A brief history lesson, the Iranian people elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. After Mohammad Mosaddegh nationalized Iran's oil fields, the British and American Government's orchestrated a coup d'etat and installed West friendly Shah of Iran Pahlavi. He raped and pillaged the country, which Iranians might accept, but then tried to Westernize the country, which the Iranians, with only God to look forward to, didn't like so much. The country threw out the Shah and Ayatollah Khomeini and his Islamic clerics came to power.
In 1979, the Iranian "students" attacked the American embassy and took 52 Americans hostage thereby sealing President Carter's fate and heralding the 1980s and the age of Reagan.
All of this is told in the first five minutes of Ben Affleck's excellent espionage thriller "Argo", about the six Americans who weren't held hostage by the Iranians, but escaped to the Canadian Embassy where they were hidden till the CIA could figure out how to get them out. "Argo" is the story of how they were saved.
Ben Affleck directed two previous movies and they were both good, especially "Gone Baby Gone" where his brother gave a career changing performance. Affleck as CIA agent Tony Mendez doesn't give an Oscar turn, though Alan Arkin and John Goodman might, the role is very low key. As he hatches his plot to convince Iran he wants to film a Sci-Fi movie in Tehran, a cover for escaping with the six, he is very quiet and very intense, he seems to be doing all the acting with his beard. But as a director, it is what we want, and as the two Hollywood insiders,Producer Alda and Make Up Artist Goodman, are so much fun and so witty about the inside workings of Hollywood, they make it fun.
Since we all know how it works out, kudos for a Tehran so tense and scary it is like another planet and a creeping, intense, nail biting thrill even after the flight with the six Americans going home, has left the ground.
The period atmospherics, in both DC, LA and Tehran, are excellent, especially if you were there, everybody chain smokes all the time! And the movie is very smart in being cleared out about how America brought this disaster (which could end in nuclear war) upon itself but still have you rooting for the US all the way.
Musically, "Sultans Of Swing" and "Dance The Night Away" along with other but not many 1970s hits. At a party in the Canadian embassy an "Atlantic Records" vinyl plays but I didn't recognize it. Anybody have any ideas?
Movie – Grade: A
Music – Grade: B