How the cia used a fake scifi flick to rescue americans from tehran. Chambers enlists producer lester siegel alan arkin, who finds and then options a script for a scifi film called argo and issues news releases about the coming movie. I honestly do not remember any details of the events of this sad episode in middle east history so i cannot really judge this. The historical accuracy in films argo, lincoln, and their. Tense, exciting, and often darkly comic, argo recreates a historical event with vivid attention to detail and finely wrought characters.
On the heels of oscar nights unsurprising coda made all the more bizarre by the inclusion of michelle obama, surrounded by awkwardlooking. Biopics, short for biographical movie, usually focuses on explaining an individuals life or a specific period of their life. The suspenseful argo movie scene that requires ben afflecks character to ask the woman at the airport ticket counter to recheck for the tickets never actually happened in real life. The movies premise, that a fake movie production was created to rescue six americans from iran, is true. As far as i know the general plot is consistent with reality and in this movie it is good enough for me. To conclude, the movie, argo tells the story of six hostages trying to escape iran during the iranian revolution by using a fake movie. We need not point out every single instance in which the historical facts are altered. While the movie, argo, has many accurate parts to it, there are also some inaccurate parts included in the film, as well as details added in order to make the movie more interesting, and suspenseful. Jan 11, 20 the most vital subject of argument is the role of cia and the canadian government. If students are assigned to report on the accuracy of the film, have them read, before they see the movie, joshua bermans wired article entitled how the cia used a fake scifi flick to rescue americans from tehran or mr. A fact check of the midway movie s historical accuracy reveals that there was indeed a turf battle between the cryptologists in washington, d. Nov 05, 2012 based on cia agent tony mendezs 2002 book the master of disguise and a 2007 article in wired magazine, this movie is getting a lot of attentionfor its cinematic accomplishments and for its historical accuracyor historically inaccuracy as some are claiming. The fake fake argo in this movie is a star wars ripoff. Ben afflecks movie, argo, tells how several americans escaped from tehran in 1979.
There is absolutely, undoubtedly zero fact outside the basic requirements. It succeeds, wonderfully, as the kind of movie that can save your life from boredom for a couple of hours, but it. Explore the argo true story and meet the real tony mendez aka kevin harkins. Argo recreates the storming of the us embassy in tehran in november 1979. Aside from the positive accolades its been receiving a definite shoein for. In 2009, film director alejandro amenabar brought the story of hypatia of alexandria c. Find out which details of the 20 best picture winner were true, and which were hollywood fabrications. Oct 15, 2012 a postscript during the films end titles citing the argo incident as a model of international cooperation makes much more sense when you keep those facts in mind. With ben affleck, bryan cranston, john goodman, alan arkin. The difference between historical drama, or fiction, and a biopic lies in tone, subject, and accuracy. Historical accuracy in the film agora ancient history. Argo movie true story meet the real tony mendez and the. It is important to note that the movie is not intended to be historically accurate in the sense of portraying an exactly specific time or historical figure. A postscript during the films end titles citing the argo incident as a model of international cooperation makes much more sense when you keep those facts in mind.
Mar 30, 2017 in the movie argo, we learned the story of a top secret mission to create a fake movie called argo in an attempt to smuggle american civilians out of an unstable iran. So the argo in argo is a fake version of a fake movie. A postscript during the film s end titles citing the argo incident as a model of international cooperation makes much more sense when you keep those facts in mind. The true story behind ben afflecks globewinning film bbc.
Feb 22, 20 so the argo in argo is a fake version of a fake movie. History must reflect argo was mainly a canadian mission. The introduction of argo is a dazzingly sloppy few minutes of caricatured history of iran, full of orientalist images of violent ancient persians harems and all, which gets many basic facts wrong. The true story behind the new movie argo about how cia operatives posing as a hollywood production team rescued six americans hiding in iran during the. Macleans asserted that the movie rewrites history at canadas expense, making hollywood and the cia the. It is about the mission to rescue six americans who went into hiding when iraninan protesters took over u. This film is a fictionalization of real events, which means there are going to be numerous inaccuracies for the sake of storytelling and drama. Mar 28, 20 in regards to the historical accuracy of steve spielbergs lincoln film, nprs linda wertheimer interviewed ronald white, author of a. It is apparent that issues related historical accuracy in filmmaking, especially in hollywood, are common as noted in other films such as zero dark thirty and lincoln. Separate the argo real story from the ben affleck argo movie. The best historical movies that are also mostly accurate. I think a good movie is more important than historical accuracy or accuracy to source material. In regards to the historical accuracy of steve spielbergs lincoln film, nprs linda wertheimer interviewed ronald white, author of a.
Historical inaccuracies in argo by alexandra vanrooyen on. An international relations critique movies that move. The last samurai 2003 was a historical epic loosely set during the last great samurai rebellion of the meiji restoration. Historical inaccuracies in argo by alexandra vanrooyen on prezi.
Argo s central, nutty storylinein which the cia establishes a fake movie production, complete with a full script and ads in variety and the hollywood reporter, in order to rescue six. Starting at the beginning, where they actually tell you theyre planning on telling you lies for the entire movie, we are told the date is 1280 ad, and the narrator says. Oct 12, 2012 argo s central, nutty storylinein which the cia establishes a fake movie production, complete with a full script and ads in variety and the hollywood reporter, in order to rescue six. Iran hostage crisis film fiddles with the facts w5. Patricia taylor, provided shelter to their houseguests, ambassador taylor and the. The historical accuracy of this movie has been questioned. Ben afflecks film argo tells the bizarre story of how in 1980 the cia with canadian help sprang a group of americans. The true story behind ben afflecks globewinning film.
The historical accuracy in films argo, lincoln, and their ilk. An exciting movie that it kept us on the edge of our seats. Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started. Jan 14, 20 argo recreates the storming of the us embassy in tehran in november 1979. The historical accuracy section is an absurd 1,551 words in length. These based on a true story movies might get a lot of praise for their more videos. Argos claim that there was only some cursory help from the canadians is a misleading fabrication. A fact check of the midway movies historical accuracy reveals that there was indeed a turf battle between the cryptologists in washington, d. Mendez book, argo how the cia and hollywood pulled off the most audacious rescue in history. Argo, the new movie from actordirector ben affleck, has mostly been getting ravesincluding a qualified but fairly strong endorsement from. Historical dramas are about time periods, and created for film or television and tend to be fictitious to a degree. State department employees who escaped the 1979 siege at the american embassy in tehran which resulted in the 444day hostage saga. President jimmy carter commented on the accuracy of the argo story when he appeared on cnn recently thursday night, feb 21, 20. It wasnt like in the movie, reads the subhead of mark lijeks personal account of his time.
I was pleasantly surprised to find it very enjoyable. Oct 22, 2012 but argo is not nearly as epistemologically savvy as singer makes it out to be. Historic fiction in movies and historical accuracy. Oct 19, 2012 argo is totally inaccurate which is exactly why its great. Argo s claim that there was only some cursory help from the canadians is a misleading fabrication. Iran hostage crisis film fiddles with the facts ctv news. The facts and fiction behind the ben affleck movie. I had no problem pretending to be in the movie industry. Acting under the cover of a hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a cia agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six americans in. Twelfth grade lesson researching argo for bias and accuracy.
Argo is more than a retelling of a true story of american. Argo is totally inaccurate which is exactly why its. Thus to have expected complete historical accuracy in its film adaptation would have been fallacious and maybe even a. The true story behind the new movie argo about how cia operatives posing as a hollywood production team rescued six americans hiding in iran during the 1979 embassy crisis. It is clear that the directors did attempt to be accurate in many ways such as how they portrayed the six hostages, in how the americans first reacted to the revolutionaries storming the us embassy, and in how they depicted the environment of iran outside the. Jul 14, 2017 the true story behind the new movie argo about how cia operatives posing as a hollywood production team rescued six americans hiding in iran during the 1979 embassy crisis. Jun 09, 20 to conclude, the movie, argo tells the story of six hostages trying to escape iran during the iranian revolution by using a fake movie. Argo, directed by ben affleck, who is also the protagonist in the movie, has won a number of awards such as the oscar for best picture with a high approval rating amongst viewers. Moreover, it calls attention to how the film could have been something quite different.
The movie in question is argo, ben afflecks brilliant thriller about the. Argo ben afflecks gripping cia thriller sends reality into a tailspin. Ben afflecks movie, argo, claims to be a true story and while its widely regarded as one of the best pictures of the year. Ben afflecks film argo tells the bizarre story of how in 1980 the cia with canadian help. People involved iran united states of america canada cia president jimmy carter germany iran hostage timeline citations tony mendez. The most vital subject of argument is the role of cia and the canadian government. Opinion history according to hollywood the new york times. Argo is not emotionally demanding or intellectually. Acting under the cover of a hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a cia agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six americans in tehran during the u. The true story behind operation argo to rescue americans.
Prior to the films release, and more so following, christian writers criticized the movies historical inaccuracies and its depiction of christians specifically. Central intelligence agency operative tony mendez, the master of disguise, and the 2007 wired article by joshuah bearman, the great escape. The political drama argo is based on the real story of a ciaplanned rescue in revolutionary iran. The real fake argo, as it were, was based on hindubuddhist mythology not quite middle eastern or a glorification of islam, but the cia. Argo is totally inaccurate which is exactly why its great indiewire. The issue of historical accuracy never really came up again. Just how accurate was ben afflecks 2012 movie argo. The reservations had always been in place and there werent any problems at the counter or the checkpoints. Screenwriter chris terrio adapted the screenplay from the book by the u.
May 11, 2018 affleck in argo, the true story of how hollywood, the cia and then canadian ambassador ken taylor conspired to sneak six u. Argo ben afflecks gripping cia thriller sends reality into. The movie argo, and this project, focus on the events that directly led to this change. In the movie argo, we learned the story of a top secret mission to create a fake moviecalled argoin an attempt to smuggle american civilians. Feb 26, 20 on the heels of oscar nights unsurprising coda made all the more bizarre by the inclusion of michelle obama, surrounded by awkwardlooking military personnel, presenting the best picture to. Experts say it gets most of the story right but two men who were actually there say the end. I dont tend to enjoy history movies or documentaries, but the plot really captured my attention. Mendez travels to the middle east, disguised as a producer for the film, and meets with the six americans to explain the plan and give them false identities as canadian filmmakers.
Despite these inaccurate parts, the movie starts out with a sequence of pictures with details that outline the. Argo ben afflecks argo won the best picture oscar, but it wouldnt win any history awards. Despite its praise, argo has been criticized for some specific inaccuracies, in particular for minimizing the role of the. Affleck in argo, the true story of how hollywood, the cia and then canadian ambassador ken taylor conspired to sneak six u. Argo movie true story meet the real tony mendez and the 6. Argo is totally inaccurate which is exactly why its great. Moreover, throughout the 79 days during which the canadian ambassador, ken taylor, and his wife, dr. Based on cia agent tony mendezs 2002 book the master of disguise and a 2007 article in wired magazine, this movie is getting a lot of attentionfor its cinematic accomplishments and for its historical accuracyor historically inaccuracy as some are claiming.
Critics have argued that the movie barely does any justice to the role of the canadian government especially ambassador taylor while glorifying the cias role. Iranian kambiz atabai on why the film is an unfortunate and. Three of this years oscar contenders lincoln, argo and zero dark thirty invite viewers to look at history, either through the lens of the distant past as in the case of lincoln or through recent events like zero dark thirty, and to question the degree of truth and fiction at work in the retelling of these events. Students would read a newspaper article about the iran hostage crisis and compare that with a news profile of the six embassy workers who escaped looking at the difference in language and tone. Master and commander feels authentic even though its not an accurate retelling of the book it was based on which was also not historically accurate.
The movie has been subject to both positive and negative criticism from different quarters. The most historically inaccurate movies ever readers digest. Apr 03, 20 nobody is saying argo is a poorly made film. But argo is not nearly as epistemologically savvy as singer makes it out to be. Argo ben afflecks gripping cia thriller sends reality. Based on real events, the dramatic thriller argo chronicles the lifeordeath covert operation to rescue six americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the iran hostage crisis. As the oscar race heats up, bets are on ben afflecks argo to win big, but the film gets iran and its history all wrong. It is concerned with events that happended during the iranian revolution in 1979.
They were held up multiple times cancellation of the tickets, and then last minute uncancellation taken aside and interrogated about the legitimacy of the movie detained at the gate people at the us embassy piece together the faces. Argo 2012 continued however, despite these authentic parts of the film, many details were added by the film business to make the movie more interesting to watch, and to appeal to a larger portion of viewers. Argo is a 2012 american historical drama thriller film directed by ben affleck. The agency has tweeted what really happened 35 years. Ben afflecks movie, argo, claims to be a true story and while its widely regarded as one of the best pictures of the year, garnering multiple. I like that the filmmaker gave some background information regarding the conflict because. Critics claim that the distortion of the events by the film argo is offensive to countries such as canada, new zealand, and the united kingdom that played a critical role in.
Image caption argo recreates the storming of the us embassy in tehran in november 1979. The movie argo, up for seven oscars at this years academy awards, is based on the true story of the cia rescue of americans in tehran during. The agency has tweeted what really happened 35 years ago. The truth which argo artfully obscures is that the cover story was never tested and in.