Is Stephen Gaghan insane?
Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Politics
Syriana's globe-trotting shoot had the crew
hopping from "locales ranging from Baltimore and Washington to Geneva and Casablanca, [and] working in five
languages over 74 days." When it came time to shoot scenes set in the unspecified Arab nation at the center of the
script, the production travelled to Dubai, a journey that required the approval of the country's royal family, which was
granted, then taken away, and then reinstated by intelligence officials within the United Arab Emirates. Whilst chasing
a specific shot involving "all these guys who looked like Berber smugglers; they had machine guns and pistols
and they were on these huge camels" (it was eventually cut from the film), writer/director Stephen Gaghan
accidentally led his crew into the region of Oman, where they were, um, unwelcome. They encountered a band of Omani
soldiers, who scoffed at the production's paperwork and ordered them to turn around and go back to Dubai.Gaghan has been endlessly flogging his oil conspiracy thriller since mid-November, and since, in most cases, this seems to involve giving interviews that are as sprawling, convoluted and tediously lengthy as the film itself, it seems odd that he's just getting around to telling everyone about the alleged "international incident" he sparked whilst shooting the picture. Even odder, check out this bon mot he tossed off, which reporter Borys Kit used to close the piece: "It was exciting to bring a big Western movie there in these times." A pretty gooey softball for a self-styled international rabblerouser, ce n'est pas?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-04-2006 @ 8:47AM
Finished.Law.School said...
The book is tons better than the movie. The movie has little in common with the book and definitely is not as interesting...
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1-04-2006 @ 11:23AM
alex said...
Quit nagging on Gaghan. I have seen his interviews and even though he is an idealist when it comes to the subject of the corruption of oil powers, he is an eloquent and thoughtful speaker. He knows his subject matter very well and it's unfortunate that some reviewers just don't get what he is trying to say.
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1-04-2006 @ 1:39PM
Robert said...
How about if Cinematical just quits nagging on everything? It's getting boring...
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