Syriana is the best film I've seen this year. Of course, I haven't seen any other films this year. But it was a powerful, thought-provoking movie that may end still be tops of my list come December. We saw it 5 days ago and there are scenes that continue to play in my mind. For me, that is often what signifies a great film--when I have been so emotionally and intellectually drawn in that I am still thinking about it for days.
I would try to describe the plot and theme if I could, but I don't think that's even possible. Ebert calls it a "hyperlink" movie which is a term that seems to describe films like Syriana and Crash. Many characters; each only know a part of the story; each linked somehow together though the chain is not always readily apparent; many smaller stories within a story; and the viewers are left to come to conclusions on their own. It's not neat and pretty, but, hey, neither is the real world. Certainly not the amoral world of international petrochemical corporations.
This movie was convicting. Almost convicting enough to have us walk home instead of firing up the infernal combustion engine. Almost.
P.S. Any English teachers (or Fred) who wish to comment on the punctuation in the second paragraph may do so at their own risk.
2 comments:
i loved syriana, too. it was similar to "the constant gardner" in many ways, i thought - both very powerful and challenging enough to almost make me change my life.
i like the new nest!
ames
i haven't seen it yet and i had heard somewhere that it was bad . . . maybe i'll rethink it and go see it when it comes to laurelhurst . . .
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