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Argo Rewrites History and Leaves Canada Slighted
How accurate was the ‘best picture?’
By Rebecca Ferguson, staff writer
Photo by Tal Gertin
As midnight neared on the night of the 85th Academy Awards, Hollywood’s elite sauntered up onto stage and accepted a golden Oscar for the thriller film, Argo. The teary-eyed director, producer and lead actor Ben Affleck, gave a heartfelt acceptance speech in which he thanked many people. It was in a rush and near the end that he casually threw in a thank you to Canada.
The offhand manner in which he referenced Canada was quite symbolic. Like his thank you, Affleck’s inclusion of Canada in his film was rushed and lacking. Affleck rewrote history by placing the CIA, Hollywood and Washington at center stage and by refusing to acknowledge Canada’s crucial and central role in rescuing six Americans during the Iranian hostage crisis.
Argo is loosely based on the events of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. The film opens with a grainy montage depicting Iran’s grim history. It shows their oppressive Shah, who was granted asylum by America once he began dying of cancer. The documentary style opening gives the film an authentic feel and lures viewers into a false sense of realty.
The movie shows the Iranian mob storming the American embassy in Tehran and taking hostage all of the people inside. However, six Americans manage to escape and they eventually take shelter in the residence of the Canadian ambassador, Ken Taylor. The film then focuses on CIA agent, Tony Mendez (played by Affleck) as he devises a plan to secretly get the six Americans out of Iran.
Working closely with influential members of Hollywood, Mendez devises a plan to disguise the Americans as a Canadian film crew for the space movie ‘Argo,’ who are in Iran to scout locations. The American government orchestrates everything and after a few close calls, the six hostages manage to soar out of Iranian territory on a Swissair flight. Affleck took many creative liberties while making this film. He minimized Canada’s role and handed America the glory.
Jimmy Carter was the American President at the time of the Iranian hostage crisis. [pullquote]“I was taken aback by its distortion of what happened because almost everything that was heroic, or courageous or innovative was done by Canada and not the United States,”[/pullquote] he stated upon seeing the film.
Like Carter, Ken Taylor was disappointed by the inaccuracy of the film. However, he knew that the story would be inaccurate when he heard Affleck was basing his movie on the book written by Tony Mendez. Mendez was only present in Iran for a day and a half and therefore had no idea what was going on in the country for the months leading up to the rescue. Due to this lack of inside information, Taylor stated that it is not surprising that the film centered on Washington and Hollywood instead of primarily focusing on Iran.
Separating the Truth from the Lies
The factual errors begin early in film. In the movie there were only six Americans who escaped from the embassy. In reality, more managed to make it out however they were quickly picked up by the Revolutionary Guard. After being rejected by the British and New Zealanders, the film then shows the six seeking refuge with the Canadians. Affleck slighted both these countries as well, as these events never took place.
After a few days on the run, five of the escaped Americans called John Sheardown, a Canadian diplomat. A Swedish diplomat took in the sixth American briefly before he joined the other Americans. Sheardown, a crucial figure in the story, was cut completely from the film. One of the rescued American diplomats, Mark Lijek, spoke highly of Sheardown and emphasized his importance. “Without his enthusiastic welcome we might have tried to survive on our own a few more days. We would have failed.”
Sheardown contacted Taylor and a quick cable was sent to Ottawa. Immediately, Canadian diplomats, led by Prime Minister Joe Clark, began working tirelessly to protect the six Americans seeking refuge. This happened at great personal risk to both Sheardown and Taylor. If an Iranian member of the staff had tipped off someone on the outside or if the Americans had been spotted through a window, terrible things could have happened to them. In the film, the Americans stay in one place, however Taylor and his colleagues moved them around Tehran to avoid detection.
In the film, the CIA created all the plans to get the Americans out of Iran. In reality, it was Ottawa that prepared everything they needed to exit the country. Though Mendez created the film crew identities for the Americans, Taylor believed the cover did not need to be that intricate. “Tony Mendez, as courageous and ingenious as is his character, was only there for a day and a half. After three months of intensive preparation for the operation…I think my role was somewhat more than just opening and closing the front door of the embassy,” said Taylor.
When the time came to remove the Americans from Iran, the CIA made things difficult. The first complication came with their maps of Tehran. The CIA labeled the Swiss Embassy as the Canadian Embassy and the agents had to pretend to be lost tourists asking for directions from the Iranians.
Then on the morning of the operation, Mendez missed his alarm and overslept which put the whole endeavor an hour behind. Finally, the CIA agent who dated the fake Canadian passports misinterpreted the Farsi calendar and had the Americans leaving the country before they arrived. It was a Canadian with a knowledge of Farsi who spotted the error.
On the day of the exit, the departure was much less dramatic than pictured in the movie. According to one of the escapees, the Iranian customs officials stamping passports at the Tehran Mehrabad International Airport did not even double check the fake passports. After a brief mechanical delay the plane took off and the Americans soared out of Iranian airspace.
Canadians played a vital role in the events surrounding the escape of the hostages from Iran. As acclaimed as the movie is, it is obvious that it isn’t as historically accurate as many believe. Though Taylor admitted Argo was fun and thrilling as a movie he concluded by stating, “in general it makes it seem like the Canadians were just along for the ride. The Canadians were brave. Period.”
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