middle East, while retaining their place in the story. Committee for the Liberation of Iran was based on an organization called Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

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 DOJ have concerns. A Washington, D.C.-based law firm headed by Dean Whiting is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DOJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption.

Emir storyline

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 while, at the same time, the emir s younger son, Prince Meshal Al-Subaai, shows the estate s many rooms and areas to Chinese oil executives via remote-controlled cameras. No one notices that a crack in one of the swimming pool area s underwater lights has electrified the water. Just as Woodman and all 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 utilize 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.

Assassination storyline

Bob Barnes is a veteran CIA officer trying to stop illegal arms trafficking in the Middle East. While on assignment in Tehran to kill two arms dealers, Barnes notices that one of two anti-aircraft missiles intended to be used in a bombing was diverted to an Egyptian, while the other explodes and kills the two arms dealers. The dealers are later revealed to be Iranian Intelligence agents. Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft and is subsequently reassigned to a desk job. However, unaccustomed to the political discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong people by speaking his mind and is sent back to the field with the assignment of assassinating Prince Nasir, whom the CIA identifies as being the financier behind the Egyptian s acquisition of the missile. Prior to his reassignment, Barnes confides in his ex-CIA officer friend, Stan Goff, that he will return to Lebanon. Goff advises him to clear his presence with Hezbollah so they know he is not acting against them. Barnes travels to Lebanon, obtains safe passage from a Hezbollah leader, and hires a mercenary named Mussawi to help kidnap and kill Nasir. But Mussawi has become an Iranian agent and has Barnes abducted. Mussawi tortures Barnes and prepares to behead him, but the Hezbollah leader arrives and stops him.

When the CIA learns that Mussawi plans to broadcast the agency s intention to kill Nasir, they set Barnes up as a scapegoat, portraying him as a rogue officer. Barnes s boss, Terry George, worries that Barnes might talk about the Nasir assassination plan and that killing Nasir with a drone would make it obvious as an American-backed assassination. He has Barnes s passports revoked, locks him out of his computer at work, and initiates an investigation of him. Barnes, however, learns from Goff that Whiting, working on behalf of a group of businessmen calling themselves The Committee to Liberate Iran, is responsible for Barnes s blackballing and the assassination, and threatens Whiting and his family unless he halts the investigation and releases Barnes s passports.

Barnes returns to the Middle East and approaches Prince Nasir s convoy to warn him of the assassination plan. As he arrives, a guided bomb from a circling Predator drone strikes the automobile of Nasir and his family, killing them and Barnes instantly. Woodman, having earlier offered his seat in Nasir s car to a member of the prince s family, survives the drone strike and goes home to his wife and remaining son.

Wasim storyline

Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan and his son Wasim board a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery, only to discover that they have been laid off. Since the company had provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work but is refused because he doesn t speak good Arabic. Wasim and his friend join a madrasa to learn Arabic in order to improve their employment prospects. While playing soccer, they meet a charismatic Islamic fundamentalist, the same man who received the missing Tehran missile, who eventually leads them to execute a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen tanker using the missile.

Merger storyline

Bennett Holiday meets with Dean Whiting, who is convinced that Killen bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating Connex-Killen s records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that leads back to a transaction between Texas oilman and Killen colleague Danny Dalton and Kazakh officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with corruption in order to serve as a body to get the DOJ off the back of the rest of Connex-Killen. U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DOJ information about illegal activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not enough. Holiday meets with the CEO of Killen Oil, Jimmy Pope, and informs him that the DOJ needs a second body in order to drop the investigation. Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday s firm above him would be sufficient as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the DOJ would stop the investigation and allow the merger.

Holiday is brought by his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt to meet with the Chairman & CEO of Connex Oil, Leland Lee Janus. Holiday reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DOJ as the second body, thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to accept the Oil Industry Man of the Year award with a load taken off his shoulders.

Cast

  • Kayvan Novak as Arash
  • George Clooney as Bob Barnes
  • Amr Waked as Mohammed Sheik Agiza
  • Christopher Plummer as Dean Whiting
  • Jeffrey Wright as Bennett Holiday
  • Chris Cooper as Jimmy Pope
  • Robert Foxworth as Tommy Barton
  • Nicky Henson as Sydney Hewitt
  • Nicholas Art as Riley Woodman
  • Matt Damon as Bryan Woodman
  • Amanda Peet as Julie Woodman
  • Steven Hinkle as Max Woodman
  • Daisy Tormé as Rebecca
  • Peter Gerety as Leland Janus
  • Richard Lintern as Bryan s Boss
  • Jocelyn Quivrin as Vincent
  • Mazhar Munir as Wasim Khan
  • Shahid Ahmed as Saleem Ahmed Khan
  • Roger Yuan as Chinese Engineer
  • Jayne Atkinson as Division Chief
  • Tom McCarthy as Fred Franks
  • Jamey Sheridan as Terry
  • Max Minghella as Robby Barnes
  • Nadim Sawalha as Emir Hamed Al-Subaai
  • Alexander Siddig as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai
  • William Charles Mitchell as Bennett Holiday Sr.
  • Tim Blake Nelson as Danny Dalton
  • David Clennon as Donald
  • William Hurt as Stan
  • Mark Strong as Mussawi
  • Will McCormack as Willy
  • Michael Allinson as Sir David

Production

While working on Traffic, Stephen Gaghan began to see parallels between drug addiction and America s dependency on foreign oil. Another source of inspiration came from 9/11 and Gaghan s lack of knowledge about the Middle East. He said, When 9/11 happened, it suddenly was a war on terror, which I think of as a war on emotions. It all started to click for me. A few weeks after 9/11, Steven Soderbergh sent Gaghan a copy of ex-CIA officer Robert Baer s memoir, See No Evil. The screenwriter read the book and wanted to turn it into a film because it added another layer to the story that Gaghan wanted to tell. Soderbergh bought the rights to See No Evil and negotiated the deal with Warner Bros.

Gaghan met Baer for lunch and then, for six weeks in 2002, the two men traveled from Washington to Geneva to the French Riviera to Lebanon, Syria and Dubai, meeting with lobbyists, arms dealers, oil traders, Arab officials and the spiritual leader of Hezbollah. Meeting Baer, Gaghan realized that the man had gone out there and done and seen things that he was not allowed to talk about, and wouldn t, but he was angry about and also trying to make amends for. Before any filming took place, Gaghan convinced Warner Bros. to give him an unlimited research budget and no deadline. He did his own legwork, meeting with oil traders in London and lawyers in Washington, D.C. Moments after arriving in Beirut in 2002, Gaghan was taken from the airport in a blindfold and hood where he met with Sheik Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who was interested in films. He decided to grant the writer an audience even though he had not requested one. In addition, Gaghan dined with men suspected of killing former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and met with former Defense Policy Board chairman Richard Perle.

Gaghan has cited as influences on Syriana, European films like Roberto Rossellini s Rome, Open City, Costa Gavras Z, and Gillo Pontecorvo s The Battle of Algiers.

Another influence, or resource—one that might also explain the movie s use of a documentary clip featuring John D. Rockefeller—is the fact that Gaghan s fashion-designer wife Minnie Mortimer is the great-granddaughter of onetime Standard Oil executive Henry Morgan Tilford.

Harrison Ford turned down the role of Bob Barnes (the role played by George Clooney), regretting it later, stating, I didn t feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake. This is the second Stephen Gaghan-written role Ford has declined, having turned down the role of Robert Wakefield in Traffic, a role that eventually went to Michael Douglas.

Principal photography

Gaghan shot in over 200 locations on four continents with 100 speaking parts. Syriana originally had five storylines, all of which were filmed. The fifth storyline, centering on Michelle Monaghan playing a Miss USA who becomes involved with a rich Arab oilman, was cut when the film became too complicated. Also, a role played by Greta Scacchi, as Bob Barnes wife, was also cut before the final release. Parts of the film were shot in Lebanon, Dubai and other parts of the Middle East.

Score

Title

The film s title is suggested to derive from the hypothesized Pax Syriana, as an allusion to the necessary state of peace between Syria and the U.S. as it relates to the oil business. In a December 2005 interview, Baer told NPR that the title is a metaphor for foreign intervention in the Middle East, referring to post-World War I think tank strategic studies for the creation of an artificial state (such as Iraq, created from elements of the former Ottoman Empire) that ensured continued western access to crude oil.

The movie s website states that ‘Syriana’ is a real term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East. Gaghan said he saw Syriana as a great word that could stand for man s perpetual hope of remaking any geographic region to suit his own needs. The word Syriana derives from Syria + the Latin suffix -ana; it means, roughly, in the manner of Syria. Historically, Syria refers not to the state that since 1944 has borne the name, but to a more extensive land stretching from the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the middle Euphrates River and the western edge of the desert steppe, and from the Tauric system of mountains in the north to the edge of the Sinai desert in the south. This land was part of the Fertile Crescent, and has historically been a geopolitically crucial junction for trade routes from the east, from Asia Minor and the Aegean, and from Egypt, and has long been a focus of great power conflicts. The word Syria does not appear in the Hebrew original of the Scriptures, but appears in the Septuagint as the translation of Aram. Herodotus speaks of Syrians as identical with Assyrians, but the term s geographical significance was not well defined in pre-Greek and Greek times. As an ethnic term, Syrian came to refer in Antiquity to Semitic peoples living outside Mesopotamian and Arabian areas. Greco-Roman administrations were the first to apply the term to a definite district.

Release

Syriana was released on November 23, 2005 in limited release in only five theaters grossing $374,502 on its opening weekend. It went into wide release on December 9, 2005 in 1,752 theaters grossing $11.7 million on that weekend. It went on to make $50.8 million in North America and $43.2 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $94 million. Censor authorities in some parts of the Middle East censored parts of the movie, because it depicted foreigners being ill-treated. Although abuse of foreign workers is rife, the censor authorities deemed such scenes as insulting.

Reception

Critical reception

Syriana received generally positive reviews, mostly for Clooney s performance and Gaghan s screenplay. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 73% based on 198 reviews, with an average score of 6.89/10. The website s consensus states, Ambitious, complicated, intellectual, and demanding of its audience, Syriana is both a gripping geopolitical thriller and wake-up call to the complacent. The film has a score of 76 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 40 critics indicating Generally favorable reviews .

As a motion picture, the main criticism, even among reviewers who praised the film, was the confusion created by following numerous stories. Most critics stated that it was almost impossible to follow the plot, though some, notably Roger Ebert, praised precisely that quality of the film and offered an interesting hidden story possibility (a covert deal between the U.S. and China involving oil being shipped through Kazakhstan and passed off as coming from a different source). The audience confusion mimics the confusion of the characters, who are enmeshed in the events around them without a clear understanding of what precisely is going on. As with Gaghan s screenplay for Traffic, Syriana uses multiple, parallel storylines, jumping from locations in Texas, Washington D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and the Middle East, leading film critic Ebert to describe the film as hyperlink cinema.

Time magazine s Richard Corliss wrote, Gaghan relies on Clooney s agnostic heroism to lure viewers into his maze. When they get there, they will find not a conventionally satisfying movie but a kind of illustrated journalism: an engrossing, insider s tour of the world s hottest spots, grandest schemes and most dangerous men. In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan wrote, This is conspiracy-theory filmmaking of the most bravura kind, but if only a fraction of its suppositions are true, we—and the world—are in a world of trouble. USA Today gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, Gaghan assumes his audience is smart enough to follow his explosive tour of global petro-politics. The result is thought-provoking and unnerving, emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating. Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B− rating and Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote, it s also the kind of movie that requires a viewer to work actively for comprehension, and to chalk up any lack of same to his or her own deficiency in the face of something so evidently smart.

In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote: If anything, Syriana tends to oversimplify a mind-bogglingly multifaceted problem that cannot so easily be resolved by a diatribe against the supposedly all-powerful Americans. Rolling Stone magazine s Peter Travers gave the film his highest rating and praised George Clooney s performance: This is the best acting Clooney has ever done—he s hypnotic, haunting and quietly devastating. Philip French, in his review for The Observer, praised the film as thoughtful, exciting and urgent . In his review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote, But what complicates the plot is writer-director Stephen Gaghan s reluctance to criticise America too much. Instead of complexity, there is a blank, uncompelling tangle, which conceals a kind of complacent political correctness.

Ebert named it the second-best film of 2005, behind Crash. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone named it as the third best film of 2005. Entertainment Weekly ranked Syriana as one of the 25 Powerful Political Thrillers in film history.

Top ten lists

Syriana was listed on many critics top ten lists.

  • 1st – Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
  • 2nd – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
  • 2nd – James Berardinelli, Reelviews
  • 2nd – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
  • 3rd – Christy Lemire, Associated Press
  • 3rd – Alison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
  • 3rd – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
  • 4th – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
  • 6th – David Germain, Associated Press
  • 7th – Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
  • Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer
  • Top 10 (listed alphabetically) – Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times

Accolades

Award / Association / Film festival Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref(s)
Academy Awards March 5, 2006 Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Won
Best Original Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Nominated
African-American Film Critics Association 2005 Top Ten Films Syriana 5th place
American Film Institute January 13, 2006 Top 10 Movies of the Year Syriana Won
Art Directors Guild Awards February 11, 2006 Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film Dan Weil Nominated
Artios Awards November 1, 2006 Feature Film Casting — Drama Avy Kaufman, Lora Kennedy, and Lucinda Syson Nominated
Austin Film Critics Association 2005 Best Film Syriana 9th place
Belgian Film Critics Association January 6, 2007 Grand Prix Syriana Nominated
Black Reel Awards February 18, 2006 Best Supporting Actor Jeffrey Wright Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics December 11, 2005 Best Ensemble Cast Syriana Won
British Academy Film Awards February 19, 2006 Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Nominated
Costume Designers Guild Awards February 26, 2006 Excellence in Contemporary Film Louise Frogley Nominated
Critics Choice Movie Awards January 9, 2006 Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Nominated
Best Acting Ensemble Syriana Nominated
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association December 19, 2005 Top 10 Films Syriana 6th place
Best Supporting Actor George Clooney 4th place
Edgar Allan Poe Awards April 27, 2006 Best Motion Picture Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Won
Environmental Media Awards November 8, 2006 Feature Film Syriana Nominated
Golden Globe Awards January 16, 2006 Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture George Clooney Won
Best Original Score Alexandre Desplat Nominated
Golden Trailer Awards June 1, 2006 Best Drama Syriana Nominated
Hollywood Film Awards October 24, 2005 Hollywood Casting Director Award Avy Kaufman Won
NAACP Image Awards February 25, 2006 Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film Syriana Nominated
National Board of Review January 10, 2006 Top Ten Films Syriana Won
Best Adapted Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Won
New York Film Critics Online December 11, 2005 Top 9 Films Syriana Won
Robert Awards February 4, 2007 Best American Film Syriana Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards January 29, 2006 Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role George Clooney Nominated
St. Louis Film Critics Association Best Picture Syriana Nominated
Best Supporting Actor George Clooney Won
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards 2006 Most Overrated Film Syriana Won
Turkish Film Critics Association January 22, 2007 Best Foreign Film Syriana 8th place
USC Scripter Awards February 11, 2006 USC Scripter Award Stephen Gaghan and Robert Baer Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards February 4, 2006 Best Adapted Screenplay Stephen Gaghan Nominated

Year 2005
ReleaseDate 2005-12-09
RuntimeMins 128
RuntimeStr 2h 8min
Plot A politically charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved in and affected by it.
Awards Won 1 Oscar, 13 wins & 30 nominations total
Directors Stephen Gaghan
Writers Stephen Gaghan, Robert Baer
Stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet
Produced by Sarah Bradshaw,George Clooney,Ben Cosgrove,Jennifer Fox,Georgia Kacandes,Elizabeth Kirkscey,Shannon Lail,Michael Nozik,Jeff Skoll,Steven Soderbergh
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by Robert Elswit
Film Editing by Tim Squyres
Casting By Avy Kaufman,Lora Kennedy,Lucinda Syson
Production Design by Dan Weil
Art Direction by Andrew Del Rosario,Rachid Quiat
Costume Design by Louise Frogley
Makeup Department Khalid Alami,Candice Banks,Christine Beveridge,Lorraine DeArmott-Boushell,Kay Georgiou,Charmaine Henninger,Maureen Hetherington,Mary Kim,Barry R. Koper,Marilyn MacDonald,Aicha El Meziane,Waldo Sanchez,Petra Schaumann,Terri Trupp,Keith VanderLaan,Martin Astles,Helga Bosman,Sherri Bramlett,Dan Crawley,Mary Kim,Mark Nieman,Donatella Novello,James Parr,Brian Sipe,Janice Tunnell,Keith VanderLaan
Production Management Zakaria Alaoui,Sarah Bradshaw,Omar Chraibi,Amanda Confavreux,Frédéric Delaloye,Christopher Granier-Deferre,Kevin Jenkins,Georgia Kacandes,Francine Lusser,Peter Mavromates,Karyn McCarthy,Gérard Monier,Mark Mostyn,David Murphy,Tim Smythe,Caroline Velan,Will Weiske,Mark Scoon
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director Tarik Ait Ben Ali,Peter Bennett,Julian Brain,Darwin Brooks,Kate Carver,Yann Mari Faget,Richard Goodwin,Ahmed Hatimi,Martin Kenzie,Pierre Lacourt,Eric A. Pot,Alison C. Rosa,Kaya Smythe,Henry Tomlinson,Adrian Toynton,Simon Warnock,Rami Yasin,Tobias Asam,Trey Batchelor,David Catalano,Tudor Jones,Amine Louadni,Stephanie Lovell,Mina Mouiz,Cian O Clery,Sonia Rossier,Antonin Schopfer
Art Department Ray Barrett,Ilde Di Benedetto,Olivia Bloch-Lainé,Carl Catanese,Jana Chovancova,John Cloke,June Connon,Alexandra D Ursel,Alain Darthou,Michael Davis,Anthony DeFrancesco,Louise Del Araujo,Pranali Diwadkar,Daran Fulham,Francesca Gerlach,Susanna Glattly,Jeffrey Pratt Gordon,Kevin Harris,Paul Hedges,William Hendrick,Alan Hook,Eric Hunsaker,Kevin Kropp,Deden Krouchi,Andrew Menzies,Ronald Napier,Tony Nicholson,Marguerite Ots,Laurent Ott,Jan Pascale,Marion Picard,Lionel Pouchard,Benoît Sanson,Tanja Schaffenrath,Philip Schneider,Stephen G. Shifflette,Christian Tobin,Krissi Williamson,Tiffany Zappulla,Mark Bentley,Erik Boring,Alex Brandenburg,Ronald J. Crouthamel,Jack Dyer,Ginny Galloway,Abdenabi Izlaguen,Billy Jilly Bones Jones,Ted Lubonovich II,Jim Magdaleno,Silvija L. Moess,Ted Nolan,Amin Rharda,David Scheper,Chris Snyder,Michele Tedlis,Jennifer Tufaro,E. Parker Webb
Sound Department David Betancourt,Larry Blake,Julie Feiner,Dawn Fintor,Carl Fischer,Mick Gormaley,Ben Greaves,Petur Hliddal,Vanessa Lapato,Jeena M. Phelps,Michael Rayle,Jeff Sawyer,Joe Schiff,Alicia Stevenson,Derek Casari,Vanessa Lapato,Derek Marcil,Eric Raber,Greg Steele,Greg Zimmerman
Special Effects by Hank Atterbury,Trevor Neighbour,Matt Veale,Trevor Wood,Everett Byrom III,William Catania,Chris Hampton,Stefano Pepin,Thomas Turnbull
Visual Effects by Eric Durst,Oliver Arnold,Ron Barr,Timur Taron Baysal,Christian Bloch,Andrea D Amico,Andrew Edwards,Derry Frost,Spence Fuller,John F. Gross,Timothy Heys-Cerchio,Erik Liles,Tony Meagher,Rob Meyers,Scott Michelson,Roger Mocenigo,Michael Morreale,David R. Morton,Greg Nelson,Jeremy Oddo,Phillip Palousek,Chris Payne,Eddie Robison,Chris B. Schnitzer,Gregory S. Scribner,Martha Soehendra,Katie Spinelli,Colin Strause,Greg Strause,Wilson Tang,Shigeharu Tomotoshi,Chris Wells,Yoshiya Yamada
Stunts Bruce Cain,Steve Dent,David Garrick,Matthew Sampson,Andy Smart,C.C. Smiff,Neil Smith,Peter White,Leonard Woodcock,Bruce Cain,Rick Kain,Michael Luckeroth,Ron Oakley,Domonkos Pardanyi,David Pryce
Camera and Electrical Department Alfred Ainsworth Jr.,Colin Anderson,Sidney Ray Baldwin,Michael Bauman,Mike Bonnaud,Jasmine Yuen Carrucan,Marcello Colaciello,Clint Covey,Adam Dale,Will Dearborn,Claudio Del Gobbo,Massimiliano Dessena,Crispin Dominic,François Duhamel,Kate Filby,Will Humphris,Barry Baz Idoine,Michael Kenner,Martin Kenzie,David Kirman,Jeff Kunkel,Thomas Loizeaux,Oliver Loncraine,Luca Martis,Gavin McKenzie,Ray Meere,Tommaso Mele,David Morgan,John Morris,Spencer Murray,Mohamad Naseeruddin,Charlie Newberry,Rhys Owen,Jim Plannette,David Presley,Ken Regan,Mike Sime,Adrian Spanna,Wes Sullivan,Gregor Tavenner,Sara-Jane Valentine,Daniel Vilar,Mark Walpole,Glen Wilson,Charlie Woodburn,Francesco Zaccaria,Curtis A. Andrews Jr.,Simon Baechler,Chris Bangma,Jonathan Beck,Joey Bruce,Kelly Clear,Lamont Crawford,Paul Daley,Thomas M. Dangcil,Willie E. Dawkins,Stefano Di Pasquali,Kate Filby,Doriano Forti,Claudio Frollano,Bryan Gilbert,Tim Hennessy,Jim Knell,Tim Kossa,Paul Lambiase,Christopher Murphy,Michael Patrick O Leary,Heather Page,Giorgio Pezzotti,Michael Pinkey,Adam Drew Schwartz,Angel M. Sepulveda,Cristiano Sergioli,Ian Speed,Julian Sternthal,Massimiliano Sticchi,Rick Strodel,Mariana Sánchez de Antuñano,Brett Tyler,Mike Wilson
Casting Department Kristy Carlson,Elizabeth Greenberg,Arlene Kiyabu,Philip N. Labib,Pat Moran,Linda Mutawi,Juliette Ménager,Nashwa Al Ruwaini,Alia Al Shibli,Amie Stephenson,Souhail Wilson,Dagmar Wittmer,Todd Feldman,Luis Garcia,Barbara Harris,Kelly Hunt,Laura Neal,Rod Roberts,Sonia Rossier,Mandy Sprinkel,John Strawbridge,Deanna Gallucio Young
Costume and Wardrobe Department Abdelkrim Akallach,Amine Benkhayi,Johnetta Boone,John Casey,Kay Devanthey,Chafika Khannous,Deborah Latham,Mara Majorowicz,Marina Marit,Carolyn Marston,Neil McClean,Leila Oumami,Nina Padovano,Ajith Prera,Garet Reilly,Richard Schoen,Dana Schondelmeyer,Barnaby Smith,Gabriel DellaVecchia,Michele Forsythe,Otmane Khammari,Senna Shanti
Editorial Department Sorin Ariel Iarovici,Abazar Khayami,Bryan Kohl,Stephen McManus,Ryan Murphy,Stephen Nakamura,Daniel Pine,Jessica Kumai Scott,Lee Twohey,Ron Barr,Steve Calalang,Bill Daly,Michael T. Forrest,Mo Henry,Keith Shaw,Yoram Tal
Location Management Adil Abdelwahab,Mohammed Abdulkader,Mounir Badia,Saddam Badreddine,Mohamed Benhmamane,S. Todd Christensen,Philippe Coeytaux,Simon Crook,Caprice Ericson,John Latenser V,Sayed Mansoor,Christian McWilliams,Talal Al Mobaid,Abdul Al Azez Mohamad,Serge Musy,Mohamad Al Nasani,Mohamad Al Nassani,Fares Rabah,Ben Rimmer,Michael Sharp,Ammar Yasser,Rehya Young,Hamid Zoughi,Youssef Abagourram,Alissa Collins,Lisa Fozzati,Robbie Friedmann,John David Gunkle,R. Mike King,Joseph Martin,Peter Martorano,Steve Mortimore,Jessica Needleman,Matthew Dillon Noonan,Brian M. O Neill,Jonathan Reich
Music Department Jivan Gasparyan,Cassandra Richburg,Ryan Robinson,Dennis S. Sands,Nick Vidar,Carter Armstrong,Jean-Pascal Beintus,John Bilezikjian,Tom Brown,Bryan Clements,Mark Eshelman,Mark Graham,Jim Hoffman,Jonathan A. Hughes,Greg Loskorn,Matt McLeod,Adam Michalak,Peter Rotter,Andrew Shulman,Steven L. Smith,Nick Vidar,Richard Ziegler
Script and Continuity Department Mary Cybulski
Transportation Department Khalid Ameskane,Ali Bakkioui,Kawtar Bellafquih,Ahmed Benjlil,Greg Campbell,Gérard Cavat,Roy Clarke,Rick Cochin,Said Errifaai,Redouane Fihi,Gerry Gore,Dean Hokanson,Graham Kelly,Michael Luckeroth,Adil Miftah,Mohamad Al Nasani,Ron Oakley,Chris Webb,Gilbert Young,Declan Barry,John R. Dove,Roy A. Grace,Louise Hills,Boris Olomi,Chris J. Smith
Additional Crew Abde Sallam Ait Abdellah,Kirby Adams,Samia Adnan,Nasser Ahmed,Talal Al Dhabyani,Hassan Al Sweidi,Kate Amer,Saundra Marie Ardito,Dylan Ashbrook,Clint Bailey,Daren Bailey,Joel Bailey,Jane Bard,Jody Beaudin,Rich Beierlein,Taoufiq Belemqadem,Michael Knox Beran,Debra Berriman,Bikram Singh Bhamra,Shannon Burke,Kami Calevro,Doug Carter,Ayesha Chagla,Brian Cooper,Ian Creed,Clare Cunningham,Cristiano D Urso,Tom Dames,Louise DeCordoba,Melissa Demino,Guy Drayton,Kevin Dugard,Stephanie Dölker,Madeleine Ehrenborg,Mehdi El Atlassi,Said Errifaai,Evelyn S. Farkas,Joe Fiske,Tom Forbes,D Etta Galloway,Ginny Galloway,Virginia Geckler,Simone Goodridge,Raf Green,Faical Hajji,Hakima Hammoudi,Peter Harcourt,Rob Harris,Joshua C. Hersko,Dan Hillsdon,Gaspard Hirschi,Houda Jabrane,Gareth Jones,Aymen Khalifa,Elizabeth Kirkscey,Khadja Koulla,Alex Krimm,Ashifa Lalani,Emily Lascelles,Matthew Lee,James Linville,Christopher Lopez,Stephen MacSearraigh,Elizabeth MacSwan,Daniel F. Malone,Peter McClue,Angel McConnell,Maureen McEvoy,Chris Menke,Aurélie Mertenat,Melissa Morgan,Melissa H. Morgan,Peter Morgan,Lee Murphy,Nigel Nally,Ruth Nicol,Matthew H. O Connor,Colin J. O Hara,Muna Otaru,Lance Palmer,Edward Poveda,Jack Shaheen,Dave Shaw,Keleigh Slaight,Joanna Slennett,Stuart Stevens,Heather Thomas-Hughes,Peter Titterell,Catherine Tyler,John D. Vaughan,Derek Wade,John Burton West,Marc Wolff,Zaid Abu Hamdan,John Arbuckle,Luke Avery,Luke Barnett,Denise A. Beale,Soumaya Bellafquih,Ralph Bertelle,Charles Bodycomb,Brinton Bryan,Tom J. Carlisle,Leah Chalk,Tora Chung,Michael Dennehy,John Doty,Jake Edmonds,Hicham El Ghorfi,Jordan Brendan Finnegan,McCord Fitzsimmons,Steven Fulton,Joel Goldes,Cleve Gray,Vanessa Grayson,John Henry,Sarah Hood,Richard Hooper,John Morgan Jacobson,Mark Jacyszyn,Charles Man Johnson,Richard Keeshan,Donald Kilgore,Laura King,Dan Krovich,Hugo Lang,Myriam Loukili,Harvey Lowry,John Malakoff,Darren Maynard,Gil McKinney,Patrick Tendai Pfupajena,Julia Prat,Jerry Shandy,Ed Symon,Kevin Trehy,Karen Wacker,Steven Wargo,Troy Waters,Don Whatley,Terrence B. Zinn
Thanks King Mohamed VI
Genres Drama, Thriller
Companies Warner Bros., Participant, 4M
Countries USA, United Arab Emirates
Languages English, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, French, Mandarin
ContentRating R
ImDbRating 6.9
ImDbRatingVotes 130521
MetacriticRating 76
Keywords oil,corruption,big oil,hezbollah,lebanon
Year 2005
ReleaseDate 2005-12-09
RuntimeMins 128
RuntimeStr 2h 8min
Plot A politically charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved in and affected by it.
Awards Won 1 Oscar, 13 wins & 30 nominations total
Directors Stephen Gaghan
Writers Stephen Gaghan, Robert Baer
Stars George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet
Produced by Sarah Bradshaw,George Clooney,Ben Cosgrove,Jennifer Fox,Georgia Kacandes,Elizabeth Kirkscey,Shannon Lail,Michael Nozik,Jeff Skoll,Steven Soderbergh
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by Robert Elswit
Film Editing by Tim Squyres
Casting By Avy Kaufman,Lora Kennedy,Lucinda Syson
Production Design by Dan Weil
Art Direction by Andrew Del Rosario,Rachid Quiat
Costume Design by Louise Frogley
Makeup Department Khalid Alami,Candice Banks,Christine Beveridge,Lorraine DeArmott-Boushell,Kay Georgiou,Charmaine Henninger,Maureen Hetherington,Mary Kim,Barry R. Koper,Marilyn MacDonald,Aicha El Meziane,Waldo Sanchez,Petra Schaumann,Terri Trupp,Keith VanderLaan,Martin Astles,Helga Bosman,Sherri Bramlett,Dan Crawley,Mary Kim,Mark Nieman,Donatella Novello,James Parr,Brian Sipe,Janice Tunnell,Keith VanderLaan
Production Management Zakaria Alaoui,Sarah Bradshaw,Omar Chraibi,Amanda Confavreux,Frédéric Delaloye,Christopher Granier-Deferre,Kevin Jenkins,Georgia Kacandes,Francine Lusser,Peter Mavromates,Karyn McCarthy,Gérard Monier,Mark Mostyn,David Murphy,Tim Smythe,Caroline Velan,Will Weiske,Mark Scoon
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director Tarik Ait Ben Ali,Peter Bennett,Julian Brain,Darwin Brooks,Kate Carver,Yann Mari Faget,Richard Goodwin,Ahmed Hatimi,Martin Kenzie,Pierre Lacourt,Eric A. Pot,Alison C. Rosa,Kaya Smythe,Henry Tomlinson,Adrian Toynton,Simon Warnock,Rami Yasin,Tobias Asam,Trey Batchelor,David Catalano,Tudor Jones,Amine Louadni,Stephanie Lovell,Mina Mouiz,Cian O Clery,Sonia Rossier,Antonin Schopfer
Art Department Ray Barrett,Ilde Di Benedetto,Olivia Bloch-Lainé,Carl Catanese,Jana Chovancova,John Cloke,June Connon,Alexandra D Ursel,Alain Darthou,Michael Davis,Anthony DeFrancesco,Louise Del Araujo,Pranali Diwadkar,Daran Fulham,Francesca Gerlach,Susanna Glattly,Jeffrey Pratt Gordon,Kevin Harris,Paul Hedges,William Hendrick,Alan Hook,Eric Hunsaker,Kevin Kropp,Deden Krouchi,Andrew Menzies,Ronald Napier,Tony Nicholson,Marguerite Ots,Laurent Ott,Jan Pascale,Marion Picard,Lionel Pouchard,Benoît Sanson,Tanja Schaffenrath,Philip Schneider,Stephen G. Shifflette,Christian Tobin,Krissi Williamson,Tiffany Zappulla,Mark Bentley,Erik Boring,Alex Brandenburg,Ronald J. Crouthamel,Jack Dyer,Ginny Galloway,Abdenabi Izlaguen,Billy Jilly Bones Jones,Ted Lubonovich II,Jim Magdaleno,Silvija L. Moess,Ted Nolan,Amin Rharda,David Scheper,Chris Snyder,Michele Tedlis,Jennifer Tufaro,E. Parker Webb
Sound Department David Betancourt,Larry Blake,Julie Feiner,Dawn Fintor,Carl Fischer,Mick Gormaley,Ben Greaves,Petur Hliddal,Vanessa Lapato,Jeena M. Phelps,Michael Rayle,Jeff Sawyer,Joe Schiff,Alicia Stevenson,Derek Casari,Vanessa Lapato,Derek Marcil,Eric Raber,Greg Steele,Greg Zimmerman
Special Effects by Hank Atterbury,Trevor Neighbour,Matt Veale,Trevor Wood,Everett Byrom III,William Catania,Chris Hampton,Stefano Pepin,Thomas Turnbull
Visual Effects by Eric Durst,Oliver Arnold,Ron Barr,Timur Taron Baysal,Christian Bloch,Andrea D Amico,Andrew Edwards,Derry Frost,Spence Fuller,John F. Gross,Timothy Heys-Cerchio,Erik Liles,Tony Meagher,Rob Meyers,Scott Michelson,Roger Mocenigo,Michael Morreale,David R. Morton,Greg Nelson,Jeremy Oddo,Phillip Palousek,Chris Payne,Eddie Robison,Chris B. Schnitzer,Gregory S. Scribner,Martha Soehendra,Katie Spinelli,Colin Strause,Greg Strause,Wilson Tang,Shigeharu Tomotoshi,Chris Wells,Yoshiya Yamada
Stunts Bruce Cain,Steve Dent,David Garrick,Matthew Sampson,Andy Smart,C.C. Smiff,Neil Smith,Peter White,Leonard Woodcock,Bruce Cain,Rick Kain,Michael Luckeroth,Ron Oakley,Domonkos Pardanyi,David Pryce
Camera and Electrical Department Alfred Ainsworth Jr.,Colin Anderson,Sidney Ray Baldwin,Michael Bauman,Mike Bonnaud,Jasmine Yuen Carrucan,Marcello Colaciello,Clint Covey,Adam Dale,Will Dearborn,Claudio Del Gobbo,Massimiliano Dessena,Crispin Dominic,François Duhamel,Kate Filby,Will Humphris,Barry Baz Idoine,Michael Kenner,Martin Kenzie,David Kirman,Jeff Kunkel,Thomas Loizeaux,Oliver Loncraine,Luca Martis,Gavin McKenzie,Ray Meere,Tommaso Mele,David Morgan,John Morris,Spencer Murray,Mohamad Naseeruddin,Charlie Newberry,Rhys Owen,Jim Plannette,David Presley,Ken Regan,Mike Sime,Adrian Spanna,Wes Sullivan,Gregor Tavenner,Sara-Jane Valentine,Daniel Vilar,Mark Walpole,Glen Wilson,Charlie Woodburn,Francesco Zaccaria,Curtis A. Andrews Jr.,Simon Baechler,Chris Bangma,Jonathan Beck,Joey Bruce,Kelly Clear,Lamont Crawford,Paul Daley,Thomas M. Dangcil,Willie E. Dawkins,Stefano Di Pasquali,Kate Filby,Doriano Forti,Claudio Frollano,Bryan Gilbert,Tim Hennessy,Jim Knell,Tim Kossa,Paul Lambiase,Christopher Murphy,Michael Patrick O Leary,Heather Page,Giorgio Pezzotti,Michael Pinkey,Adam Drew Schwartz,Angel M. Sepulveda,Cristiano Sergioli,Ian Speed,Julian Sternthal,Massimiliano Sticchi,Rick Strodel,Mariana Sánchez de Antuñano,Brett Tyler,Mike Wilson
Casting Department Kristy Carlson,Elizabeth Greenberg,Arlene Kiyabu,Philip N. Labib,Pat Moran,Linda Mutawi,Juliette Ménager,Nashwa Al Ruwaini,Alia Al Shibli,Amie Stephenson,Souhail Wilson,Dagmar Wittmer,Todd Feldman,Luis Garcia,Barbara Harris,Kelly Hunt,Laura Neal,Rod Roberts,Sonia Rossier,Mandy Sprinkel,John Strawbridge,Deanna Gallucio Young
Costume and Wardrobe Department Abdelkrim Akallach,Amine Benkhayi,Johnetta Boone,John Casey,Kay Devanthey,Chafika Khannous,Deborah Latham,Mara Majorowicz,Marina Marit,Carolyn Marston,Neil McClean,Leila Oumami,Nina Padovano,Ajith Prera,Garet Reilly,Richard Schoen,Dana Schondelmeyer,Barnaby Smith,Gabriel DellaVecchia,Michele Forsythe,Otmane Khammari,Senna Shanti
Editorial Department Sorin Ariel Iarovici,Abazar Khayami,Bryan Kohl,Stephen McManus,Ryan Murphy,Stephen Nakamura,Daniel Pine,Jessica Kumai Scott,Lee Twohey,Ron Barr,Steve Calalang,Bill Daly,Michael T. Forrest,Mo Henry,Keith Shaw,Yoram Tal
Location Management Adil Abdelwahab,Mohammed Abdulkader,Mounir Badia,Saddam Badreddine,Mohamed Benhmamane,S. Todd Christensen,Philippe Coeytaux,Simon Crook,Caprice Ericson,John Latenser V,Sayed Mansoor,Christian McWilliams,Talal Al Mobaid,Abdul Al Azez Mohamad,Serge Musy,Mohamad Al Nasani,Mohamad Al Nassani,Fares Rabah,Ben Rimmer,Michael Sharp,Ammar Yasser,Rehya Young,Hamid Zoughi,Youssef Abagourram,Alissa Collins,Lisa Fozzati,Robbie Friedmann,John David Gunkle,R. Mike King,Joseph Martin,Peter Martorano,Steve Mortimore,Jessica Needleman,Matthew Dillon Noonan,Brian M. O Neill,Jonathan Reich
Music Department Jivan Gasparyan,Cassandra Richburg,Ryan Robinson,Dennis S. Sands,Nick Vidar,Carter Armstrong,Jean-Pascal Beintus,John Bilezikjian,Tom Brown,Bryan Clements,Mark Eshelman,Mark Graham,Jim Hoffman,Jonathan A. Hughes,Greg Loskorn,Matt McLeod,Adam Michalak,Peter Rotter,Andrew Shulman,Steven L. Smith,Nick Vidar,Richard Ziegler
Script and Continuity Department Mary Cybulski
Transportation Department Khalid Ameskane,Ali Bakkioui,Kawtar Bellafquih,Ahmed Benjlil,Greg Campbell,Gérard Cavat,Roy Clarke,Rick Cochin,Said Errifaai,Redouane Fihi,Gerry Gore,Dean Hokanson,Graham Kelly,Michael Luckeroth,Adil Miftah,Mohamad Al Nasani,Ron Oakley,Chris Webb,Gilbert Young,Declan Barry,John R. Dove,Roy A. Grace,Louise Hills,Boris Olomi,Chris J. Smith
Additional Crew Abde Sallam Ait Abdellah,Kirby Adams,Samia Adnan,Nasser Ahmed,Talal Al Dhabyani,Hassan Al Sweidi,Kate Amer,Saundra Marie Ardito,Dylan Ashbrook,Clint Bailey,Daren Bailey,Joel Bailey,Jane Bard,Jody Beaudin,Rich Beierlein,Taoufiq Belemqadem,Michael Knox Beran,Debra Berriman,Bikram Singh Bhamra,Shannon Burke,Kami Calevro,Doug Carter,Ayesha Chagla,Brian Cooper,Ian Creed,Clare Cunningham,Cristiano D Urso,Tom Dames,Louise DeCordoba,Melissa Demino,Guy Drayton,Kevin Dugard,Stephanie Dölker,Madeleine Ehrenborg,Mehdi El Atlassi,Said Errifaai,Evelyn S. Farkas,Joe Fiske,Tom Forbes,D Etta Galloway,Ginny Galloway,Virginia Geckler,Simone Goodridge,Raf Green,Faical Hajji,Hakima Hammoudi,Peter Harcourt,Rob Harris,Joshua C. Hersko,Dan Hillsdon,Gaspard Hirschi,Houda Jabrane,Gareth Jones,Aymen Khalifa,Elizabeth Kirkscey,Khadja Koulla,Alex Krimm,Ashifa Lalani,Emily Lascelles,Matthew Lee,James Linville,Christopher Lopez,Stephen MacSearraigh,Elizabeth MacSwan,Daniel F. Malone,Peter McClue,Angel McConnell,Maureen McEvoy,Chris Menke,Aurélie Mertenat,Melissa Morgan,Melissa H. Morgan,Peter Morgan,Lee Murphy,Nigel Nally,Ruth Nicol,Matthew H. O Connor,Colin J. O Hara,Muna Otaru,Lance Palmer,Edward Poveda,Jack Shaheen,Dave Shaw,Keleigh Slaight,Joanna Slennett,Stuart Stevens,Heather Thomas-Hughes,Peter Titterell,Catherine Tyler,John D. Vaughan,Derek Wade,John Burton West,Marc Wolff,Zaid Abu Hamdan,John Arbuckle,Luke Avery,Luke Barnett,Denise A. Beale,Soumaya Bellafquih,Ralph Bertelle,Charles Bodycomb,Brinton Bryan,Tom J. Carlisle,Leah Chalk,Tora Chung,Michael Dennehy,John Doty,Jake Edmonds,Hicham El Ghorfi,Jordan Brendan Finnegan,McCord Fitzsimmons,Steven Fulton,Joel Goldes,Cleve Gray,Vanessa Grayson,John Henry,Sarah Hood,Richard Hooper,John Morgan Jacobson,Mark Jacyszyn,Charles Man Johnson,Richard Keeshan,Donald Kilgore,Laura King,Dan Krovich,Hugo Lang,Myriam Loukili,Harvey Lowry,John Malakoff,Darren Maynard,Gil McKinney,Patrick Tendai Pfupajena,Julia Prat,Jerry Shandy,Ed Symon,Kevin Trehy,Karen Wacker,Steven Wargo,Troy Waters,Don Whatley,Terrence B. Zinn
Thanks King Mohamed VI
Genres Drama, Thriller
Companies Warner Bros., Participant, 4M
Countries USA, United Arab Emirates
Languages English, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, French, Mandarin
ContentRating R
ImDbRating 6.9
ImDbRatingVotes 130521
MetacriticRating 76
Keywords oil,corruption,big oil,hezbollah,lebanon