Bravo to Argo!

The master and Silver Linings Playbook are yet on my checklist to be watched, I have to say Argo is the best movie I have seen in 2012 so far. Not because it has the best screenplay, or the best directory execution, but because it has the perfect combination of the two.
Story-wise, like Affleck said, rescuing hostage by pretending to make a Hollywood B-rate film sounds like a really bad idea if it is not true. So the great winning point obviously is the vivid recreation of the historical event. The tension is even intensified by the real footage of the riot. On the other hand, just when we think the fear and chaos are shadowing the tune of the movie, we have the great Alan Arkin ease things a little bit by throwing all the best satire about Hollywood and make us laugh at all the right times.
Execution-wise, I really want to compare 「the third time is a charm」 director Affleck with some of the more established ones. The pace in Argo is concise and precise. There’s no redundancy in shots or scenes. Yes, Soderbergh used to give us exciting pace control too, before he decided to throw directing away and feed our eyes with Channing Tatum’s man breasts. However even with Ocean series, we see his showy style with unnecessary one liners from Matt Damon, and out-of-nowhere close-up of George Clooney’s eyes. After all, he’s a commercial director. But we never said Ben Affleck cannot sell his movies. The Town’s box office success proves Affleck as a competent director who knows what the audience wants to see. Here Affleck wins by the fact that he knows how to convey what he wants to say through the limited shots audience want to see. The dialogue is cut only to move the story forward. The locations between Iran, LA and 華盛頓 are switched frequently without subtitles, but the music, the lighting and the set tell it all. Yes, Clooney can give us high adrenaline surge with his unspeakable suspension in the Ides of March, but Affleck outcompeted him by just a little bit more giveaway. We all know what the story is and how it will end; we are here to see how it flows. So dear Mr Clooney: next time, please do more fast moving long shots instead of features for a political campaign office scene. Talking of which, I really want to praise Affleck for not applying the Aaron Sorkin walking talking for long moving shots. For heaven’s sake, these are humans talking.





Spoiler alert
As for the ending, I do think that it would be better if it’s the classy Spielberg, like the composed warm-heartedness in Catch Me If You Can. In my opinion, the hugging and hand holding are too cheesy and lack connection to the rest of the movie. However, I disagree with the criticism on Argo’s twist. Trust me when I say this: no one wants to know that these six people waited in the airport for a long time and got out of Iran with not even a smallest stir. I bet that if that’s what is presented here, everyone would get bored or even say WTF. As audience, we want the climax, the sensation of holding our breaths and ask ourselves: omg, are they gonna make it or not? It is a movie, a story-telling if not a form of art. It’s completely justifiable to juice things up. After all, look at the first line in the movie—based on a true story, NOT this is the true story. Well it’s universal truth that critics can never be reasonable movie-makers anyway. Bravo to Argo!