Verdict:
There is no doubt that Argo is well put together, but I am not sure that it deserves the 3 Oscars. Perhaps the Academy was surprised and impressed by just how well Afleck managed to pull this off and flattered by the self-referential content regarding the movie industry.
The film takes on the story of the Canado-American mission to exfiltrate 6 US embassy workers during the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979.
The whole assault on the embassy is harrowing. It is intertwined with the real footage from the time, and the fear is palpable. The same goes for the final escape scene, where the writers clearly took some liberties with a fake chase.
But this is the first issue with the movie. Of course, the movie is only based on the real story and is not the real story, therefore giving Afleck the creative liberty to do whatever he wants with the story, like giving most of the credit for the mission to the American agent. But it is surprising just how many scenes are made up for an event that is this recent and this well-documented. Usually, such a fictionalized approach is taken for events that are either very secret or happened thousands of years ago, so that there are blanks to be filled in by the film makers. However, with this hostage crisis, the facts are relatively well known, and reading the real story, there seem to have been enough exciting moments in the real story to fill the dramatic requirement of such a film.
There is therefore a discrepancy between the film trying to be as realistic as possible in its presentation, while at the same time making a bunch of stuff up for dramatic effect. They got real footage from the event for one scene, but then made up the next scene.
Once the plan to set up a fake movie production gets put in motion, the film becomes very humorous, underlining the ridiculous nature of the plan with such high stakes.
High tension goes into overdrive any time we are in Iran. It’s a shame this tension is reduced for anyone who knows how the story ends. There is a part when the whole operation is called off. Oh no! Now they will never escape?..Oh, right, you already know they will.
Having said that, it is a testament to this movie’s quality that the story remains interesting and tense, in spite of having a foretold ending.
Argo was shot on 35 mm Techniscope and Super 8. It also uses a desaturated colour pallet. This creates the appearance of an old documentary. The makers nail the late 70s aesthetic, like the haircuts, the glasses and cars.
There is some creative cinematography, like the shot of Afleck facing Khomeini’s poster upon arrival, but most of the situations are very interpersonal, and therefore do not offer an opportunity for flashy visuals. There is a lot of handheld camera, where appropriate, and the close ups to make you feel like you’re standing there with these people.
Bryan Cranston gives an excellent performance of a person under stress and John Goodman sells a few excellent lines. I can’t imagine how all these actors managed to go through their lines without breaking and laughing. Affleck’s character is very calm and showing little emotion, so he is more of a vehicle for the viewer. The rest of the cast do the heavy lifting. Alan Arkin’s performance earned him an Oscar nomination, which is another nomination I don’t understand, because I feel like this guy is not acting at all. He is just saying stuff in the same manner as he does off-camera.
Given the movie’s treatment of the story, it would’ve been better if the story was completely fictional. Argo is then a fairly tense, well paced and well directed film. That is all.