My Rating:
IMDb Users:
(2012)
Genre: History/Thriller
Director: Ben Affleck
Writers: Chris Terrio, Tony Mendez, Joshuah Bearman
Producers: Ben Affleck, Chris Brigham, Chay Carter, George Clooney, Tim Headington, Amy Herman, Grant Heslov, Graham King, David Klawans, Alex Sutherland, Nina Wolarsky
Nominee
Synopsis: Based on true events, Argo chronicles the life-or-death covert
operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of
the Iran hostage crisis-the truth of which was unknown by the public for
decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its
boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52
Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage
to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador.
Knowing it is
only a matter of time
before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA "exfiltration"
specialist named Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to
get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only
happen in the movies. -- (Written by Warner Bros. Pictures)
Cast:
- Ben Affleck
- Bryan Cranston
- Alan Arkin
- John Goodman
- Victor Garber
- Clea DuVall
- Scoot McNairy
- Rory Cochrane
- Christopher Denham
- Kerry Bishé
- Kyle Chandler
- Chris Messina
- Tate Donovan
jhunterfilmreview: And the Academy Award for Best Picture goes to...historical drama thriller, Argo. Definitely one of my favourite films from 2012. Thanks to the wise decision of Warner Bros, and producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck was appointed director, making this his third directorial project (Gone Baby Gone, The Town).
On November 4 1979, militants stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran, in retaliation to the CIA's involvement in Iran. 52 Americans were taken hostage, and 6 managed to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Argo follows the true story of CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck), and his plight to rescue the 6 escapees and deliver them back to the U.S. Without any idea of how to pull it off safely, Mendez develops an unusual plan to train the escapees to pose as a Canadian film crew returning home from an exotic location scout for a new science fiction film, "Argo".
Written by Chris Terrio, the screenplay is a dramatisation adapted from the book 'The Master of Disguise', which was written by the real Tony Mendez, himself. This, and the 2007 Wired magazine article 'How the CIA Used A Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran'.
I think it's safe to say that Affleck has definitely delivered as the director of this extremely tense and captivating masterpiece. Unlike many of today's prominent film makers, he has concentrated on producing a less frenetic, less showy film, and has focused more on the narrative. Not only this, but Affleck and Terrio have also managed to find a near perfect balance between humour and tension, which, when you think about it, is a refreshing break from the VFX-heavy Hollywood blockbusters.
Ignoring the fantastic costume and production design for a minute. Affleck has done a top notch job at creating that 1970s aesthetic. He achieved this by shooting on regular film, cutting the frames in half, and then blowing the images up by 200%. This increased their graininess dramatically. In addition to this, he looked to the 1976 drama All the President's Men for inspiration regarding the films camera movements. As a historical piece, Affleck also utilised archival news footage from ABC, CBS and NBC.
Leave it to renowned film composer Alexandre Desplat (The King's Speech, The Ides of March, Moonrise Kingdom) to create a score that induces a variation of heavy tension, and a light sense of playfulness. A score that accompanies the film so well, that it is not at all difficult to see why it earned its Best Score Oscar nomination.
In addition, Argo received 6 other Academy Award nominations including; Best Sound Mixing, Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine, Get Smart, Edward Scissorhands), Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, taking out the last three on Awards day. Overall, I was very happy with the results of this year's awards season. However, I believe that Ben Affleck deserved a Best Director nomination at least...and I know that I'm not the only one.
I thought I'd leave you with this comment from the late Chicago Sun Times' film critic, Roger Ebert. This is because of two reasons - I feel he has summed up what makes this film unique in one comment, and also to pay respect to this already highly respected film critic who passed away last week..."The craft in this film is rare. It is so easy to manufacture a thriller from chases and gunfire, and so very hard to fine-tune it out of exquisite timing and a plot that's so clear to us we wonder why it isn't obvious to the Iranians. After all, who in their right mind would believe a space opera was being filmed in Iran during the hostage crisis?" (Ebert, R. 2012)
In the end I'm extremely pleased with Argo's success, and I feel it has earned every little bit of it.
...I give this film 9 stars.
