Drama · Thriller
American
2012 · Directed by Ben Affleck · 120 min
Tehran, 1979: revolution has turned the streets against Americans, and six embassy staff are hiding in a diplomat's home. A CIA specialist proposes a cover story so strange that only Hollywood could supply it. A tense political thriller laced with showbusiness comedy.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining example of the fact-based prestige thriller that Hollywood favoured around 2010, and a deliberate return to the textures and paranoia of 1970s political cinema.
Watch with intention
Watch how two worlds, bureaucratic Washington and make-believe Hollywood, are cut together so each one makes the other look more absurd and more urgent.
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