Syriana

This article is about the film. For the term's use in international relations, see Pax Syriana.
Syriana
Theatrical release poster
Directed byStephen Gaghan
Screenplay byStephen Gaghan
Based onSee No Evil
by Robert Baer
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRobert Elswit
Edited byTim Squyres
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
  • November 20, 2005 (2005-11-20) (New York City premiere)[1]
  • November 23, 2005 (2005-11-23) (United States)
Running time
128 minutes[2]
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Arabic
Urdu
Persian
Chinese
French
Budget$50 million[3]
Box office$94 million[3]

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 on five continents, with large parts shot in the Middle East, Washington, D.C., and Africa.[4] 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.[5] As with Gaghan's screenplay for Traffic, Syriana uses multiple, parallel storylines, jumping among locations in Iran, Texas, Washington, D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and Lebanon.

The film received positive reviews from critics, and 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.[6]

  1. ^ "Everything Is Connected". CBS News. 22 November 2005. Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "Syriana (15)". British Board of Film Classification. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Syriana (2005)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on February 23, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2015.
  4. ^ "Stephen Gaghan interview on Syriana". KXM / You tube channel. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. ^ Rose, Charlier (9 December 2005). "Interview with Stephen Gaghan". Charlie Rose. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  6. ^ Slevin, Peter. "New Group Aims to Drum Up Backing for Ousting Hussein". Archived from the original on 2002-11-05.