Roger Ebert makes the point that this movie is complicated. "The movie's plot is so complex we're not really supposed to follow it, we're supposed to be surrounded by it. Since none of the characters understand the whole picture, why should we? If the movie shook down into good guys and bad guys, we'd be the good guys, of course." - Ebert
I am relieved at Roger saying this. As I was watching Syriana on my couch I kept thinking to myself, "do I know what is going on?" The answer was sometimes a, "not at all." I was not sure if this was my attention being stolen by the comfort I was feeling versus what I feel in the small classroom desks, or the movie was intentionally leading me astray.
Syriana does lead the viewer astray and strand them in a scene that took place three scenes ago, still trying to figure out who we should be rooting for. That task turns out to be tedious and you might at well just watch the movie. This I see as the movie showing the world as a multicolored kaleidoscope and not black and white. Not only is this world not black and white it is complex from its smallest bits to the policies that govern everyone. Syriana shows that even those in charge of governments and policies do not know where lines are, with others and themselves.
Syriana seemed to present those in charge as people who are chasing a hot dog on a stick. Only the stick is a hundred feet long and the they don't know if it is a hot dog or a giant spider waiting for it's own prey. All the characters wit power were blindly going along even though they felt like they knew what they were doing. This leaves the others without power in a position of desperation. SO in a way Syriana shows the big picture of the haves and the have nots.
The movie puts the picture of the haves and the have nots in the viewer's mind with the rant from the Texas oil man about corruption. "Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of fighting each other for scraps of meat out in the streets. (beat) Corruption... is how we win." While most of the world has to follow laws, the people in power do not. Those with power can walk around the law and in fact that is why the laws are designed the way they are, so people can walk around them. The film also does a great job emphasizing these scenes with intense acting and brutal honesty.
I see this movies as saying this world is large and complicated. We can only hope to control it and some try and some become victim by becoming suicide bombers. Everyone has their price. For some its money and for others it is an appeal to religious beliefs.
Roger Ebert makes the point that this movie is complicated.
ReplyDelete"The movie's plot is so complex we're not really supposed to follow it, we're supposed to be surrounded by it. Since none of the characters understand the whole picture, why should we? If the movie shook down into good guys and bad guys, we'd be the good guys, of course." - Ebert
I am relieved at Roger saying this. As I was watching Syriana on my couch I kept thinking to myself, "do I know what is going on?" The answer was sometimes a, "not at all." I was not sure if this was my attention being stolen by the comfort I was feeling versus what I feel in the small classroom desks, or the movie was intentionally leading me astray.
Syriana does lead the viewer astray and strand them in a scene that took place three scenes ago, still trying to figure out who we should be rooting for. That task turns out to be tedious and you might at well just watch the movie. This I see as the movie showing the world as a multicolored kaleidoscope and not black and white. Not only is this world not black and white it is complex from its smallest bits to the policies that govern everyone. Syriana shows that even those in charge of governments and policies do not know where lines are, with others and themselves.
Syriana seemed to present those in charge as people who are chasing a hot dog on a stick. Only the stick is a hundred feet long and the they don't know if it is a hot dog or a giant spider waiting for it's own prey. All the characters wit power were blindly going along even though they felt like they knew what they were doing. This leaves the others without power in a position of desperation. SO in a way Syriana shows the big picture of the haves and the have nots.
The movie puts the picture of the haves and the have nots in the viewer's mind with the rant from the Texas oil man about corruption. "Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of fighting each other for scraps of meat out in the streets. (beat) Corruption... is how we win." While most of the world has to follow laws, the people in power do not. Those with power can walk around the law and in fact that is why the laws are designed the way they are, so people can walk around them. The film also does a great job emphasizing these scenes with intense acting and brutal honesty.
I see this movies as saying this world is large and complicated. We can only hope to control it and some try and some become victim by becoming suicide bombers. Everyone has their price. For some its money and for others it is an appeal to religious beliefs.