by Kyle Menyhert
Directed by Ben Affleck, Argo is a re-telling of the events that are now known as the “Canadian Caper”. In case you don’t know the background, here’s a bit of a fill-in.
In 1953, the American government ousted Iran’s secular, democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq and installed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1979, Iranians rose up by the thousands to protest the brutal dictatorship of their Shah and drove him from power in favor of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Islamic Republic. When the Shah was ousted, Iranians vented their anger against the United States and stormed the embassy in Tehran. Most of the Americans taken became hostages in what is now known as the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Six diplomats, however, escaped through a back door and were taken in at the Canadian Ambassador’s residence. Unknown to the public, the CIA and the Government of Canada worked together to pass these six diplomats off as a Canadian film crew, researching a filming location. They safely returned to the United States, and the event became a bright spot in the midst of the sobering Iranian Hostage Crisis.
Argo is a GW student’s type of movie. It’s a suspense thriller based off American-Iranian relations. This historical thriller is packed with suspense and retains its relevance in today’s political climate, and it is a very involving film. The cast is excellent-Affleck plays Tony Mendez, the CIA worker who travels to Iran and helps escort the diplomats out of Iran, and while the relationship he had with his family could have been explored more, his performance was still an excellent one.
Argo stands out in that it doesn’t matter how much you know about the Canadian Caper. I first learned about the event from a six-minute movie shown on NBC right before the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I knew Canada had helped rescue U.S. diplomats, but I did not know much about the process of the actual operation. What makes Argo special, however, is that you don’t need to know about the operation to fully appreciate the movie.
Argo’s script may not have been on the level of finesse Quentin Tarantino is known for, but it reminded me of the first Back to the Future film, which was almost perfect in length. The movie didn’t drag, nor did it forget to fully explain important historical background. (The movie starts with a chilling recount of events leading up to the 1979 Revolution.) In perhaps a directorial self pat on the back, Affleck shows in the credits the painstaking detail of his recreation of the beginning scenes. But in a way, Affleck deserves it; he definitely cared about the accuracy in portraying revolutionary Iran.
I expected Argo to be a very serious, cold, reality-sucks type of film, with very little other sentiment. That was certainly true in the beginning of the movie, but the script is such that the movie knows where it can be very emotionally involving and even darkly funny at times. Alan Arkin and John Goodman do excellent work in supporting roles as the Hollywood producers who make the diplomats’ fake film a reality.
The events that Argo portrays happened thirty years ago, but with Iran still smarting from a failed uprising three years ago, a nearly worthless currency, and nuclear ambitions, this movie is still very much relevant to what is happening in today’s world. While the role of the Canadian government wasn’t stressed much, this was very much a joint operation between the CIA and Canada. It reminds the audience that the United States has allies who will help it in extraordinary ways if need be.
Great review!
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