Through most of film history, audiences have been attracted to films based on true stories. They want to see something that really happened and feel like they were there. Though these films often exaggerate or change certain parts of events for drama, the point is usually to dramatize the plot while sticking loosely to details for better cinematic effect. “Argo” pays close attention to detail and exaggerates at the same time. Combined with a stellar script, excellent cinematography and superb acting, this film is one of the year’s best. Directed by Ben Affleck and written by Chris Terrio, “Argo” is the story of six American service workers who escape to the Canadian Embassy in Iran after the U.S. Embassy is attacked and taken over by revolutionaries in 1979.
The film begins on Nov. 4, 1979, with a hostile crowd outside the U.S. embassy in Iran. Tension slowly rises as long shots of the crowd are shown and closely followed by quick, shaky close-ups of the protesters. Panic slowly rises as shots switch between the angry crowd and the foreign service workers inside. The protesters eventually jump over and break the gates open to overtake the embassy and hold 55 workers hostage. Six escape out the back to the Canadian Embassy.
CIA agent Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) comes up with a plan to rescue the six escaped Americans by teaming up with Hollywood producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin) and make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman). They plan to rescue the six Americans under the guise of a film crew. After running the idea down with several U.S. officials, including CIA head Jack O’Donnell (Bryan Cranston), it’s deemed that the operation is the best option they have and it is a go. After setting up an elaborate, realistic background for the fake film, Mendez goes to Iran, trains the Americans on their fake names, convinces them that the operation will work and attempts to escape with the hostages via a Swiss airline. Along the way, orders to cancel the operation and suspicions from Iranian officials continually build suspense.
The cinematography is particularly strong as camera movement builds suspense with many dramatic close-ups of characters and hand-held style shots increase the tension, particularly as the Americans sift their way through an Iranian market and as O’Donnell rushes his way through an office to make sure the flight is set for the Americans to escape.
In addition, a dramatic and tension-filled script pinpoints how delicate the situation is as O’Donnell instills the importance of completely memorizing fake identities into the Americans. Those in Washington constantly doubt the mission while Mendez and O’Donnell argue over executive decisions needed to help the Americans escape. The moments of dark humor add relief as Chambers and Siegel must play up their Hollywood personalities to make the project seem believable to the public and Iranian government. Though most of the characters aren’t particularly deep, the audience still feels sympathetic because of historical context and some family background.
Affleck manages to pull off a very believable, highly stressed yet cool and collected CIA agent while not going over the top. Cranston also shines with his character’s conflicts and shows strong physicality in some of his most tense scenes. Goodman and Arkin pull off comedic and dramatic characters with a good sense of morality and a sense of urgency to help their country. The rest of the cast, including those portraying the Americans in the embassy, also display a considerable truth through fear and frustration throughout the situation.
It is difficult to pinpoint the rating for “Argo.” Voiceovers at the beginning and end of the film display the extreme detail of parts of the film while other parts are extremely biased towards the U.S. Unfortunately, Canada’s side isn’t shown quite as well. The morality of the situation is also difficult to gage as the innocent U.S. workers are punished for the despicable actions of their superiors. What seems to be important in “Argo,” though, is a story of a man overcoming gigantic obstacles to free some of his countrymen from undeserved oppression. Morality of previous leader’s actions aside, the story brings out the best of men who had nothing to do with their country’s bad decisions, but did their best to rescue others from it.
