The actor-director, who celebrated his 40th birthday recently, says another challenging thing was to get the extras to shoot the riot scene in Turkey.
New Delhi:
Actor-director Ben Affleck sayshe was worried about missing important things while adaptingthe true story of the dramatic escape of six US diplomats fromTehran during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis in 'Argo'.
A CIA man Tony Mendez, played by Affleck in the film,teamed up with a Hollywood make-up man and a producer torescue the six diplomats hiding in the Canadian embassy byposing as the film crew of a sci-fi film 'Argo'.
Affleck's third outing as a director, the film is alreadygenerating Oscar buzz. 'Argo' was released in India last week by Warners Bros.
"I definitely had the sense that I had a very strongethical obligation to tell the story truthfully, because,among other reasons, it has resonance to things that are goingon today. We made sure to stay true to the spine and the heartof the story," Affleck told PTI in an email interview.
The director, who was sent the script of 'Argo' by hisfriend and co-producer George Clooney, said that the onlyproblem while directing the film was that the story had toomany details.
"The fact that six Americans were in the American embassywhen it was taken over, escaped, hid out with the Canadians,and were rescued by an operative of the CIA who conspired withhis Oscar-winning make-up artist friend to disguise them as amovie crew is absolutely true.
"The problem is that you have a story with so much detailin it so stuff get compressed. The thing that bothered me wasthe sin of omission. When you have to take stuff out for thesake of moving it along, you lose a little bit.
"It's kind of a 'Rashomon' effect: You talk to one personand they give you their version of events from theirperspective. Ultimately, we had to be rooted in Tony'sperspective," Affleck said.
The actor-director, who celebrated his 40th birthdayrecently, says another challenging thing was to get the extrasto shoot the riot scene in Turkey.
"Grant (Heslov, producer), me, and our line producer hada long lead-up, trying to get thousands of people in Turkey toshow up and there was a lot of anxiety about whether theywould.
"It was harder to get younger people. It was a studentrevolution, so you didn't want it to look like a riot at thesenior center. We tried to make it as real as possible, and itrequired a lot of people and a lot of wrangling. When you have2,000 people, if they're cold, they just go home."
Affleck, who says he is equally at home as an actor anddirector, is facing the camera in his next outing.
"My next release as an actor will be 'To The Wonder'which is a romantic drama opposite Rachel McAdams and I amreally looking forward to it release."
A CIA man Tony Mendez, played by Affleck in the film,teamed up with a Hollywood make-up man and a producer torescue the six diplomats hiding in the Canadian embassy byposing as the film crew of a sci-fi film 'Argo'.
Affleck's third outing as a director, the film is alreadygenerating Oscar buzz. 'Argo' was released in India last week by Warners Bros.
"I definitely had the sense that I had a very strongethical obligation to tell the story truthfully, because,among other reasons, it has resonance to things that are goingon today. We made sure to stay true to the spine and the heartof the story," Affleck told PTI in an email interview.
The director, who was sent the script of 'Argo' by hisfriend and co-producer George Clooney, said that the onlyproblem while directing the film was that the story had toomany details.
"The fact that six Americans were in the American embassywhen it was taken over, escaped, hid out with the Canadians,and were rescued by an operative of the CIA who conspired withhis Oscar-winning make-up artist friend to disguise them as amovie crew is absolutely true.
"The problem is that you have a story with so much detailin it so stuff get compressed. The thing that bothered me wasthe sin of omission. When you have to take stuff out for thesake of moving it along, you lose a little bit.
"It's kind of a 'Rashomon' effect: You talk to one personand they give you their version of events from theirperspective. Ultimately, we had to be rooted in Tony'sperspective," Affleck said.
The actor-director, who celebrated his 40th birthdayrecently, says another challenging thing was to get the extrasto shoot the riot scene in Turkey.
"Grant (Heslov, producer), me, and our line producer hada long lead-up, trying to get thousands of people in Turkey toshow up and there was a lot of anxiety about whether theywould.
"It was harder to get younger people. It was a studentrevolution, so you didn't want it to look like a riot at thesenior center. We tried to make it as real as possible, and itrequired a lot of people and a lot of wrangling. When you have2,000 people, if they're cold, they just go home."
Affleck, who says he is equally at home as an actor anddirector, is facing the camera in his next outing.
"My next release as an actor will be 'To The Wonder'which is a romantic drama opposite Rachel McAdams and I amreally looking forward to it release."
