Syriana (HD-DVD)
Picture: B
Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B
I just love when movies stump the audience to the point
that they are either confused or angry, yet still interested in knowing what
happened. That is especially the case
when the film is smart and has important points to make. The disadvantage is important points may be
missed, especially immediately, but when it comes to the dark truths Stephen
Gaghan’s Syriana (2005) offers, it is not just simple to explain it but
to show it the long way.
George Clooney stars as Bob Barnes, the experienced CIA
man who works in good faith to help the country because he believes putting his
life on the line can save and protect it.
Matt Damon is Bryan Woodman, an energy executive and expert who thinks
his ideas, good will and hard work can inspire big money in The Middle East to
want to modernize, build, rebuild and even democratize the region and bring it
into the 21st Century from being so behind. However, both are about to find out that
something else is afoot so dark and ugly, that they’ll be lucky if they survive
it alive.
In the meantime, major politician Dean Whiting
(Christopher Plummer) wants to ruin a deal between oil rich Arabs and the
Chinese and will do anything to turn the tide in U.S. interests, but this is
obviously different than what Barnes wants to do, already signifying two
different Americas the men are fighting for.
He even has Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) as an attorney for his firm
who can manipulate the situation, in part because he is quiet, but also because
of his race signifying the prominent racism all over Washington, D.C. and how
loud egos create gilded cages.
It gets deeper with executives justifying corruption (a
memorable turn by Tim Blake Nelson) for his boss (the amazing Chris Cooper) and
how the environment of these executives justifies even disasters. There is the subplot of a father and son
laid off by one of the companies and how the lack of opportunity makes the son
a perfect target for recruitment by Islamo-Fascists who may be tied to blood
and oil money more than it first seems, as well as parallel storylines about
the children of the characters and how they are no less immune to trouble. William Hurt, Robert Foxworth, Amanda Peet
and a remarkable cast of lesser known talents round out the cast of this
growing web of deceit as it eventually stitches a picture of reality too many
still have not caught onto.
Writer/director Gaghan’s adaptation of Robert Baer’s
appropriately titled book See No Evil is really smart, making and
even more effective and very timely argument about the New World Order as an
imitation of the Old World Order like never before. Since its release, the film has only gained and appreciated in value,
especially as some of its aspects become more chillingly obvious. Some moments, like the climax of the young
Arab man’s recruitment, have conclusions that are too ambiguously problematic,
but the films most important point are inarguable as it now arrives on HD-DVD
and standard definition formats. If you
missed it or did not understand it, catch it again. If you did get it, then you will be very happy with this HD-DVD’s
performance.
The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image is overly
stylized in the way the Gaghan-penned Traffic was, if not as
simplistically. Featuring slight
overexposures, brighter-than-usual whites on the edges and purposeful
imperfections throughout with its jumpy camerawork and editing, the style
creates the same uncertain world. This
time, it is in the hands of cinematographer Robert Elswit, A.S.C., who shot
Clooney’s Good Night & Good Luck around the same time and has
distinguished himself before with work on Boogie Nights, Magnolia,
the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, 8mm and the recent
comedy American Dreamz. As an
HD-DVD, it is like Jarhead (reviewed elsewhere on this site) as a film
in HD-DVD that has better whites, blacks, depth and clarity even in its
distortions and degraded image than it would ever have on regular film. The viewer should keep that in mind when
watching.
The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 mix is not bad either, on the
rich side, but yet sparse as it too follows some of the same stylized tenants
as Traffic, though it sounds a little better. Note how both play with the ideas of diegetic and non-diegetic
sound as a device to subtly nudge the audience to think about what is going on
and clueing them in on the fact that they may be missing vital points. That tends to be more effective than the
image cues. Alexandre Desplat’s score
is not bad and dialogue is also decent.
There is no way the combination on regular, standard definition DVD will
be able to equal this.
Extras include the original theatrical trailer, two
separate on camera pieces with Damon and Clooney, additional scenes of interest,
documentary and a piece dubbed Make A Change, Make A Difference. Those hoping for an audio commentary are out
of luck, but the more you watch the film, the less ambiguous it becomes. Despite a few reservations with the
storyline, the film is remarkable and recommended, especially in this format.
- Nicholas Sheffo
