Orpheus in a Gray Flannel Suit: George Nolfi’s The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Abstract

The Adjustment Bureau (2011), written and directed by George Nolfi, draws on ancient and modern versions of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to dramatize a conflict between devotion to career and personal fulfillment.¹ In this film, David Norris (Matt Damon), a rising political figure in New York, finds that the mysterious Adjustment Bureau is working to sabotage his relationship with Elise (Emily Blunt) in order to direct him toward a political future of great national consequence. Nolfi dramatizes this conflict by combining the Orpheus myths themes of love, loss, and the limits of individual agency with the U.S. myth of the post-World War II company man, whose successful career imperils his domestic happiness.