15 Major Historical Inaccuracies That Undermine Famous Movies
7. Argo Distorts The Truth To Be Pro-American Propaganda
Ben Affleck's terrific historical drama, which won Best Picture in 2013, gets an A in terms of directing, acting and writing but historically the film is fairly dodgy.
Argo is based on the true story of the rescue of six US diplomats from Tehran, Iran, during the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979-81; interestingly, as Argo depicts, the operation was done under the guise of filming a science-fiction film.
The film presents Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) and the CIA as being the heroes and saviors of the diplomats; in reality, the Canadian embassy was also heavily involved in the rescue and Tony Mendez was only in Tehran over one weekend. The British and New Zealand embassies, which were seen turning the hostages away in the film, were also involved in the rescue so there is a sense that, in the film, all the glory is unfairly placed on the CIA.
The film culminates in an unbearably tense finale in which the Americans have a very narrow escape from Tehran; that didn't happen at all. In fact, they were let onto the plane with security barely giving them a glance. This change is fair enough though, since the truth wouldn't have made for a very exciting ending.
Regardless of whether or not it deserved Best Picture this is an absolutely great movie, but take the 'facts' it presents with a pinch of salt.