BODY OF LIES

US, 2008, 129 minutes, Colour.
Leonardo di Caprio, Russell Crowe, Mark Strong, Golshifteh Farahni, Oscar Isaac, Ali Suleyman, Vince Colosimo, Simon Mc Burney.
Directed by Ridley Scott.

Writer William Monahan wrote the Oscar winning film, The Departed, a crime and police thriller that was intricately plotted, two young men, one criminal in the police force, the other a deep cover agent in the crime world, pitted against each other. His screenplay for Body of Lies has two men pitted against each other and audiences may well be asking themselves if they are watching a criminal world – the intricate plotting world of the CIA, its engagement in Iraq and the 'war against terror'. And the film stars one of the young men of The Departed, Leonardo di Caprio. This time he is pitted against Russell Crowe, even though they are officially on the same side.

Ridley Scott has proven for over thirty years that he can tell stories (think Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma and Louise, Gladiator for his versatility). He has also ventured into US conflicts with Black Hawk Down (and G.I.Jane) and looked at the middle east, albeit in Medieval times, in Kingdom of Heaven.

Body of Lies is a brisk action thriller as well as a psychological and verbal conflict between two officials dealing with the Middle East.

Both Di Caprio and Crowe have self-assured screen presence, confident in their interpretation of their roles. Di Caprio is Roger Fells, a young field agent in Iraq (where he witnesses torture), impulsive in trying to do the right thing by his agents despite the armchair (and ear-plug-always-in-the-ear detachment of the heads in Langley). He is moved to Jordan and given freedom of action, yet Crowe as, Ed Hoffman, his superior (a getting-towards-obese husband and father whose life is a blend of picking up the kids from school and making life and death decisions at the same time) interferes behind the scenes working on a need not to know agenda. The CIA have the advantage of sophisticated spy satellites with powerful zooms which can look at action any time, anywhere.

In Jordan, Fells makes contact with the head of Jordanian security, Hani (a masterful performance by Mark Strong) who demands absolute honesty all the time. This requirement is not on Ed Hoffman's list of musts, so Roger falls foul of operations in Amman and Hani's anger.

If audiences think that this is the body of lies, they have much more awaiting them. The CIA invents a conspiracy designed to flush out Jihadic extremists. The film opens with a police operation gone wrong in Manchester, later has an explosive massacre in Amsterdam and troubles in Amman to keep reminding us that the war on terror as well as the terror itself is global. (This reviewer watched the film the day after the Mumbai November 2008 attack.) This body of lies is meant as strategy but innocent men and women are set up, tricked, bewildered and their deaths seen, without emotion, as collateral damage.

There is a further body of lies towards the end which gives some more edge to proceedings.

Filmed, as all the Iraq films have been, in Morocco, Body of Lies, is contemporary in its immediate relevance but also a timeless action thriller. And Di Caprio, Crowe and Strong give memorable performances.

1.A topical film? Relevant? The background of the Iraq war, the invasion of Afghanistan? A critique of the role of the US?

2.Different audience attitudes towards the war in Iraq, Afghanistan? The conduct of the war, of the American personnel, the soldiers, the agents? The background of torture? Spying, the agencies?

3.The title and expectations, the Americans and their lies? Hoffmann and his lies? Ferris and his scenario? Hani and his lies at the end? Al Qaeda and the Arab leaders and their lies and propaganda?

4.The Middle East settings, atmosphere, Afghanistan, Jordan, the city of Amman? The contrast with Washington, life in the United States? The musical score, the mood for the situations and action?

5.The introduction to Ferris, at work, his driver? The American surveillance, his contact, the Afghanistan background? Getting information, the treatment of the man, suspect? His memories of being present at torture? The isolated building, the desert, the man’s fear, his being a professor, his choosing terrorism, his risk? Hoffmann and his cavalier attitude? The attack? The death of the professor?

6.Hoffmann and his work for the agency, the American perspective on Afghanistan, the officials? Hoffmann in himself, his shabby and shambling appearance, his attention to detail, yet detached and impersonal about people? The surveillance technology? His commands? At home, the domestic issues, his house, the pool, the children, taking them to school, answering the phone about important matters while being on the kerb outside the school? The audience assessing him?

7.The assignment of Ferris to Jordan, his task, meeting the staff and the clash with them, his ambitions, the official and his spurning of him? Hani, the meeting, Hani’s style, preferring honesty, sharing information?

8.Hani as a person, his role in Jordan, intelligence? The use of torture? Middle East sensibilities? His staff, drivers, agents, connections? The information from Ferris? The information about the terrorists? His dislike of Hoffmann? The meetings?

9.The terrorists, the groups, the imam and his talks, inspiration to bombers, the actual bombings, the destruction in Amsterdam? The claims? Elusive, the agencies not knowing exactly where they were? The infiltration, Hani and his power over the man to go back into the organisation and give information? The role of loyalties?

10.Ferris and the clash with Hani, his driver pursuing the contact, the shooting? Ferris and his being abandoned on the outskirts, the rabies? Hani wanting him removed, because he was not telling the whole truth? His going to Washington? The contact with the technological expert? His being impersonal? His links with computers, his ability to change data? Ferris choosing an innocent man, setting up an alternate scenario, the base in Dubai? His changing his hair and appearance, going to meet the man, the plan? The network of terrorists and their curiosity? Ferris wanting to flush them out? The victim, his bewilderment about the messages on the websites, his fears, meeting Ferris, running, his death? The terrorists congratulating him? The use of the Turkish scenario, the bombing? Its being visually truthful, yet fake? Ferris and his reaction to the death of the man? Hoffman and his considering it collateral damage? Hani and his reaction?

11.In Amman, Ferris with his driver, the driver working for Hoffman, the surveillance, the shooting? Ferris angry?

12.The rabies, meeting the nurse, the discussions, his making dates, his going to the dinner, its being used later to trap him? The nurse’s abduction, his reaction, the phone messages, the appointment? Being taken by the terrorists, the leader, the interrogation, the torture? The last-minute rescue – and the irony of Hani and the complete set-up?

13.Hoffman in Amman, meeting Hani? The mutual dislike? The reaction to Ferris being taken, the surveillance, the desert? The role of the CIA? Ferris and his reactions?

14.His leaving the agency, the possibilities for a different life? Meeting the nurse? The CIA and wanting him to continue working, in Amman? Hani willing to support him?

15.The film as offering a perspective on international relationships?