英闻天下——324 Movie "Argo" Criticized in Iran

 　　Ben Affleck's film 'Argo' tells the story of the takeover of the US embassy in Tehran in 1979 and the resulting operation to get US diplomatic staff out of the country.

 

　　Many Hollywood films like 'Argo' though are not screened in cinemas in Iran but pirated copies of almost all newly released movies are sold under-the-counter in shops or by vendors¹ on streets.

 

　　Film enthusiast² Amir Saman watches all Hollywood movies, but he says Argo has failed to impress in its portrayal⁴ of Iran

 

　　"If a person my age watches this anywhere in this world he or she would think that we are people who beat and kill. Some scenes in this movie show people are killed on the streets. I think it is too exaggerated."

 

　　Fifty American hostages were held from November 1979 until January 1981 after a group of students who supported the Iranian Revolution took over the US embassy.

 

　　Dr Masoomeh Ebtekar was one of the student spokespeople during the US embassy takeover. As a reformist member of Tehran City Council now, Ebtekar says the film does not tell the story of the takeover as it actually happened.

 

　　"The group who took over the American embassy were a group of young, very orderly, quite calm in a sense, group of both men and women. There was no commotion⁵, violence or you don't see - the scenes that you see in 'Argo' are totally incorrect. And it is quite surprising because that footage exists. If Ben Affleck wanted to make a movie out of the reality, depicting⁶ the reality of what happened, he should have at least used some parts of the actual historical event, the footage which exists. But they didn't do that. He goes and chose the scene of very violent and very angry mob. And throughout the film it is never mentioned that these are a group of students."

 

　　She says initially⁷ she thought the film would be a balanced representation of events but that didn't last.

 

　　"At the beginning, initially when I saw those scenes I thought ok, they are making an attempt to portray³ the Iranian side, the Iranian picture, and they want to give a balanced image. They are trying to give the sense that this film is going to be objective and it is not going to be biased⁸. But that didn't continue."

 

　　Ali Moallem, a distinguished⁹ Iranian film critic, says he was not impressed by the film either.

 

　　"'Argo' is at most an average and mediocre¹⁰ movie by the American film industry. I think even Ben Affleck himself didn't ever believe his movie would be able to compete with top movies like 'Lincoln' or Kathryn Bigelow's film (Zero Dark Thirty) or 'Life of Pi'."

 

　　Local resident and film fan Mohammad Amin Sharifi says he thinks 'Argo' is good but not great.

 

　　"In my opinion, it (Argo) was a nice movie from technical aspect and was in the scale of Hollywood movies. But I don't think it was worth nominating for an Oscar or other awards."

 

　　'Argo' has emerged as the best-picture favorite for the Oscar awards after sweeping¹¹ top prizes at earlier film honors, including the BAFTAS, the Golden Globes and awards from the Directors Guild¹² of America, the Screen Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.

1 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

2 enthusiast   

n.热心人，热衷者

参考例句：

• He is an enthusiast about politics.他是个热衷于政治的人。
• He was an enthusiast and loved to evoke enthusiasm in others.他是一个激情昂扬的人，也热中于唤起他人心中的激情。

3 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

4 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

5 commotion   

n.骚动，动乱

参考例句：

• They made a commotion by yelling at each other in the theatre.他们在剧院里相互争吵，引起了一阵骚乱。
• Suddenly the whole street was in commotion.突然间，整条街道变得一片混乱。

6 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 biased   

a.有偏见的

参考例句：

• a school biased towards music and art 一所偏重音乐和艺术的学校
• The Methods: They employed were heavily biased in the gentry's favour. 他们采用的方法严重偏袒中上阶级。

9 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

10 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

11 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

12 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。