by Colin S. Sargent<\/strong><\/p>\n Jammed between the lush, graphic-novel-style introduction to Iranian history that is Ben Affleck\u2019s Oscar-winning film\u00a0Argo<\/em> and the delicious irony of the CIA finding itself in need of Hollywood expertise, we see the fearful escape of six Americans from an embassy outbuilding in the midst of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy by Iranian student revolutionaries.<\/p>\n HELL\u2019S KITCHEN<\/strong><\/p>\n Amid the din of the chants of \u201cDeath to America,\u201d we see the uncertainty gripping those six as they step out onto a side street. One of them says, \u201cWe need to get off the street.\u201d Cut to one of those dark, wood-paneled rooms where secret government meetings happen, and we hear, \u201cThey made it to the Canadian ambassador\u2019s house.\u201d<\/p>\n In the movie, the jump is understandable\u2013Affleck wants to tell a story of CIA agents pretending to be filmmakers (played by actors, in Christopher Nolan levels of recursion). But how did the six who escaped manage to get<\/em> to the Canadian Embassy? How did they avoid being apprehended by other students? It\u2019s not exactly like they could have checked into the Tehran Hilton\u00a0 as \u2018Ocean\u2019s Six.\u2019 And flagging a cab would have been dicey. It turns out, they were guided there by a streetwise and very brave chef with close ties to Maine, whose story was left out of the film.<\/p>\n Perhaps it wouldn\u2019t have been if Ben Affleck could have played him. \u201cAhhh,\u201d dismisses Somchai (Sam) Sriweawnetr, popular Maine restaurateur and hero of the first phase of the Canadian caper, when asked if he\u2019s a little disappointed his story wasn\u2019t part of the film. \u201cThey tell the story they want to tell. I know what happened, the people I helped know what happened, and my family knows. They were just six human beings in danger. How could I not help?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/ARG-16349c.jpg\" "\\"ARG-16349c\\"")
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