Well, good, anyway. RYNOX is the sort of picture that any young director might try his hand at, given a tiny budget and a producer that leaves him alone. As Michael Powell was just starting out in quota quickies at this stage, that was his situation.
RYNOX is about a company by that name, about which we are told nothing save that it needs to raise money for six months until some new contracts come in. At times it seems as if Powell wants to direct a George Bernard Shaw piece like MAJOR BARBARA or THE APPLE CART, but he lacks the ability to write wittily. That, alas, would not arise until he teamed up with Emeric Pressburger. We also get a lot of melodrama mixed in as managing director Stewart Rome occasionally puts on a big, bushy beard and slouch hat and goes around being loud and rude. That's all part of the plot.
There are a couple of technical points to this film that are actively obnoxious: one is the dialogue direction, which is clearly pitched for the stage rather than the screen. Everyone speaks loudly and in perfect diction, as if the actors are more concerned with being heard in the back row than the emotional content of their work. The other is the blocking and camera-work. People get up and stalk around, and the camera follows them in medium close up to maintain composition in a heavy-handed fashion. Very annoying.
In many ways, RYNOX is an ambitious piece for a young director anxious to make his mark, but he clearly lacks the ability to live up to his ambition. That would change.
RYNOX is about a company by that name, about which we are told nothing save that it needs to raise money for six months until some new contracts come in. At times it seems as if Powell wants to direct a George Bernard Shaw piece like MAJOR BARBARA or THE APPLE CART, but he lacks the ability to write wittily. That, alas, would not arise until he teamed up with Emeric Pressburger. We also get a lot of melodrama mixed in as managing director Stewart Rome occasionally puts on a big, bushy beard and slouch hat and goes around being loud and rude. That's all part of the plot.
There are a couple of technical points to this film that are actively obnoxious: one is the dialogue direction, which is clearly pitched for the stage rather than the screen. Everyone speaks loudly and in perfect diction, as if the actors are more concerned with being heard in the back row than the emotional content of their work. The other is the blocking and camera-work. People get up and stalk around, and the camera follows them in medium close up to maintain composition in a heavy-handed fashion. Very annoying.
In many ways, RYNOX is an ambitious piece for a young director anxious to make his mark, but he clearly lacks the ability to live up to his ambition. That would change.