Adults in the Room

Adults in the Room (Greek: Ενήλικοι στην αίθουσα, romanized: Enílikoi stin aíthousa) is a 2019 French-Greek political film directed by Costa-Gavras. It is based on the book Adults in the Room: My Battle with Europe's Deep Establishment by Yanis Varoufakis about the 2015 Greek bailout.[2] It is Gavras' first feature film that was shot in Greece.[3]

Adults in the Room
Greek film poster
GreekΕνήλικοι στην αίθουσα
Directed byCosta Gavras
Written byCosta Gavras
Based onAdults in the Room
by Yanis Varoufakis
Produced byAlexandre Gavras
Manos Krezias
Michèle Ray-Gavras
CinematographyGiorgos Arvanitis
Edited byCosta-Gavras
Lambis Haralambidis
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
K.G. Productions
Wild Bunch
Elle Driver
France 2 Cinéma
Odeon
Release date
  • 31 August 2019 (2019-08-31) (Venice)[1]
Running time
124 minutes
CountriesFrance
Greece
LanguagesFrench
German
English
Greek

Plot

In 2015, following Syriza's victory in the 2015 Greek legislative election, Minister of Finance Yánis Varoufákis is tasked by Prime Minister Aléxis Tsípras to negotiate a new deal on the memorandum of understanding signed by previous government with the Troika in order to avoid facing another inevitable debt crisis in the country months later. However, throughout successive meetings of the Eurogroup, Varoufákis's proposals are only met with flat refusals from the Troika. With constant threats from the European institution of an eviction of Greece from the Eurozone if their demands are not met, Greek PM Aléxis Tsípras is forced to sign the MoU, going against the 62% of the population that rejected the bailouts by voting "No" in the 2015 Greek bailout referendum. Yánis Varoufákis then resigned, five months after taking the office.

Cast

Release

The film was selected to play out of competition at the 76th Venice International Film Festival.[5]

Reception

Jessica Kiang of Variety wrote, "Far too many adults, in far too many rooms, have far too many repetitive conversations about the arcane ins-and-outs of EU policymaking in Costa-Gavras’ maddeningly unfocused 'Adults in the Room.'"[6]

Jordan Mintzer of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "For those interested in how the EU sausage is made — a process that Costa-Gavras mines both for its theatricality and seeming inanity — the film can be a gripping piece of infotainment, even if it runs long at 124 minutes. Others may shy away from so many administrative details, but they will be missing out on a movie that tries to cut through all the red tape and explore the human travails behind the protocols."[7]

References
  1. Gr, Sala (August 13, 2019). "Biennale Cinema 2019 | Adults in the Room". La Biennale di Venezia.
  2. "Costa Gavras: I will make a film based on Adults in the Room". YanisVaroufakis.eu. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  3. Grivas, Alexis (16 April 2019). "Cash rebate for Costa-Gavras' 'Adults In The Room' sparks heated political debate in Greece". Screen Daily. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  4. Mintzer, Jordan (31 August 2019). "'Adults in the Room': Film Review | Venice 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
  5. Anderson, Ariston (25 July 2019). "Venice Competition to Include Roman Polanski, Steven Soderbergh, James Gray's 'Ad Astra,' Todd Phillips' 'Joker'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  6. Kiang, Jessica (August 31, 2019). "Film Review: 'Adults in the Room'".
  7. "'Adults in the Room': Film Review | Venice 2019". The Hollywood Reporter.
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