Jian
Ghomeshi , a
popular Canadian TV/radio host of Iranian descent (and in full disclosure, a
friend of mine with whom I have yet to discuss my reaction to the film) saw it
differently. In an interview with the Toronto Mail and Globe, Jian thought Argo had a "deeply troubling
portrayal of the Iranian people". Ghomeshi said, "among all the rave
reviews, virtually no one in the mainstream media has called out [the]
unbalanced depiction of an entire ethnic national group, and the broader
implications of the portrait." He also makes a good point: if you want to get a more up to date
and less vitriolic presentation of real Iranian people, then you have only to
go back to last year's Academy Award-winning film, Asghar Farhadi's A
Separation , which humanizes the lives of
ordinary Iranians the way Affleck's film, set as it is at the height of
revolution, cannot.
Despite
that, and accounting for all the political and cultural nuance, it's a fabulous
thriller, with nuanced bad guys, nuanced good guys, and riveting action. It
also has fun poking the stick at Hollywood with all its publicity machine and
deal-making nonsense.
It's
time to acknowledge that the Ben Affleck has become a wonderful director while
no one was paying attention. His last three films (Gone Baby Gone , The Town , and Argo ) have really shined and are
seemingly immune from being the big budget, big studio schlock that an actor
with his box office appeal could easily have made.
If only Argo had been made in a year without
the Hollywood royalty and universally-loved subject icon of Lincoln or the shameless patriotism of Zero
Dark Thirty , Argo might have gotten itself some more
recognition as a great film, regardless of politics or context. In a world
where history has a way of repeating and there are never enough level-headed
voices, let alone great movies, it certainly deserves all the accolades it
gets.
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