Clooney film brings grit to Berlin

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- The gritty reality Berlin's film festival prides itself on bringing to the screen blends with Hollywood glamor on Friday when Oscar nominee George Clooney takes his political thriller "Syriana" to Europe.

Already released to favorable reviews in the United States, the story of a world-weary CIA agent caught up in a web of intrigue and corruption in the global oil business promises to be the highlight of the second day of the annual Berlinale.

The 44-year-old heartthrob is expected to be on the red carpet at an evening screening, giving him yet more exposure in the runup to the Oscars on March 5.

Clooney has been nominated for three Academy awards, including best supporting actor in "Syriana" and best screenplay and director for "Good Night, and Good Luck," the black-and-white McCarthy-era drama.

Both films have helped the American win a reputation as a champion of anti-establishment cinema and earned him titles like "The most dangerous man in Hollywood" on magazine covers.

Two other leading Oscar contenders, Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman, are also expected in Berlin to promote films.

Syriana bridges two important themes at this year's event.

One is the power big business wields and the corruption that sometimes goes with it, an issue also taken up by "L'Ivresse du Pouvoir" (Comedy of Power), a film that has been compared to the scandal surrounding French oil giant Elf Aquitaine.

Also in Berlin is "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," a documentary critical of the supermarket chain's business practices.

"Syriana" also explores the war on terror, portraying how a young man is transformed into an Islamic extremist willing to give his life to strike Western interests in the Middle East.

British director Michael Winterbottom brings to Berlin "The Road to Guantanamo," which follows the fate of three Britons caught in Afghanistan by U.S.-led forces after the 2001 military offensive and imprisoned in the U.S. naval base.

And Italian Oscar winner Roberto Benigni gets into serious scrapes in "La Tigre e la Neve" (The Tiger and the Snow) when he rushes to Iraq to save a girlfriend wounded in an Allied air attack on the country shortly after the 2003 invasion began.

While Syriana is not among films competing for the main Golden Bear prize in Berlin, entrants "En Soap" and "Slumming" both screen on Friday.

"En Soap" (A Soap) is a Danish production exploring the relationship between a woman and her transsexual neighbor while "Slumming," an Austrian-Swiss film, is about a pair of wealthy tricksters whose elaborate prank brings unexpected consequences.