STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM “Argo”

Art has the power to save lives. Movies are no different.

Directed by Ben Affleck, written by Chris Terrio, and based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman, Argo is the story of a CIA exfiltration plot by Tony Mendez to create a fake movie as part of a cover story to find and extract six American embassy staffers from Tehran.

The embassy has been taken over by Iranian Islamists in response to President Jimmy Carter giving the Shah asylum to the U.S during the Iranian revolution. They take the staffers hostages, minus the six, who are being sheltered in the home of the Canadian ambassador.

Mendez enlists real life Hollywood make-up artist John Chambers and a film producer to help. The script they decide on is a science-fantasy, Star Wars rip-off, which has exotic desert locations. The title: Argo.

Together, they go through the stages of pre-production to make it look like their project is legit, and gives Tony a cover to go to Iran and rescue the six Americans, who will be portraying members of a film crew coming home from a location scouting, avoiding any suspicion.

Meanwhile, at the embassy, the revolutionaries are compiling shredded photographs of the staffers to see if anyone is unaccounted for.

A good portion of act two showcases the execution of Tony’s plan, which mainly consists of pre-production schedule. The team finds an appropriate script, cast the actors to give a highly publicized read through, and have storyboards drawn up (by legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby). This, along with the climax of the film, are my favorite scenes of the film. It’s just really cool seeing representatives of the U.S. government, a spy no less, having and executing a plan to make a fake movie.

In terms of the climax, Affleck does a great job creating tension, even though it’s a real life event that ended with no bloodshed. The juxtaposition of the Americans getting on the plane before the revolutionaries race to the airport is expertly placed to create said tension.

The criticisms in how the film is made are minimal, but what it leaves out and how it portrays Iranians has caused controversy, and rightfully so. To quickly, it’s America that’s shown to have come up with the idea, when it was really Canada, whose really is severely downplayed. The codename for the exfiltration was called the “Canadian Caper” after all, and that name is never said.

For me, personally, I question the timing of this film that portrays violent Iranians trying to intimidate, even wanting to kill Americans. Sure, given the time period, it’s absolutely accurate, but as a film released in 2012, I’m afraid it’ll raise even more distrust among the Middle-Eastern population of America.

I was aware of the film when I saw the trailer in theaters. When I found out about the plot of the film, I knew I wanted to watch it.

Argo is a well-written, expertly directed film that brilliantly takes dramatic license to the parts that needed dramatizing. The historical accuracy of it is questionable, but that’s the mine field that all true-life films have to properly navigate through. How much you can handle is really up to.