The title is just a line famed by a recent hit movie which raised a few eyebrows because of...one, it's directed by a well-known Hollywood actor who has a handful experience in directing (thus far, he has directed only three movies including this one), and two, because it's based from a true story.
A 2012 American thriller film directed and starred by Ben Affleck, Argo narrates the story of how an American CIA technical operations officer amazingly came up with Operation Argo and ex-filtrated six American diplomats who were trapped in Tehran, Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis.
Antonio "Tony" Joseph Mendez, who specialized in support of "clandestine and covert CIA operations", is this film's protagonist played by Affleck himself. Mendez received an Intelligence Star in 1980 and due to his heroic deed, he is named one of the 50 greatest "trailblazers in agency history by the CIA".
But, what did he do to become a true American hero? Well, as shown in the film, he rescued the injured party by posing as part of a Canadian film crew working under the banner "Canadian Caper", the joint covert rescue by the Canadian government and CIA.
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| Original poster of Argo made to make the pretense look real |
Chronicle of history
The film starts with an opening prologue and few clips narrating how starvation for power and glory moved Islamist militants to begin a coup d'etat and caused an uproar in Iran. At first, you would think that Argo is yet another typical documentary about the past. But, no. It has a different twist as it chronicles history with a melodramatic approach.
As the story unravels, it shows how the Canadian Caper worked in-depth in order to deliver and fulfill its mission. You can see how detailed they got, from the story lines to posters, just to "fake" a production of the movie Argo. They even contacted John Chambers (played by John Goodman), a Hollywood make-up artist who has been working with CIA, to help set up a pseudo film studio, make a pitch for their plan, and successfully establish a double-dealing rescue mission.
These details, as I see it, make the film exciting. Audiences are left in awe whether the Iran government will be convinced by all those pretenses or will the six American diplomats will be abducted including Mendez himself.
Seeing the group (Mendez and the six diplomats) in imminent danger, however, makes Argo much more thrilling and exciting! Especially the scenes where they went to a bazaar and got caught up in a fight with an Iranian; when they were trying to board the plane, and when Iranian guards tried to stop the plane they're on. These scenes definitely portray a dramatic sequence which imbues the film a little flavoring and spice.
For this, I give Affleck a pat on the back!
Apart from the scenes being well-directed, the actors did okay in their acting as well. And the use of actual news footage and photos from the era as in-story expositions is superb!
Everything considered, Argo kept me on the edge of my seat right up to the very end!
Fact or Fictitious?
Producing and making a film that's actually based from a true story, however, is no picnic. All facts must be checked and accurately presented.
In the case of Argo, some reviews and online readings say accuracy was compromised. They say there are few historical inaccuracies or scenes that didn't happen in reality. And these are the scenes that I actually like (mentioned above)!
So...what if they added few things on the film? I mean James Cameron did it in Titanic.
For the sake of making a film more enticing and thrilling for its audience, I think adding fictitious events are acceptable, unless the film is a strict documentary.
Underdog Argo
Argo is considered to be an underdog compared to its contemporaries. Nonetheless, it doesn't fail to make history and inspire people.
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