Iranian government officials are saying a big “Argo f*ck yourselves” to Hollywood filmmakers this week, as they plan to sue those involved with the Best Picture Oscar winner over claims that the film is an “unrealistic portrayal” of the country.
According to an AP report citing sources in the Iranian media, French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre traveled to Iran this week to meet with officials and discuss the details of a lawsuit against “Argo,” although it's not certain who exactly will be named in the suit.
Coutant-Peyre is no stranger to high-profile clients, having served as counsel to Venezuelan terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as Carlos the Jackal.
“I will defend Iran against the films like 'Argo,' which are produced in Hollywood to distort the country's image,” Coutant-Peyre said in a statement.
The decision to hire the lawyer came on the heels of a private screening of the film in Tehran on Monday for Iranian cultural officials and movie critics, though their dislike of the film is nothing new. Shortly after “Argo” was named Best Picture in February, Iranian state media criticized the decision, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, took specific issue with First Lady Michelle Obama presenting the award, with Fars News calling the movie an “anti-Iran film … produced by the Zionist company Warner Bros.”
TMZ also reports that Iran's Press TV said “Argo” was an “Iranophobic” movie that “attempts to describe Iranians as overemotional, irrational, insane, and diabolical while, at the same, the CIA agents are represented as heroically patriotic.”
Meanwhile, Iran is said to be working on its own version of the events depicted in “Argo,” which TMZ reports is a pro-Iran film called “The General Staff” about 20 American hostages who are handed over to the U.S. government by Iranian revolutionaries. THR notes that the project has received a huge budget from the government's art bureau, with a screenplay already written.
[AP via Business Insider; TMZ]
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