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Posted by Quagmire aka DinZ on 03/07/06 14:00
"Gunther Gloop" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:475fn6FdvartU1@individual.net...
> It's not out on dvd yet, but I'm hopeful for a super-duper "bibliography"
> type release that points to similar oil-lobby tales as those portrayed in
> this (fiction) movie.
>
> Saw it yesterday. I spent the first half of the film being a little
> underwhelmed -as I was with Traffic on the whole.
>
> From around the halfway point though, each storyline began to really
> settle down and occasionally overlap and the whole thing seemed to gel
> better than I thought it would -and each segment was more interesting than
> I thought they would be.
>
> I left the cinema with plenty to think about -and not all of it
> necessarily about "the evils of the oil-lobby". There is much to recommend
> this movie -from the acting to the writing to the way the story is told,
> to the bits that were hinted-at, but left unsaid.
>
> I think Spielberg took the traditional route (with Munich) by telling a
> smaller story, hinting at being part of a greater "whole sorry mess". In
> that, I think Spielberg made perhaps his best film to date. It wasn't
> judgemental or over-biased -it left room for opinion and for the viewer to
> fill in the blanks as they see fit.
> I don't think he did that a lot (ever?) in the past.
>
> Syriana is more ambitious. It doesn't take the traditional storytelling
> route (well not traditional for a movie anyway). Most people are aware
> it's like Traffic -from the same writer -and in this case,
> writer-director.
> But Traffic for me was less effective because it was too random... it
> could have involved almost any selection of people worldwide and had their
> story woven into the plot. The stories it _did_ pick then weren't really
> that interesting to me (well it's bin a while since I saw it too so they
> might interest me more now).
> Syriana isn't about a particular oil-scandal, so things are still a little
> random, but it beautifully tells of corporate/government/individuals'
> involvement in the Middle East and how they affect so many
> hundreds/thousands/millions of others across the globe.
>
> Whether things exactly like those represented in the movie actually happen
> is incidental -Syriana shows how these kinds of things _could_ happen and
> it portrays realistic characters/motivations/plots that make it all so
> believeable.
>
> Excellent movie. I am surprised that it didn't feature more strongly in
> the Oscars -even if they weren't gonna vote for it, it deserves a lot more
> publicity than it seems to be getting.
Managed to see this movie a little while back and then spent the next few
weeks recommending it too friends. I work in the oil industry and that was
one of the reasons for seeing this movie. Loved the way it focused on
different people to tell a story that had implications for all due to the
actions of one person or many. The mis treatment of the workers in the oil
depot and so forth.
The guy who played Dr Bashir in DS9 did a fantastic job.
Theres a slow back lash building against corporations recently from super
size this to lord of war. It will be interesting to see how this filters
down into the social fibre.
dInZ
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