Post #5 ARGO
Based on a true story the movie Argo portrays the historical events of the rescue of six American escapees during the Iranian hostage crisis. Like 12 Years a Slave, Argo is based upon primary sources. Not only did Tony Mendez (the CIA agent personally apart of the rescue) help write the script and advice in the filming process, the movie also had unlimited sources to gather data from such as: news reels, photographs, newspaper excerpts, hostage testimonies, and many CIA files of the mission. Though some aspects of the true story were dramatized or glossed over, the movie was able to maintain the primary historical events accurately while remaining entertaining for all viewers, drawing them closer to the edge of their seat.
The movie, however, primarily focused on a "footnote" of the Iranian hostage situation. It focused in on the escape of 6 personal instead of the 52 hostages who remained in captivity for 444 days rather than the escapees who were able to escape in 3 months. In an interview with Ben Affleck, the director of Argo as well as the actor portraying Tony Mendez, he explained that the story of the CIA and Hollywood teaming together to rescue the escapees was an "easy sell" that people would draw to and want to see. Much like the movie Glory, which invented fictional people and conflict to attract people into the film, Argo's focus on the escapees rather than the actual hostage situation abides by the same goal.
In order to keep a historical movie entertaining some aspect of the true story have to be exaggerated or taken out. This is primarily to keep the movie precise with the major event while remaining concise, since it can be very difficult to fit a 3 month period of planning and missions into a 2 hour movie. Argo, however, did begin very accurate by beginning with the back story of the history going on at the time. By using a narrator and ongoing historical clips of Iran the movie was able to catch the viewer up as to what was occurring and why before being immediately dropped into the first scene at the American Embassy in Iran on November 4, 1979, the day the Embassy was taken over.
To maintain the historical accuracy of the film actual clips during the hostage take over were mixed within the reenacted scenes of the movie. Pictures and videos were shown in their black and white frames then the film continued with an actor in the same position and similar location (such as man burning the American flag and Islamic women in cars carrying guns) to bring the history of the film to life. Also at the end of the film pictures and film were also shown to portray the aftermath of the entire situation, such as how Canada originally was recognized for the rescue of the escapees and the return of the hostages. News clips were also being played on the old TV sets during the scenes shot in American homes such as the Nightline which began as a nightly news report on the hostage crisis (original title was the Iran Crisis- America Held Hostage). The ABC president Roone Arledge had hoped it would draw viewers away from "NBC juggernaut The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and inform citizens of what was going on, thus this would have most likely been on the television screen of CIA agents and citizens around the country.
Not only did the movie Argo have Tony Mendez's personal say in the film, there is also the personal field report written by Tony Mendez called CIA Goes Hollywood- Classic Case of Deception which gives a step-by-step look into the process of the entire mission chronologically. In an interview with Tony Mendez the interviewer explained, "if Ben Affleck missed aline they can reshoot if you had missed a line it was a bullet to the head", Mendez replied calmly, "There is nothing like high stakes." In the interview Tony Mendez explained that "a real spy is not even the one you notice" and that you have to be boring and unseen. Due to this "Code of a Spy" when creating the film Affleck had to add a little flare to the entirety of the film to add a little more spark. If Argo had remained precisely accurate based upon the process in the field report the movie would have dragged on and become slightly repetitive and confusing. Mendez had originally thought he was going to rescue the hostages and began his first 90 hours working on a plan called Operation Bodyguard until it was denied by the White House. Their was also a failed rescue attempt of the hostages due to an army helicopter crash in the desert. Since the movie was not about the actual hostages within the Embassy details such as these are slightly irrelevant to the story of the escapees since they were unaware of what was going on in the US at the time. The movie also gave less credit to Canada in the actual operation process. There were actually multiple Canadian Ambassadors in Tehran who helped provide shelter of the escapees who were actually split between ambassadors. The scene in the airport was also overly dramatized when the operation had been described by tony going as "Smooth as Silk" with no issues besides a slight delay on the plane. Affleck gave the character Tony more of a backstory, such as currently being apart from his wife, having a little boy, living within a messy apartment like house alone, to give the audience more curiosity about the character. When in reality Mendez was happily married with his wife and also had two daughters as well. Characters such as John Chambers were portrayed to the utmost precision such as even demonstrating limps, sideburns, clothing etc. Much like the movie Smoke Signals when portraying the Native American Lifestyle.
The movie Argo was one of suspense and intellect that remained accurate through primary source but was able to add some Hollywood flare to make the movie more appealing for all viewers.
The movie, however, primarily focused on a "footnote" of the Iranian hostage situation. It focused in on the escape of 6 personal instead of the 52 hostages who remained in captivity for 444 days rather than the escapees who were able to escape in 3 months. In an interview with Ben Affleck, the director of Argo as well as the actor portraying Tony Mendez, he explained that the story of the CIA and Hollywood teaming together to rescue the escapees was an "easy sell" that people would draw to and want to see. Much like the movie Glory, which invented fictional people and conflict to attract people into the film, Argo's focus on the escapees rather than the actual hostage situation abides by the same goal.
In order to keep a historical movie entertaining some aspect of the true story have to be exaggerated or taken out. This is primarily to keep the movie precise with the major event while remaining concise, since it can be very difficult to fit a 3 month period of planning and missions into a 2 hour movie. Argo, however, did begin very accurate by beginning with the back story of the history going on at the time. By using a narrator and ongoing historical clips of Iran the movie was able to catch the viewer up as to what was occurring and why before being immediately dropped into the first scene at the American Embassy in Iran on November 4, 1979, the day the Embassy was taken over.
To maintain the historical accuracy of the film actual clips during the hostage take over were mixed within the reenacted scenes of the movie. Pictures and videos were shown in their black and white frames then the film continued with an actor in the same position and similar location (such as man burning the American flag and Islamic women in cars carrying guns) to bring the history of the film to life. Also at the end of the film pictures and film were also shown to portray the aftermath of the entire situation, such as how Canada originally was recognized for the rescue of the escapees and the return of the hostages. News clips were also being played on the old TV sets during the scenes shot in American homes such as the Nightline which began as a nightly news report on the hostage crisis (original title was the Iran Crisis- America Held Hostage). The ABC president Roone Arledge had hoped it would draw viewers away from "NBC juggernaut The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson" and inform citizens of what was going on, thus this would have most likely been on the television screen of CIA agents and citizens around the country.
Not only did the movie Argo have Tony Mendez's personal say in the film, there is also the personal field report written by Tony Mendez called CIA Goes Hollywood- Classic Case of Deception which gives a step-by-step look into the process of the entire mission chronologically. In an interview with Tony Mendez the interviewer explained, "if Ben Affleck missed aline they can reshoot if you had missed a line it was a bullet to the head", Mendez replied calmly, "There is nothing like high stakes." In the interview Tony Mendez explained that "a real spy is not even the one you notice" and that you have to be boring and unseen. Due to this "Code of a Spy" when creating the film Affleck had to add a little flare to the entirety of the film to add a little more spark. If Argo had remained precisely accurate based upon the process in the field report the movie would have dragged on and become slightly repetitive and confusing. Mendez had originally thought he was going to rescue the hostages and began his first 90 hours working on a plan called Operation Bodyguard until it was denied by the White House. Their was also a failed rescue attempt of the hostages due to an army helicopter crash in the desert. Since the movie was not about the actual hostages within the Embassy details such as these are slightly irrelevant to the story of the escapees since they were unaware of what was going on in the US at the time. The movie also gave less credit to Canada in the actual operation process. There were actually multiple Canadian Ambassadors in Tehran who helped provide shelter of the escapees who were actually split between ambassadors. The scene in the airport was also overly dramatized when the operation had been described by tony going as "Smooth as Silk" with no issues besides a slight delay on the plane. Affleck gave the character Tony more of a backstory, such as currently being apart from his wife, having a little boy, living within a messy apartment like house alone, to give the audience more curiosity about the character. When in reality Mendez was happily married with his wife and also had two daughters as well. Characters such as John Chambers were portrayed to the utmost precision such as even demonstrating limps, sideburns, clothing etc. Much like the movie Smoke Signals when portraying the Native American Lifestyle.
The movie Argo was one of suspense and intellect that remained accurate through primary source but was able to add some Hollywood flare to make the movie more appealing for all viewers.
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