Telluride Film Festival: A Sneak Peek at \'Argo\'

By A.O. SCOTT

TELLURIDE, Colo. - Telluride is not exactly a secret film festival- there are enough journalists and publicists here in the San Juan Mountains to get the word out to the masses below - but discretion is among the local traditions. According to custom, the lineup for the 39th edition of the festival was announced only Thursday, 24 hours before the first screenings, and as usual a number of spaces on the schedule were left mysterious, marked TBA. Some of those slots are reserved for “sneaks”-movies that pop into town like sudden thunderstorms - and rumors immediately began to fly about what special extras might be in store this year. Would Clint Eastwood (or at least his new movie, “Trouble With the Curve”) stop by on his way home from Tampa? Would we get a peek at “Cloud Atlas” or “The Master”?

The mystery-or at least one of them-appeared to be solved when Ben Affleck appeared at the Patron Brunch, an annual ev ent at which benefactors, filmmakers and members of the press gather at a nearby ranch to schmooze, eat and gawk at the scenery and one another. A few hours later there was a special sneak screening of Mr. Affleck's new film, “Argo,” at the Chuck Jones Theater, and Telluride had reclaimed its role as an early site of Oscar-race tea-leaf reading. (The last two best-picture winners, “The Kings Speech” and “The Artist,” both made North American landfall here.)

“Argo,” which opens Oct. 12, is based on real events that took place in Iran after the seizure of the American Embassy in 1979 (the details were declassified in 1997). The movie, Mr. Affleck's third feature as a director (after “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Town”), is a fast-moving throwback to the politically tinged thrillers of the '70s, with a knowing show-business satire thrown into the mix.

Mr. Affleck plays Tony Mendez, a C.I.A. operative trying to re scue six Americans who escaped the embassy and took shelter with the Canadian ambassador. Mendez's cover story is that he and his charges are part of a crew scouting locations for a “Star Wars” ripoff, and to make the ruse plausible he enlists two savvy industry types played by John Goodman and Alan Arkin. The combination of clandestine action, Hollywood intrigue and geopolitics is likely to play well with audiences here, serious cinephiles who also like secrets, surprises, and the chance to see movie stars strolling down Colorado Avenue.