Adopting a long-term foreign policy of fucking around in other countries for your own strategic interests has no doubt served America well over the years; and it has also provided a fertile background for movie makers. Two of the better films from last year are based on stories from that hotbed of alternately propping up and then blowing up shitty regimes, the middle east.
The problem with these stories can be that, unless we have been living under a stone or in North Korea, we already know what the ending will be. The challenge for the film maker is to create entertainment and tension even when the audience knows what is going to happen in the five minutes before the credits roll.
Argo stars, and is directed by, the annoyingly multi-talented Ben Affleck.
It’s 1980, it’s Iran, the nasty Shah has just been replaced by bearded mullahs and everyone is a little upset with the Americans. The obvious target is the American embassy which is over-run, and the staff are taken into custody, thus kicking off the Iran hostage crisis. Unknown to the Iranians, six Americans have escaped and have taken refuge in the Canadian embassy. Argo describes the mission to extract the six from Iran; with a plan that is so ridiculous that if it wasn’t a true story you would not accept it. A dummy film, called Argo, is put into production, and Affleck flies into the country with the objective of turning his fellow countrymen into a Canadian location scouting party who have been in the country for just two days before presenting themselves for a flight out.
Will they make it? Well, of course we know they did, but Affleck layers so many (fabricated) “will they/won’t they” threads into the story that you just get swept along in the tension. Some humour is added with the casting of John Candy and Alan Arkin as the front men for the fake production company, and the whole thing is an enjoyable romp which just happens to be based on truth.
Well worth a watch, although not sure how Affleck managed to pick up a Golden Globe for Best Director a couple of days ago.
Zero Dark Thirty is a much more serious proposition. A story that is less known with an ending that everyone knows, Osama Bin Laden was killed.
Four years ago Kathryn Bigelow delivered The Hurt Locker, an everyday story of a bomb disposal squad in Iraq. Cue Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture. Now Ms. Bigelow has directed Zero Dark Thirty, and the rewards may not be so forthcoming.
The reason is not that there is anything wrong with the movie, it’s the fact that she dares to suggest that torture was used to gather the information that led to the identification of Bin Laden’s whereabouts. Whereas anyone with half a brain who doesn’t spend their day glued to Fox News can accept that this is almost certainly the case, the establishment has been quick to deny that torture was employed, or to decry her inclusion of torture scenes, or to decry her deliberate approach of not taking a view on the morality of the torture scenes; or a multitude of other reactions which can be summarised as being similar to sticking their hands over their eyes and ears and shouting “no, no, no, let’s pretend this never happened.”
Of course the real events that led to the capture of Bin Laden are still classified; but Bigelow reckons she has had input from those involved sufficient to tell the story. The movie starts with a black screen and voices recorded on 9/11, and then dives into the search for the naughty Saudi Arabian, seen through the eyes of a CIA operative called Maya, played by the astonishing Jessica Chastain who deserves an Oscar for the last few minutes of the movie, and the rest of it. Maya spends ten years hunting Uncle Osama, being party to some deeply unpleasant torture and some bloody and distressing setbacks. Bigelow places us with Maya on her journey, and it is a measure of Bigelow’s skill and Chastain’s acting that we feel involved, disquieted and appalled; whilst also cheering her on in her search. Will she find him? Of course she will, and the raid on Bin Laden’s house is recreated in meticulous detail.
But it’s the last few minutes of the movie, a masterclass in acting and direction, where Maya’s emotions prompt us to consider what has transpired and how it has impacted her, and all those involved, and us.
Powerful stuff. I watched it alone in a darkened room and was gripped throughout. Oscars for Bigelow and Chastain are due, but unlikely.
Comments 🔗
2013-01-15| genuinej says..not doubt?
2013-01-15| Spike saysYou shouldn’t doubt, not ever.
(thanks)
2013-01-16| Bob James saysUnlikely certainly for Bigelow, as she was not nominated for director.
Loved the movie. Saw it at the cinema and very glad I waited.
2013-01-18| Wentworth saysThe Hurt Locker was a laughable movie. This new one wouldn’t have to be much to top that pile of dog shite.
2013-01-31| Jock saysDon´t know if you remember the front half of the horse at the Great Pecten Finance Xmas Party at the Dee Motel … a certain Mr Blacklaw … he now lives in Riyadh on the compound where The Kingdom was filmed … I was the arse end of the horse as usual … some things never change …
2013-02-01| Grant says…never mind Jock, its closer to the whip…
2013-02-01| Spike saysOther things that never change include Jock making comments that bear no obvious relationship to the subject matter.
2013-02-01| Grant saysThats simply because he’s now in his anec-dotage and everything he says reminds him of something else…