The new film from Costa-Gavras about the Greek financial crisis, Adults in the Room, has its Greek premiere on September 29. The film is based on the book of the same name by the former Greek finance minister and political dissident, Yanis Varoufakis, which recounts the strained circumstances around the 2015 Greek financial bail-out.

Costa-Gavras is the winner of two Oscars for Z (1969) and Missing (1982). With this new movie, he has created a furious, insightful and at times funny political thriller centering around the audacious Varoufakis. The veteran Greek director aims to offer some explanation of a financial world gone mad — and one of the worst crises to emerge out of the EU financial crisis. DW asked the director a few questions about the new film.

DW: Adults in the Room is based on the non-fiction book by Yanis Varoufakis. What made you think that this book would make a good movie?

Costa-Gavras: The book had a strong main character speaking about a specific period of time and what happened to him. It was really helpful that Varoufakis had made a lot of recordings and a lot of notes. So I was able to verify everything he says in the book by reading his speeches and by listening to what others have said.

Yanis Varoufakis in May 2019, during his European elections campaign as leader of the anti-establishment party MeRA25

In your other movies you often take the perspective of ordinary people to show how dictatorships function, for example in Latin America. Why did you change the perspective in Adults in the Room?

There are two main characters in the movie: Greece and Europe. Each defends their side forcibly, aggressively and, in my opinion, violently. And in a way I think that everyone is right. Even people who look like the bad guys are right because they're defending something very serious.

The German finance minister, [Wolfgang] Schäuble, is a good example. He doesn't trust the Greeks, or the old Greeks at least. There are new, up-and-coming people who he listens to, but their ideas are completely divorced from reality — so he becomes very negative.

He also knows that other Greek governments have cheated for years so he believes he is defending the euro. In fact, he is essentially defending the European economy and the German economy. So for me there are no good guys and no bad guys. Everyone defends their own ideas and the things that are important to them. That's very important in the movie: there are no good guys or bad guys.

Read more: Political thriller master Costa-Gavras honored by European Film Academy

Does that mean there are no winners at the end?

No, there are no winners. Everyone loses something. What we really lose is a strong Europe. We cannot have a Europe only made up of economic problems. You really have to look at the personal stories because everything that happened in this period, like trying to bring Greece out of debt, really didn't change anything. It was very negative for most people. The debt is still there, higher than ever before — and the people are still suffering. Nobody speaks about the 500,000 people with degrees who left. Lots of them went to Germany, the USA, Canada, and they will never come back. This is a huge loss for Greece. And the majority are still living in a terrible situation.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Committed to political issues Two characteristics are typical for Costa-Gavras' oeuvre. For one, he always focuses on controversial political topics. Secondly, he never ignores the expectations of his audience. Costa-Gavras is the master of political thrillers and his movies are depressive and entertaining at the same time.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers The worldwide success of 'Z' In 1969, Costa-Gavras achieved his breakthrough with his third film. The thriller "Z" tells the story of a political struggle against the opposition, the justice system and the media with oppressive means. Although the plot is set in a nameless country, it's quite clear that it's about the military regime in Greece.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Born in Greece, but settled in France Born as Konstantínos Gavrás in 1933 in Greece, the future director immigrated to France at the age of 21. In 1965, he made his debut with the film "The Sleeping Car Murderers" starring Simone Signoret and Yves Montand (picture). The film starts out as a thriller, but at the end, a high-ranking police officer turns out to be the villain.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Costa-Gavras established a genre Following his worldwide hit "Z," the director helped establish the genre of the popular political thriller. His suspenseful thrillers featuring contemporary and historical themes became his trademark. Costa-Gavras' fifth film "State of Siege" (1972) depicts a country that oppresses its own citizens — but this time, it's Uruguay.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Romy Schneider and Yves Montand Once in a while, the director turns to lighter material. In a profound and elegant way, his movie "Womanlight" starring Romy Schneider and Yves Montand tells the story of an incidental encounter between a woman and a man. Both of them have lost their partners and are searching for consolation.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Oscar for 'Missing' "Missing" from 1981 tells the story of an American who has disappeared in the chaos of the Chilean military regime. His father (Jack Lemmon) is looking for him. "Missing" was awarded an Oscar but came under fire, nonetheless, when critics claimed that Costa-Gavras had exploited political topics in a mainstream film.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Looking at the Middle East After his adventure in Hollywood, Costa-Gavras returned to France for his next project. "Hanna K." (1983) takes a look at yet another crisis region, the Middle East, and the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine. An American-Jewish lawyer portrayed by Jill Clayburg gets drawn into the conflict.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers The other America Five years later, Costa-Gavras dealt with another controversial topic. In "Betrayed," he depicts far-right sentiments such as racism, anti-Semitism, the Holocaust denial and Christian fundamentalism in American society.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Armin Mueller-Stahl in 'Music Box' Costa-Gavras' following film was about the Holocaust and the Nazi era. "Music Box" (1989) tells the deeply moving story of a lawyer (Jessica Lange) who denies the accusation that her father (Armin Mueller-Stahl) was part of a fascist Hungarian special unit during World War II. Here, the director interweaves the present and the past, the political and the private.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers A film based on Rolf Hochhuth's 'The Deputy' After directing two more films, the director once again turned to a German topic: He created a film adaptation of Rolf Hochhuth's controversial drama "The Deputy." The German co-production titled "Amen" was shot in Romania with Ulrich Tukur and Ulrich Mühe, two renowned German actors.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers The consequences of globalization During the last few years, Costa-Gavras seems to have slowed down when it comes to movie production. But the director remains an alert observer of political and social trends. His drama "The Ax" (2005) deals with contemporary work environments and the excesses of globalization.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers A journey across Europe Costa-Gavras focused on refugees back in 2009. The film "Eden Is West" tells the story of a young man called Elias (Riccardo Scamarcio) who gets stranded on the Greek coast and is subsequently forced to flee across Europe.

Costa-Gavras, the master of political thrillers Chaos on financial markets Costa-Gavras' latest film "Capital" from 2012 deals with the turbulence of financial markets. Marc Tourneuil, portrayed by Gad Elmaleh, becomes the chairman of a private French bank after his predecessor dies while playing golf. Even in this film, Costa-Gavras remained faithful to his principles by critically exploring contemporary issues in an entertaining way. Author: Jochen Kürten (ad)



Is Yanis Varoufakis a hero?

No. He is not a hero for me. He is someone who is able to speak about those times and he writes very well. And he has a lot of experience. I don't touch his personal life, I don't touch who he really is. He is there for one reason only: to defend Greece.

Adults in the Room is shot like a political thriller and told in a realistic way. But you also put in a few grotesque, absurd scenes like a dance of the European Commission with Alexis Tsipras.

When I'm making a movie, I'm making a show. And I'm trying to say things in the show. It's not an academic speech. It's not for the politicians. It's a show! I'm trying to tell stories. The dancing scene is a good example. They were trying to convince Alexis Tsipras to vote and the negotiations lasted the whole night. Nobody knows exactly what was said. So the only way to show that was by creating a dance scene: an elegant cinematic solution; a metaphor.

Former Greek prime minister Alex Tsipras

And the thing with the fish? Tsipras feeling like a swordfish on the hook?

The fish scene was a metaphor too. This is something the prime minister said. I was surprised that a prime minister would compare himself to a swordfish. In a way, it really is tragic. Where is the power? Where is the democracy? That's what these details are really about.

So Greece suffered under the "the dictatorship of austerity" imposed by Germany?

In 2010 the Germans sold submarines to Greece. And what did they do so they could sell them? They paid the minister. One of them even went to prison later. So I think they were really not very nice — the European countries, I mean. And also because they knew after 2005-07 [Greek debt crisis] that the debt was so bad they should really get rid of it. That would mean not selling the debt on, but trying to find solutions. They did let it go, but after a while they discovered — all the Europeans, but particularly the Germans — that they had to stop it. It was just too high.

"Adults in the Room" in production

As Varoufakis said, "You cannot spend more on the debt than the country's income."

You know that managing the economy of a country is like managing the economy of a house: You make a lot of money in a year. Let's say $50,000 every year. You cannot spent $100,000. It's impossible. After a while it will come back to bite you.

What is your hope for Greek people now?

The Greek government and the European government will find solutions to get out of the prison which debt is. This debt —Madame Lagarde [former IMF chief] says it several times in the movie — simply cannot be paid. "There is not enough money in Greece unless you sell everything. So you have to … I don't know how, but you have to find a solution for that." Because the debt is going up every year.

Gavras' Oscar-winning film "Z"

You've been in the film industry for decades. What do you think the future of cinema will be like?

Cinema is going through a huge revolution. Look what's happening with Netflix, for example. A positive part of this is that everyone can watch movies. Everyone in their own homes, in small villages or big cities, everywhere. And we don't pay much money, which wasn't possible before. On the other hand, this means the movies are hidden away and can be forgotten about very quickly. You don't hear anything about them again and it's difficult to find out information like how many people have watched those movies. That is the negative part of services like Netflix.

But on the plus side: everyone can make a movie. If you have a camera and a couple of friends you can make a movie.

What do you want the viewers of Adults in a Room to take home?

That's up to them. I don't want to teach them. I tell stories in my movies just like I would with friends: I just tell the story, I don't tell them when to laugh. It's exactly like that as a director. We ask questions about this and that. And if we have good questions, then that's even better. We don't have the solutions.