I went through almost all of the reviews about this film and most of them are partisan in one way or another. I personally agree with Varoufakis' version of the events, but unfortunately the film falls short of managing to convey them in a coherent and aesthetically pleasing manner.
I expected more from Gavras and, having read the source material and followed the events depicted closely, I surmise that the film was made hastily and without much attention to detail.
No timeline of events is given, almost no character development is depicted and the cinematic narration is jumbled and seems to be in a constant rush.
I am in no way saying that this is an easy series of events to adapt and, with all its shortcomings, the film has a rhythm and keeps you engaged -- this is not a snooze fest.
But if one is unaware of the events depicted, I'm guessing that he or she would come off not having understood a lot of what was happening. And the final scene, when the film suddenly veers off from realism to surrealism could maybe be interpreted as poetic artistic license, but really does nothing to help it's coherence and further disengages the viewer from the story.
Loulis shines throughout the film, having captured Varoufakis almost perfectly. Even his manner of speaking is almost identical -- Loulis did his homework and it shows. Shuurmans & Tukur as Dijsselbloem & Schauble respectively, also did a very good job. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the rest of the cast, mediocre at best -- Bourdoumis especially could not capture Tsipras' mannerisms and character.
In conclusion, a real shame. This film could have been a really good look into the inner workings and the mafia-like shadows of the EU. What we ended up with is a mediocre film -- watchable, but not much more.
I expected more from Gavras and, having read the source material and followed the events depicted closely, I surmise that the film was made hastily and without much attention to detail.
No timeline of events is given, almost no character development is depicted and the cinematic narration is jumbled and seems to be in a constant rush.
I am in no way saying that this is an easy series of events to adapt and, with all its shortcomings, the film has a rhythm and keeps you engaged -- this is not a snooze fest.
But if one is unaware of the events depicted, I'm guessing that he or she would come off not having understood a lot of what was happening. And the final scene, when the film suddenly veers off from realism to surrealism could maybe be interpreted as poetic artistic license, but really does nothing to help it's coherence and further disengages the viewer from the story.
Loulis shines throughout the film, having captured Varoufakis almost perfectly. Even his manner of speaking is almost identical -- Loulis did his homework and it shows. Shuurmans & Tukur as Dijsselbloem & Schauble respectively, also did a very good job. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the rest of the cast, mediocre at best -- Bourdoumis especially could not capture Tsipras' mannerisms and character.
In conclusion, a real shame. This film could have been a really good look into the inner workings and the mafia-like shadows of the EU. What we ended up with is a mediocre film -- watchable, but not much more.