M.PHIL.

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
SUBMITTED TO
Maam Mahwash Manzoor
SUBMITTED BY
Sana Jabeen
Tabinda Zia
Sidra Bashir
Zahra Akram

Kinnaird College for Women University, Lahore

SYRIANA, a detailed movie review

Introduction:

Syriana is a thriller of corruption and power related to the oil industry that tells
four parallel stories: the CIA agent Bob Barnes with great experience in Middle East
that falls in disgrace after an unsuccessful mission dealing missiles in Lebanese
Republic; the investigation of the attorney Bennett Holiday related to the merge of
two American oil companies, Connex and Killen; the traumatic association of the
energy analyst Bryan Woodman with the son of a powerful emir of Emirate; and the
social drama of the Pakistani immigrant worker Wasim Khan that is fired by the oil
company.
Syriana is a term used by Washington think tanks to define a democratic,
Western-leaning, business-friendly Middle East most suited to U.S. commercial and
political interests. In the film, it is the kind of term likely to be lined about at the
meetings of the Committee for the Liberation of Iran, The shadowy organisation that
brings neo-Conservative politicians and business people together to plot
government change in Iran.
Plot and Summary:
"Syriana" is an endlessly fascinating movie about oil and money, America and
China, traders and spies, the Gulf States and Texas, reform and revenge, bribery
and betrayal. Its interlocking stories come down to one thing: There is less oil than
the world requires, and that will make some people rich and others dead. The movie
seems to take sides, but take a step back and look again.
The movie begins with one of the Gulf states signing a deal to supply its oil to
China. This comes as a strategic defeat for Connex, a Texas-based oil company. At
the same time, an obscure oil company named Killen signs a deal to drill for oil in
Kazakhstan. Connex announces a merger with Killen, to get its hands on the oil, but
the merger inspires a Justice Department investigation.
The movie is so complex and interweaved that one finds it extremely difficult to
interpret the story. There is a moment when a veteran Washington oil analyst points
out that while Kazakhstan has a lot of oil, none of it is where Killen has drilling
rights. Yet Killen is undoubtedly shipping oil. Is it possible the Chinese are buying oil
in the Gulf, shipping it to Kazakhstan, and selling it to the United States through
Killen?
Bryan develops a relationship with the Prince Nassir. Prince Nassir is not first in
line for the throne (Emir). His older brother has less vision and therefore more
vulnerable to foreign influences. At the end of the movie Prince Nassir, and his
family, is killed by a drone attack while driving in a group. Prince Nassir was in the
process of challenging the succession of the seat as decided by his father. His
brother was far less intelligent and much easier to manipulate which was a huge
advantage for both the US Government and US Business interests. George
Clooneys character, Bob, attempted to intervene; however, was too late

I bring up that possibility because I want to suggest the movie's amoral

complexity without spoiling its surprises. "Syriana" is a movie that suggests
Congress can hold endless hearings about oil company profits and never discover
the answer to anything, because the real story is so twisted and winded that no one
-- not oil company executives, not Arab princes, not CIA spies, not traders in
Geneva, understands the whole picture.
Individual scenes have fierce focus and power, but the film's overall drift stands
apart from them. It seems to imply that these sorts of scenes occur, and always
have and always will. The movie explains the politics of oil by telling us to stop
seeking an explanation. Just look at the behavior. In the short run, you can see who
wants oil and how they're trying to get it. In the long run, we're out of oil.

Character Wise Happening and Importance:

Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon)

Bryan is an energy analyst based in Geneva, Switzerland. Woodman's supervisor
directs him to attend a private party hosted by the emir at his estate in Marbella,
Spain, to offer his company's services. The emir's illness during the party prevents
Woodman from speaking directly with him. No one notices that a crack in one of the
swimming pool area's underwater lights has electrified the water. Just as Woodman
and all the other guests are brought to the pool area, Woodman's son jumps into the
pool and is fatally electrocuted.
In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir, the emir's
older son, grants Woodman's company oil interests worth US$75 million, and
Woodman gradually becomes his economic advisor.
"How much for my other son?" he asks. This is a brutal line of dialogue and creates
a moment trembling with tension. Later, Bryans wife accuses him of trading on the
life of his son. Well, he did take the deal. Should he have turned it down because his
son died in an accident? What are Bryan's real motives, it remains unclear.
In the end,Woodman returns home to embrace his surviving younger son following
the murder of Prince Nasir somewhat shows that he condemns the bloody game of
oil and money and returns to his contented family life.
Bob Barnes (George Clooney)
Bob is a veteran Operations Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
trying to stop illegal arms trafficking in the Middle East. While on assignment in
Tehran, Iran, to kill two arms dealers, Barnes notices that one of two anti-tank

missiles (actually the Stinger MANPAD) intended to participate in an explosion was

diverted to an Egyptian (Amr Waked), while the other explodes and kills the two
arms dealers, who are later also revealed to be "Iranian Intelligence agents." Barnes
makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft and is
subsequently reassigned to a desk job. However, unaccustomed to the political
discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong people by speaking his mind
and is sent back to the field with the assignment of assassinating Prince Nasir,
whom the CIA identifies as being the financier behind the Egyptian's acquisition of
the missile. Prior to his reassignment, Barnes confides in his ex-CIA agent friend,
Stan Goff, that he will return to Lebanon. Goff advises him to clear his presence with
Hezbollah so they know he is not acting against them. Barnes travels to Lebanon,
obtains safe passage from a Hezbollah leader, and hires a mercenary named
Mussawi to help kidnap and murder Nasir. But Mussawi has now become an Iranian
agent and has Barnes abducted instead; Mussawi himself then tortures Barnes. The
Hezbollah leader ultimately arrives at the scene of Barnes's torture in time to stop
Mussawi from beheading Barnes.

When the CIA learns that Mussawi plans to broadcast the agency's intention to kill
Nasir, they try to distance themselves by scapegoating Barnes, portraying him as a
rogue agent. Whiting worriesfirst about Barnes talking about the Nasir
assassination plan, second about the possibility that Nasir's coup might have a
greater likelihood of success, and third that killing Nasir with an MQ-1 Predator
drone would make it obvious as an American-backed assassination. So he has
Barnes's passports revoked, locks him out of his computer at work, and has him
investigated. Barnes, however, learns from Goff that Whiting is responsible and
threatens him and his family unless he halts the investigation and releases Barnes's
passports.
Barnes eventually learns why he was portrayed as a rogue agent and approaches
Prince Nasir's convoy to warn him of the assassination plan. As he arrives, a guided
bomb from a circling Predator drone strikes the automobile of Nasir and his family,
killing them instantly.
Bobs image was developed villain like at the start but as the story progresses, one
realizes that he is also forced to abide by the orders of his employer firm.
Wasim (Mazhar Munir)
Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan and his son Wasim board a bus to
go to work at a Connex refinery, only to discover that they have been laid off due to
a Chinese company outbidding Connex for the rights to run the facility. Since the
company has provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of poverty and
deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work
but is refused because he doesn't speak Arabic. Wasim and his friend join an Islamic

school to learn Arabic in order to improve their employment prospects. While

playing soccer, they meet a charismatic Islamic fundamentalist cleric (Amr
Waked),the same man who earlier stole Bob Barnes' anti-tank missile. He eventually
leads them to execute a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen LNG tanker using a
shaped-charge explosive from the missing Tehran missile.
The tragic death scene of Wasim reminds one of the fact that injustice, worries
regarding food and shelter, lack of knowledge and suppressive attitude with the
labour class often leads to them being easily brainwashed and used by agencies
involved in ethical and legal misconduct.
Bennett Holiday
Bennett meets with U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III, who is convinced that Killen
bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating ConnexKillen's records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that leads back to a
transaction between Texas oilman and Killen Co. colleague Danny Dalton and
Kazakh officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to
have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with
corruption in order to serve as a "body" to get the DoJ off the back of the rest of
Connex-Killen; Dalton responds with a fervent defense of how corruption is simply
the way of competition and how America "wins" against the rest of the corrupt
world. Farish then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DoJ information about illegal
activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not
enough. Holiday meets with the CEO of Killen Oil, Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper), and
informs him that the DoJ needs a second body in order to drop the investigation.
Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday's firm above him would be sufficient
as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the
DoJ would stop the investigation and allow the merger.

Holiday is brought by his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt to meet with the
CEO of Connex Oil, Leland "Lee" Janus (Peter Gerety). In a surprise move, Holiday
reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger
was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DoJ as the second body,
thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to accept the "Oil Industry
Man of the Year" award with a load taken off his shoulders. Throughout the film,
Holiday has angrily crossed paths with his alcoholic father Bennett Sr.; at the
movie's end when the merger has been completed, Bennett Jr. lets his apologeticlooking dad enter his house and shuts the door.
Bennetts character is also maze like and the viewer keeps on thinking what move is
he going to take next.
Prince Nassir (Alexander Siddig):

He has a degree from Georgetown and wishes to do right by his people. His older
brother has less vision and therefore more vulnerable to foreign influences. Prince
Nassir was in the process of challenging the succession of the seat as decided by
his father. He had the loyalty of 9 of 11 generals. His brother was far less
intelligent and much easier to manipulate which was a huge advantage for both the
US Government and US Business interests. At the end of the movie Prince Nassir,
and his family, is taken out by a drone attack while driving in a group.
This character focuses on the fact that often in the evil game of wealth and power,
one possessing wealth is not powerful enough to serve his own land. Same
happened with Prince Nasir as the US lobby did not want him to embrace the throne
of his father as they are of the view that his older brother would be an easy target
for serving their interests. The assassination of Prince Nasir further strengthens this
view.
In A Nutshell:
Syriana is a politically-charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands
of those personally involved and affected by it. The films tagline is everything is
connected and that is what Gaghan, the director has tried to do here.
It finds all of the players in the oil game corrupt and compromised, and even
provides a brilliant speech in defense of corruption, by a Texas oilman (TimBlake
Nelson). This isn't about Left and Right but about Have and Have Not.
The roles are perfectly played and the story was so interlinked that at first viewer
fells a victim to boredom but later on, one realizes that there are many connections
in the accomplishment of the game of power and money. Nobody cares of human
life when he becomes a player in the game.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syriana
www.imdb.com/title/tt0365737/plotsummary