Bank messenger Herman Bouber loses fifty thousand pounds, and his job. He and daughter Rini Otte find themselves out of work, until a secretly bankrupt company led by Cor Ruys makes him the managing director; evenone assumes he has put the stolen money into the firm. But as the plans grow larger, and the matter of profits consume him, he finds himself overwhelmed by responsibility, at odds with his daughter, and even the butler.
This being a movie directed by Max Ophüls, the first thing I noticed was that I was overwhelmed by all the moving shots. Ophüls seems to have thought that by moving the camera, he transmuted a stage play into a motion picture. I find that particular technique of his overdone, but let that go. The performances are fine. The story has some merit -- although what the point of it is is quite beyond me. Is it that there are honest people and dishonest people, and people in between, and it's a mistake to confuse them? Matthieu van Eysden as Bouber's shady but fond brother-in-law is the point-of-view character, and his crotchets (and his dog) are the best thing about this movie.
This being a movie directed by Max Ophüls, the first thing I noticed was that I was overwhelmed by all the moving shots. Ophüls seems to have thought that by moving the camera, he transmuted a stage play into a motion picture. I find that particular technique of his overdone, but let that go. The performances are fine. The story has some merit -- although what the point of it is is quite beyond me. Is it that there are honest people and dishonest people, and people in between, and it's a mistake to confuse them? Matthieu van Eysden as Bouber's shady but fond brother-in-law is the point-of-view character, and his crotchets (and his dog) are the best thing about this movie.