Argo (2012) directed by Ben Affleck, won Best Picture in the 85th Academy Awards. It was well deserved because it is one of those films with amazing story-telling with suspense and thrill that keeps your heart racing. It's not a war movie, but it feels like one because of all the guns, the word "hostage", and the fast paced music throughout the film.
It was obviously written and directed from an American point-of-view. Iranians, of course, were portrayed as the ruthless murderers with thick, black eye brows and long, dried beards. From an American side, it almost seems like a super hero film since Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) is depicted as a character with all the factors of a super hero. He is obviously very smart, he cares about the six people trapped in Iran, he does what is right, he's lonely because no one else knows what it is like to be leading a group of six in a very dangerous situation, and he risks his own life by doing so. Harry Potter much?
It was obviously written and directed from an American point-of-view. Iranians, of course, were portrayed as the ruthless murderers with thick, black eye brows and long, dried beards. From an American side, it almost seems like a super hero film since Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck) is depicted as a character with all the factors of a super hero. He is obviously very smart, he cares about the six people trapped in Iran, he does what is right, he's lonely because no one else knows what it is like to be leading a group of six in a very dangerous situation, and he risks his own life by doing so. Harry Potter much?
It was definitely an interesting way of looking at a hero film without all the supernatural powers, or the sexy girlfriends that always get in the way. I especially liked how the main character, Tony, has a 10-year-old son that he misses. It gives the character an extra pinch of flavor in the film. It is also what makes the audience have a personal bond with the character from the start. It's like the moment in Letters to Iwo Jima when the Japanese soldiers read some of the letters of American soldiers about their sick parents, and the roosters that get bigger everyday. This is what makes this real event personal.
There is something I learned as I watched this film for the third time: in order to make a story succeed, you must let the audience have pity for the characters while making the antagonists look really evil and scary. It is what Hollywood has been doing for a long time. It happened with all the Disney movies - Aladdin and Mulan - and some of the classic films like Mummy and Indiana Jones. Films like A Separation gives the audience a chance to judge each character, but this film makes the Iranians look really bad.
-- Side note: historically, the CIA has been involved with the Iranian coup for oil control in Britain and the US. As a result, the Iranian government has been in political chaos for a long time. --
So, it would be really interesting for Iran to come up with a film with their point-of-view just like Japan's Letters to Iwo Jima.
There is something I learned as I watched this film for the third time: in order to make a story succeed, you must let the audience have pity for the characters while making the antagonists look really evil and scary. It is what Hollywood has been doing for a long time. It happened with all the Disney movies - Aladdin and Mulan - and some of the classic films like Mummy and Indiana Jones. Films like A Separation gives the audience a chance to judge each character, but this film makes the Iranians look really bad.
-- Side note: historically, the CIA has been involved with the Iranian coup for oil control in Britain and the US. As a result, the Iranian government has been in political chaos for a long time. --
So, it would be really interesting for Iran to come up with a film with their point-of-view just like Japan's Letters to Iwo Jima.
Anyways, there was a scene that confused me for a minute, which was when Tony Mendez arrives to the airport in Teheran. He looks around the airport and finds a man with a gun fighting a civilian man. A woman next to the civilian man argues with a the gun man in Farsi, which was not subtitled. Then there is a shot of a young girl crying. I am guessing that this sequence was on screen to show the harsh and scary environment of Iran, but it was still a bit confusing.
Overall, Argo was an amazing film that had this slightly blue hue for most shots throughout the film. The cinematography was good - especially that intro scene in Turkey - with the right amount of shadow for a lonely and serious feel. However, I was not a huge fan of the AUDIO. It had too much bass, which made the dialogue a bit hard to understand.
At the very end during the credits, there is a compare & contrast of the movie scenes and the real historical settings from photographs. The similarities with the real event and the movie were pretty impressive.
At the very end during the credits, there is a compare & contrast of the movie scenes and the real historical settings from photographs. The similarities with the real event and the movie were pretty impressive.