Argo

Plot synopsis:
The movie begins with a brief history of the Persian Empire, leading up to more modern times, when the Iranian leadership was overthrown in 1953, with the assistance of the United States and Great Britain. The pro-Western Shah of Iran led the country until 1979, when he was overthrown among great resentment among the people for his continuing efforts to westernize the country and for his repressive policies. Ayatollah Khomeini assumed control of the country. The Shah was exiled to Egypt and later went to the U.S. to receive cancer treatments. Although President Carter allowed the Shah to come to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons, the people of Iran viewed it as more fuel for the anti-American fire.On November 4, 1979, militants are protesting outside the U.S. embassy in Tehran. They are demanding the Shah be returned to Iran to stand trial. When some of the protesters manage to scale the boundary fence, orders are given to start destroying all embassy records, some by shredding and some by burning. Equipment is also destroyed.The head of embassy security attempts to go outside and reason with the militants, but he's immediately captured and taken hostage. The marines charged with guarding the embassy are armed, but their leader cautions them not to shoot anyone. They limit their efforts to the use of tear gas, but once the chains on the outside gates are removed, the militants storm the embassy and take 66 of the 72 diplomats and embassy staff hostage. Six of the staff, in the only building with a direct exit to the street, are able to escape and hide in the home of the Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor (Victor Garber). (Fourteen of the hostages were later released, mostly because they were from countries already considered repressed by the U.S., or for health reasons.)One of the militants comes across a poster photo of the Ayatollah with several darts in it, adding to the furor of the moment.In the following days, weeks and months, the hostages were blindfolded and paraded in front of TV cameras and jeering crowds. They were not allowed to speak or read, and they were rarely permitted to change clothes. Throughout the crisis there was a frightening uncertainty about their fate: The hostages never knew whether they were going to be tortured, murdered or set free.Sixty-nine days into the crisis, the Canadians are increasingly uncomfortable with keeping the six Americans at their embassy. Word is that the Iranians have set up sweat shops utilizing Iranian children to go through the laborious process of piecing together the shredded documents. It's only a matter of time before they are able to realize that not all embassy staff have been accounted for and if they reconstruct photographs, they will know who to look for.With the six escapees' situation thus far kept secret, the U.S. State Department begins to explore options for "exfiltrating" them from Iran. Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), a CIA operations specialist, is brought in for consultation. Mendez criticizes the proposals submitted to that point, but he also doesn't have any better plan to offer. Then, one day he is at home watching the film "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" on TV with his son, and he's inspired to devise a plan to have the escapees pose as Canadian filmmakers, scouting "exotic" locations in Iran for a new sci-fi film. That would provide them a legitimate reason to leave the country.Mendez and his supervisor Jack O'Donnell (Bryan Cranston) contact John Chambers (John Goodman), a Hollywood make-up artist who has previously crafted disguises for the CIA. Realizing they'll need as much legitimacy as possible to make the effort believable, Chambers contacts the film producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin). Initially skeptical, Siegel eventually agrees to help and together they set up a phony film studio, "Studio 6," publicize their plans, and establish the pretense of developing Argo, a "science fantasy" in the style of Star Wars, to lend credibility to the group's cover story.The student militants threaten to try the 52 hostages as spies and carry out appropriate punishments. They go so far as to take a small group of hostages, tie them up, blindfold them, and line them up in preparation for execution by firing squad. The weapons are fired, but they are not loaded, so it turned out to be a cruel hoax. Martial law appears to be in effect throughout Iran, under the rule of the Ayatollah, with opposition members in some cases being shot or hung from the booms of construction cranes, after what amounts to trial via kangaroo courts.Tensions rise as the Iranian housekeeper at the Canadian Embassy is starting to ask questions about the six "guests", such as why they never leave the residence.As he offers the best of what seem to be nothing but bad proposals to effect a rescue of the six Americans, Mendez ultimately receives approval from the Secretary of State to proceed with his fictitious movie plan. He travels to Iran via Istanbul.Posing as a producer for Argo, Mendez enters Iran and links up with the six escapees. He provides them with Canadian passports and fake identities to prepare them to get through security at the airport when it comes time to leave. Although afraid to trust Mendez's scheme, they reluctantly go along with it, knowing that Mendez is risking his own life too, and convinced that it is their only option. Each of the six is tasked with assuming a new identity, involving some use of physical disguise and memorizing details about their new personal histories.The plan is for the group go out in public for a day to scout the local bazaar as a potential filming site. That is intended to add credence to their cover story, then they will leave the country the following day. The visit at the bazaar takes a bad turn when a local businessman takes exception at one of the women in the group taking photos. Fortunately, the group's Iranian culture contact is able to get them away from the increasingly hostile crowd, but the incident is very upsetting to everyone.When it's learned that President Carter has authorized a Delta Force military rescue attempt of the 52 hostages, Mendez is told by O'Donnell that his smaller operation has been canceled, so as to avoid any potential conflicts. Mendez is furious. Because he feels personally responsible for the fate of the six, he decides to go ahead with the plan.That night, Mendez and the six imbibe heavily in alcohol as they attempt to calm their nerves and prepare to either escape or die the next day.The next morning, Mendez calls O'Donnell on a secure phone and tells him he's going ahead with the plan, then hangs up before O'Donnell can try to talk him out of it. O'Donnell is forced to scramble to get word of Mendez's decision to the secretaries of state and defense, and ultimately to President Carter, who is the only person who can re-authorize the purchase of tickets for Mendez and the six on a Swissair flight out of Tehran.A member of the Ayatollah's regime goes to visit the housekeeper at the Canadian Embassy. Fortunately, her story provides continuing cover for the six U.S. embassy employees, as she lies and tells the official that the six had only been at the residence for two days. She must now find a way out of the country for her own safety (she goes to Iraq). The Canadian ambassador and his wife leave for the airport shortly after Mendez and the six do.Tension rises at the airport for Mendez and the six. As they check in for their boarding passes, there is no record of any flight reservations. President Carter was just in the process of re-authorizing the mission. Mendez has no way of knowing this, but he asks the ticket agent to check again. This time, the reservations appear and they receive their boarding passes.At the next security check for passports, a skeptical security official is reluctant to approve the six to continue on their way, as there is no original record of their having arrived in Iran two days before, just the carbon copies the six have with them. The official only changes his mind when a letter from the Iranian Minister of Cultural Works is handed to him. That letter provided authorization for the group to come to Iran.As the group approaches the third tier of security at the airport, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is checking passports and boarding passes at the gate. He directs the six to a nearby room. The guard is also suspicious as to who they really are and what they are doing there. One of the six speaks Farsi and engages the guard in a dialogue about who they are and their reason for being in Iran. He produces copies of some of the movies' storyboards, and a copy of a newspaper advertisement for the movie. Mendez hands the guard a business card, for the fake production company back in Los Angeles, and tells him they can confirm the group's authenticity.The guard examines the newspaper and places a call to the number on the card. However, Siegel and Chambers have been delayed from returning to their office by some ongoing filming taking place at the adjacent stage. Just as the guard is about to hang up the phone, Chambers answers. The guard asks to speak with Mendez. Chambers tells the caller that Mendez is out of country on a scouting trip. The guard hangs up and returns to the gate to authorize the group to proceed aboard.Meanwhile, the children's sweat shop work had successfully re-constructed a photo of one of the six which was then matched to a surreptitious photo taken of the man at the bazaar the day before. Revolutionary Guards rush to the Canadian Embassy to find it abandoned and all the equipment destroyed.The group boards the plane just before the Iranian guards at the airport are informed of the ruse. As the 747 taxis down the runway, it is chased by two Iranian police cars and a truck filled with Revolutionary Guards. The plane is going too fast for them to get in front of it. Mendez and the hostages breathe a sigh of relief only when the plane has left Iranian airspace. That was day 87 of the hostage crisis.To protect the hostages remaining in Tehran from possible retaliation, all U.S. involvement in the rescue is suppressed, giving full credit to the Canadian government and its ambassador. Iranian government officials are very unhappy with the Canadians.Back in the U.S., as Mendez is turning in his mission-related documents for storage at a CIA facility, he decides to keep one of the fictional movie story boards. He places it on a shelf in his son's bedroom, among other models and toys related to sci-fi movies.Mendez is awarded the Intelligence Star, but due to the classified nature of the mission, he would not be able to keep the medal, or tell anyone that he'd received it. That changed in 1997, when President Clinton declassified the details of the event.John Chambers was awarded CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit for his involvement in the "Canadian Caper."On Election Day, one year and two days after the hostage crisis began, Ronald Reagan defeated Jimmy Carter in a landslide.On January 21, 1981, just a few hours after Ronald Reagan delivered his inaugural address, the remaining 52 hostages were released. They had been in captivity for 444 days.

Tags: dramatic, suspenseful, mystery, entertaining

Review:
CIA Operative Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) is sent into Iran to evacuate the Americans out safely under the cover of being a film production crew working on a picture called 'Argo'.The film is absolutely amazing and definitely one of the best films I've seen in a long time, throughout 2012 and 2013 so far we have been treated with some great films such as Skyfall, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty and more, but in my own personal opinion Argo takes the bait as the best of them all.
Proof is present as it won 3 BAFTA's for best picture, best director and best editing, also nominated for a further 8 Oscars in 85th Academy Awards.The film is packed with a sense of threat, peril and intensity all portrayed exceptionally well through the ensemble cast including Ben Affleck (The Town), John Goodman (Big Lebowski), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Alan Arkin (Edward Scissorhands) and Victor Garber (Titanic).
The ending is by far the most intense ending I have seen in a long time, visually presented in such an astounding way.Director Ben Affleck started out his auteur career after his directional debut Gone Baby Gone became critically acclaimed, three years later The Town came out with an Oscar nomination.
It is filled with A-list actors such as Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Victor Garber, and Bryan Cranston who each contribute to this incredibly moving film, which is based on a declassified true story.It takes place during the Iranian revolution of 1979 and 1980 in Tehran.
With the help of Hollywood makeup artist John Chambers (Goodman) and producer Lester Siegel (Arkin), this fake crew made their story quite credible.Ben Affleck did a spectacular job directing this film, which pretty faithfully follows such an unbelievable story.
The story, which falls perfectly into the category of you-can't-make-this-kind-of-thing-up, is based upon Tony Mendez's rescue of six isolated US diplomats out of Iran, during the time of the Iranian hostage crisis of 1980, through the means of creating a fake film production as cover.Director Ben Affleck proves here just how incredibly mature and restrained a filmmaker he's become, molding what is inherently a political story, yet wisely setting aside the politics.
This review may be coming a little bit late, considering i saw the movie back in November, but i wanted to check one or two things before i write it.I wanted to see whether or not the movie will receive any Academy awards buzz from the the Golden Globes and the various Guild awards.I wanted to wait, because i could not believe the hype surrounding it.I saw it, and i was not that impressed at all.So after some amount of time has passed and the seven Academy nominations have been announced, i thought it was time for a second viewing, in order to try and change my mind about the movie, but-no.First of all, i enjoyed Gone Baby Gone and The Town of Affleck's repertoire much more than i did with Argo.I would even recommend Zero Dark Thirty (Bigelow's recent take on historical events, that are important to American society)ahead of Argo.That being said, Affleck's based-on-true-story-sci-fi-flick has it's strenghts.The fact that the movie is solid enough and that a thorough enough background-check on the events depicted in it, are made, admittedly do the movie some justice.It's well and accurately written, but a nomination is as far as it can stretch itself.Never mind the fact that Affleck is still weaker in front of the camera, than he is behind it, this is clearly visible.One might even wonder how he has that experience as an actor and as a director and be so far ahead with the material when at the helm of a movie.So, the era is accurately depicted, even the jokes, sets, clothing, music-all fits the bill, although Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks is probably 10-12 years earlier, thus not from this period.But i'm willing to close my eyes on this one, considering the love i have towards Plant&co.On that subject, Aerosmith and Dream On were more accurately chosen, although only for the trailer.The technical part of the movie was almost excellent, i mean there isn't any breakout aspect to put in the running for some awards (although some people obviously think there is), all in all everything was good enough.Maybe only William Goldenberg can get a nod over the others, but he'll have stiff competition from his other movie, Zero Dark Thirty and himself.As this is pretty evident by now, he has two nominations in one category for two different movies.So, it will be pretty interesting to see which movie do the critics hold in higher regard-this category will tell.For me, that should be "Zero".So, technically good, historically accurate, even a little tense, so what's the matter, you might ask.Very simple.Contrary to popular belief, that has been planted in most people's minds, there actually was no acting in this movie.Not a single part was properly played by nobody, including you, Mr. Arkin.I can't understand where did this nomination come from, but in my eyes it is totally undeserved.Arkin and Goodman were of course fine, fun to watch, but the parts they played, others have played so long ago and to a better extend.When we start off with Sunset Blvd.
and stop at present-day Hank Moody, there are people much more prepared to the challenges of playing a movie guy.Arkin was fine, but for 10 minutes of screen time you just can't receive that kind of reception and you just can't make this big of an impact.It is not normal.Not that they are, those awards and guild-members.So, if i have to sum it up in a nutshell-the screenplay was good enough, the directing was decent as well, the acting was stiff at best (i'm looking at you, Ben), the era was pretty impressively(although inaccurately story-wise) depicted (still looking at you, Ben), the technical part was top-notch (William Goldberg), but all in all this does not make up for the "masterpiece" many of you claimed it to be.If i had to recommend it, i would, simply because of it's must-see- based-on-true-story(although if we have to go there, discussing how accurate it really is, we'd be in for a long night) factor.But, as i said earlier, i'm not that impressed and there is nothing all that much to be impressed with.And Best Picture?No way!!My rate: 6.5/10.
there is no doubt that Hollywood is a factory of deception and lies to serve its own agenda,to measure a movie is a relative task, and each film has its own good and bad moments, and not every choice is simply a film without question, Ben Aflack's latest film once again proved with no doubt how Hollywood is tainted with political purposes,and how a very ordinary movie with hundreds of flaws and shortcomings becomes the most beloved choice.once again the credibility of movie factory in US is under question, may be more than ever, but the subject remains is the same,another 3rd world country is victimized by some people who choose Aflak as their front face (and nobody bothers to question that),the story is watery and tasteless,the act is so bad that in some parts it looks like an out of comic book performance,directing is full of mistakes and flaws,,and while claiming it is a based on true event,the fact is missing through the film,and above all the scenes are unbelievably phony and unreal,they did not even bothered to offer a basic resemblance to real locations..
Anti-Iran and racist,shows Iranians as browny raged full of hate people, putting that aside the film itself is not that great i liked the production design,none of the characters are memorable,and non of the acting is good,and Alan Arkin's role is not that good and he doesn't deserve an Oscar nomination, the fact is it deserves More than a star a three or four star but i gave it a star to lower its overall rating, comparing it to last years Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy which is another 70′s retro spy film it miserably fails, and its simple direction and story telling doesn't make it an amazing thriller either, But America and israel are having problems with Iran these days So i guess Hollywood had to deliver a film at the right time to brain wash and "" help the peace cause""..
I think it was better for Ben to come Iran and talk with people at that time and heard their opinion not just reading the files and papers and making the movie.
At the end i want to say that the people of Iran are not like the characters of this movies and i expecting to every ones to searches about the accidents of that times and then judge about the either the film and my country..
The setup involves Affleck's character, Mendes, putting together the cover story of a Canadian film crew scouting locations in the Mideast for a sci-fi movie.
One could have expected that such movies (sponsored by Assassination Organizations like CIA, MI6, MOSAD etc) should be awarded and nominated for its content, but to see the general public rate this title so high, is outrageous.This is extremely-poorly written to antagonize and humiliate Iranians, while praise the West, specially America and Canada.
Of course it's heavy on a sometimes self-deprecating but still dumb and over-the-top American patriotism which the American audiences are sure to gobble up in huge doses which could explain its apparent success over there.There's not much action in it but the absence of guns blazing or faces smashed or asses kicked is no guarantee of a good movie either.There's little that's authentic about this film even though it's supposedly based on a true story.
The media is a very powerful force and despite what I have read regarding Mr Affleck's desire to make a movie for entertainment, this is not an excuse to falsely affect people's perception of real historical events.Imaging if I didn't do some further reading on the matter, I would have had a blinkered understanding of the events in Iran.Also for some good insight into the Iranian culture, and to see a fantastic film, watch "A Separation" !
The movie's title is the title of the script for a "proposed" film that Agent Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) suggests as a cover for a rescue mission concerning six Americans held as guests with some Canadian representatives in Iran in order to avoid capture by the Iranian terrorists during the hostage crises of 1979-80.
Certainly having such worthy support from John Goodman, Alan Arkin, and Bryan Cranston contributes immensely to the compelling drama of the situation and Affleck's direction doesn't seem false in presenting the way things happened during that tense time though I'm sure some liberties were taken.
Enter CIA agent Tony Mendez (Affleck) with a plan to enter Iran and walk the Americans right out through a commercial airport under the guise of a location scout for a Canadian film crew.
Regardless of how it's portrayed in the film, the events depicted in the movie happened in one sense of another: the Iranians raged at the United States, 52 embassy staff were taken as hostages for a grueling 444 days, and six escapees were aided in escaping the country as a Canadian film crew.
As an independent working journalist, I say that 'Argo' is "a propaganda movie in the truest sense, one that claims to be innocent of all ideology." That is, it debases the art of film-making to reflect an image of the power it serves.The true story is that, for 34 years, the US foreign policy elite have seethed with revenge for the loss of the shah of Iran, their beloved tyrant, and his CIA-designed state of torture.
Essentially, Argo is a movie that takes a proud moment in Canadian history and hideously distorts it to create a film about how great the US is.
Affleck remains with the same expression all the movie, we have cars going as fast as air plains in the moment of take-off.I simply can't understand how does a movie like Argo gets nominated to best picture, and worst than that, gets to win the Oscar.
And when I check in IMDb and it has this extreme over rated score I wonder: "How can this even be considered a big production movie?"Ben Affleck wasn't my favorite actor, neither my favorite director, but with this movie he was lost all of my attention to his work.Honestly I'm getting sick of the academy and all of the bad materials they produce and advertise as great movies.A waste of time!.
I wanted an Oscar-potential movie like Munich, but I got a good solid family drama, although based on a true story, felt much more contrived.
This film says it is based on a true story, but that is hardly the case.Iranians hate that they are portrayed as stupid/bad guys, when they brought forth numerous arts, artists, and renowned scientists, and their land is used as only a background for riots, while they are peace-loving people just like you and me and their land has great nature and landscapes.
Also the Persian Empire is the oldest empire in the world that has brought more to humanity than you know, just Google Persian contributions to humanity, the list is very long and nowhere near complete.Everybody that is involved in making the world a better place will boycott these hate filled movies from Hollywood, especially with Ben Affleck and the producers of this film involved, but not exclusively.Best tip: grab a camera yourself and make your own film that shows us the truth, instead of these Hollywood lies.A lot of people have done this, and by now most people know that we all are ruled by non-tax paying corporations with puppet politicians on a leash.
Well Argo just goes to show that if you make a movie about how great the US is over the tyranny of the Islamic world, you'll win a handful of Oscars guaranteed!!!The first few scenes got a bit of tension going and actually showed some promise that the film might deliver but it soon faded away and was quickly replaced by just endless boring twaddle...
Probably like most of other people I had great expectations to Argo and they don't fully matched with what I saw, but still this is one of the best films of the year.
Even the happy ending was good because during the whole film I've got attached to those characters so much, I experienced every tricky moment, I felt nervous for police check they had to pass and I argued against president Carter to support Tony's (Ben Affleck) plan.
The actual way of how Ben Afflecks character thinks he can help the people seems far fetched, but it is something that happened (again not as heightened as it is shown in the movie).
Ben Affleck is Tony Mendez, a CIA agent who is responsible for covert operation to extract six American embassy employees out of the rage of Iran revolutionary by pretending to be Canadian film crew.
The CIA concocts a plan to bring them back, by making them pose as the film crew for a fake science fiction movie.It's hard to believe that all of this actually happened – that the American and Canadian governments were able to fool the Iranians to such a farcical extent is fascinating, and so it's no surprise that director Ben Affleck wanted to tackle it.
Lastly, the director (Ben Affleck) pulls off the challenging task to make the plot simple and never stops moving.Predictably, whenever a movie based on true events come out, Hollywood does an amazing job designing a movie with little semblance to what actually happened.
Meanwhile, Ben Affleck (Tony Mendez) brought the drama to the movie as the man sent to rescue the American hostages.
Look, I gotta tell you, we did suicide missions in the Army that had better odds than this." Argo, featuring great actors like Alan Arkin (Lester Siegel) and John Goodman (John Chambers) keeps the plot simple and concise while combining Historical fact with Hollywood drama.
Both generated great gobs of money, both represent a dramatic distortion of the truth, both take another significant chunk out of American credibility.It is bad enough that a majority of America receives its education (17th or lower in world ranking) from movies, in Argo's case "based on a declassified true story".
"Argo" is another great movie by Ben Affleck with a story that is the true Mission Impossible using a movie that was never made.
Cultural critic Nicolini states that Argo completely neglected to provide the Iranian side of the story, and said: "The film is a sanitized version of the events." She argued that "there is nothing authentic about the film's manipulation of historical events," and described the movie as "pure political propaganda." According to all points we mentioned, we can conclude that Argo tries with new narrative of the Iran Hostage Crises to bring the sense of success to Americans and make them 'feel proud' of the U.S and specially the CIA, because of it's worthy of praise in the underground operation.
The U.S. government tries to figure out a way of getting them out of Iran, and a CIA specialist, Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) is brought in to consult.After exploring their limited options, Mendez finally suggests the cover story of making a science fiction film, having the escapees be Canadian filmmakers looking for foreign locations.
The best thriller based in a real story in years.Ben Affleck is a top director, better than an actor.
From the film stock to the production design, Affleck really covers every possible base in making a great looking period piece set in 1979 Iran.Alan Arkin is glorious as the producer and there are some good laughs amid the tension, but in the scenes in Iran, it was easy to forget I was watching a movie, because it felt so authentic.I came out feeling smarter.