Argo
Directed by Ben Affleck
Produced by Ben Affleck, George Clooney & Grant Heslov
Screenplay by Chris Terrio
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography Rodrigo Prieto
Starring
Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez
Bryan Cranston as Jack O'Donnell
Alan Arkin as Lester Siegel
John Goodman as John Chambers
6 Us Embassy officals
Bunch of Iranians
Others
Based on :
The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez
The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman
Events happening after the attack of U.S. embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979. The film concentrates on the extration of 6 escaped officials from Iran and not the hostage suituation inside the Embassy.
What is Argo ?
I don't Know
You don't Know ?
It means, ar-GO FàçK YOURSELF
No time wasted, Crip intro on Iranian (Persian) Cilivisation, Political heat, US embassy take over and Tony Mendes, a CIA tech op, is assigned to extract the 6 escaped officials from Iran, with limited option as their escape has been tracked by Iranians and they want them dead. All possibilities closed down, Tony comes up with a best Bad Idea, extracting them from Iran in the dusguise of Film Technicians. Approved, you got a Hollywood Film Argo, produced by CIA. With the help of a makeup artist and producer, Tony, within few days, mounts all the reliable documents to make ARGO an on going sci-fi Hollywood movie which has Iran as backdrop. He then travels to Iran as a film producer, fakes Passport for the 6 ppl as though they are the films director, script writer etc., trains them to get pass the security.
Whether they sucessfully leave Iran is told in a edge of seat thiller manner.
Firstly, this movie is a lesson showing how you make thrillers eventhough the viewer know whats going to happen. Eventhough quite dramatic, the Airport scenes were heart pounding. Secondly is the casting. Never seen a movie with so much effective casting (not comparing to the real life people). Each role has a man or woman playing it as though they are real. Thirdly, Direction : We got a story and a well written script. Now how do we execute it. See Argo. The tone of the movie, be it the color or music or sets take you back to the late 70s. Much attention was given to these details and they have come out sucessfully. Finally the dialogues and some very well made scenes like :
- Intro + Tehran suituation
- CIA meeting on the suituation
- Meeting with WGA (Writers Guild of America)
- Faking ARGO
- On going Film Rehersal compared with Iranians claims
- Airport scences
(to name a few)
Another thing worth mentioning is how the film maker draws and keeps your attention throughout. Long dialogues (coined as boring moments) cuts with a loud sound of a type writer or beaking windows or car honks. By this you are alerted and brought back to the proceedings and made to follow the story with much needed attention.
I personaly dont know what really happened. Heard it through documentaries. But in this movie the suituation and the escape were bit exagurated. I tell this to people who search for what happened and how it is shown in the movie. Its dramatised to the core to present it as a Thriller. And I stoped looking for accuracy. This film also has some flaws, but it could be noticed only by people who are looking for it.
Why this movie attracted me so much to say I calling it one of the best films I have watched in a decade because it easily connected me to it. To give you an ex :
If you want to sell a work (lie) Press will sell it for you !
Argo - A must watch
