Released to the United States on October 12, 2012, the historical drama film and action thriller, Argo, rose to popularity with praise to its direction, score, and screenplay. Directed by Ben Affleck, the movie was filmed in Los Angeles, Mclean, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Istanbul. Main cast actors include Ben Affleck himself, Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, and John Goodman. Supporting cast include Clea DuVall, Victor Garber, Scoot Mcnairy, Kerry Bishe, Tate Donovan, Rory Cochrane, and Christopher Denham. This film was set to take place during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 and 1980, focusing specifically on the “Canadian Caper”. Argo was solely focused on the exfiltration mission by the CIA and “Studio Six” to save the 6 Americans from Tehran by using a fake …show more content…
By upping the saturation filter of the film, audiences get an 80s vibe which is further intensified by the retro clothing and logos also presented. Though Argo is a thriller/drama, the occurrence of sporadic comedic relief makes this movie one that I would watch again and recommend to others. Argo begins dramatically, with a narrator presenting comics foreshadowing the creation of the false film and film company. The narrator provides background information on Iran, the overthrown Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini from the 1950s to 1979. One main point was that as a result of Shah Pahlavi’s immense wealth, the people struggled in poverty. This caused a revolution to stir in Iranian society, especially expanding when Shah Pahlavi desired to westernize Iran. When Shah Pahlavi was overthrown and Khomeini took his place, the people continued to resent Pahlavi. Chaos in Iran reached an all time high when Pahlavi was granted asylum in the U.S. due to his illness. The Iranian people rioted for Pahlavi to be returned so they could sentence him. By starting out with background information, the film is able to go straight into
This completely changed the perception of the United States within Iran. Many Iranians believed that “American influence and power made a mockery of their national autonomy and desecrated their religious beliefs” (Farber, 37). The real struggle came once the Shah sought asylum in the U.S. Iran believed this to be a betrayal and demanded the Shah be released to the revolutionaries. Due to the fact that the United States did not refuse the Shah, the revolutionaries took the embassy in Tehran and all of the people that worked there hostage. One of the hostages wrote back to his parents during the crisis “‘We will not be set free until shah is released and the longer we stay here like this the better is a chance for something terrible to happen’” (Farber, 156). The siege was led by Iranian students who supported the revolution and the Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader that the revolution had selected to take the place of the
and then we know what is going to happen. At the end of the film, we don't know
Through the whole movie there is never an intimate interaction between two Iranians, they have no opportunity to humanize the Iranian country as a whole. Therefore, the audience is led to believe that all of Iran is represented by the generic description and hostile toward Americans. The closest interaction is when the house maid gives up the six diplomats, and even in that the Iranians are shown with more flaws, treachery and betrayal. This puts Iran as a country the antagonist of the movie based on these false characteristics and the events in the movie, many of which were exaggerated or created. Argo proves that Orientalism is still impactful today, and the West still sees the East in a like manner of that in the 1800’s.
There were many news articles and stories written talking about the hostage crisis. Many people were inspired by Ken Taylor’s heroic work in Iran, and created books, documentaries, and movies on his story. "Our Man in Tehran" is a book written by Robert wright that contains all the details on the hostage crisis and Ken Taylor's involvement in Iran. The book included the specific details on what he had done to accomplish his goals, his personality, and even the positive comments people had about him. This quote from the book exhibits Ken Taylor’s charisma, “He was a very skilled and well-regarded diplomat. No one with those qualities would have gone to a situation like Tehran.” (Wright 5) A documentary was also created based on that book which highlighted Ken Taylor’s role in Iran and how he had resolved the hostage crisis. It aired in 2013 and won five screen awards; best documentary, best direction in documentary, best photography, best picture editing, and best sound (Wikipedia “Our Man in Tehran”). These awards portray the Canadian hero in a positive light. Another form of media that recognizes the hardships of the Canadian ambassador was the Oscar award winning film, Argo. The film was created by famous celebrity Ben Affleck and talks about Iran and the hostage crisis; however, Ken Taylor’s role in the movie was not significant and gave less credit, but through criticism and comments made showed that people still believed that Ken Taylor deserved much more credit than what he was given. Former president Jimmy Carter was one of the many people who addressed and corrected Ken’s characterization in the movie by saying, “The main hero, in my opinion, was Ken Taylor, who was the Canadian Ambassador who orchestrated the entire process” (“Ken Taylor Daily
to the film early on but makes the viewer want to make sense of what
First, the Shah, out-of-touch with what his people wanted, became the catalyst for massive xenophobic and anti-Western feelings to spread throughout the nation. By giving up traditional Islamic ideals and becoming sort of a “puppet” for the U.S. and the Western world, the Shah made a mockery of himself and of those traditional Islamic values, which were paramount in Iran. For many years, Iranians wrote letters to the Shah, voicing their discontent with many aspects of his rule — the spread of the Bahá’í Faith, the collapse of Islamic traditions, and the crumbling economy. The Shah, however, did nothing to fix these issues. Instead, he designed a political reformation movement, hoping to silence his opponents, to introduce personal rights for women, and to establish a sense of fiscal equality. This series of reforms, which appeared to be a blatant attempt to Westernize Iran, became known as the “White
A few years later in 1979 the Islamic revolution began, causing the Shah to flee (introduction pages one and two).
Johnson, Brian D. "Ben Affleck Rewrites History ‘Argo’ Shifts the Spotlight from Ken Taylor, Our Man in Tehran, to CIA Spy Tony Mendez." Maclean's. N.p., 12 Sept. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2013.
In the 1970’s Iran, under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was a very centralized military state that maintained a close relationship with the USA. The Shah was notoriously out of touch with working class Iranians as he implemented many controversial economic policies against small business owners that he suspected involved profiteering. Also unrestricted economic expansions in Iran lead to huge government expenditure that became a serious problem when oil prices dropped in the mid 1970’s. This caused many huge government construction projects to halt and the economy to stall after many years of massive profit. Following this was high rates of inflation that affected Iranians buying power and living standards. (Afary, 2012) Under the Shah, political participation was not widely available for all Iranians and it was common for political opposition to be met with harassment, illegal detention, and even torture. These measures were implemented by the Iranian secret police knows as ‘SAVAK’. This totalitarian regime combined with the increasing modernisation of the country paved the way for revolution.
Unlike the Shah, he was extremely against western influence in Iran. Mossadegh won national elections and demanded more power. In order to retain influence in Iran, the CIA helped overthrow Mossadegh and bring Pahlavi back to power.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Ben Affleck, director, does an excellent job with the movie Argo. Being able to find the fear and suspension in every scene is difficult to do, yet Affleck does so seamlessly. Based off a true historical event that happened in 1979, Affleck choses to pick the Iranian Hostage Crisis. He starts out the movie with some background information, so that viewers are able to have some understanding of what has happened and why this is happening. He then merges into a heartbreaking scene, where a mob of Iranians have bombarded their way into the American Embassy. Screaming and shouting at the top of their lungs, the actions happening outside are horrific. Showing the fear in every American’s eyes in the building pulls at every heart
Rocky is a multi genre film directed by John G. Avildson. Within this film Avildson and his colleagues collaborated to create a remarkable film that won numerous awards. The directors use of mise-en-scène techniques including, lighting, costumes, dialogue, set design, and sounds successful enhanced the film. In addition, the impeccable use of cinematographic techniques enhances the film and aids to reveal the underlying character development and theme. In order to properly analyze this film, an evaluation of the narrative structure, time, space, and sound must be done.
Set in Baghdad, Iraq 2003, Matt Damon plays Captain Roy Miller who is tasked with leading an elite team of army officers in the search for the Weapons of Mass Destruction. He is then suddenly forced to question U.S authorities as he unravels a conspiracy behind the US’ involvement in Iraq. At the time of the movie being filmed in 2010, several years has passed since the war on terror has commenced, resulting in 'between 97,461 and 106,348 civilian deaths up to July . Given the director Paul Greengrass’ filmography background of 'directing United 93 (2006) the first feature film to focus its narrative on the events of 9/11 ,and in an interview describing filmmaking as ‘the joining of an argument, the joining of a creative argument during their making, and that a...
A revolution is a mass movement that intends to violently transform the old government into a new political system. The Iranian Revolution, which began in 1979 after years of climax, was an uprising against the Shah’s autocratic rule, resulting in much religious and political change. Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi made efforts to remove Islamic values, create secular rule and “westernize” Iran through his White Revolution. In addition, his tight dictatorial rule and attempts at military expansion felt threatening to the people, who desired a fairer governmental rule immensely influenced by Islam. Afterwards, governmental affairs became extremely influenced by Islamic traditions and law which created changes religiously and politically for years to come.
done in order for the movie to fit exactly into place. In the story the little details is what makes it