The Finnster 2010

The Finnster 2010

The Finnster 2010
Finnemans (original title)
50m | Drama | Release date: October 23, 2010 (Netherlands)

Storyline:

Finn (15) is an uncomplicated schoolboy until one day, coming home from school, he catches his father Roelof in his moms dress. The man Finn has looked up to his whole life, wants to become a woman. Finn, just discovering his own sexuality, is troubled by this new discovery. A struggle with feelings of shame, love and loyalty follows. Luckily Lizzie, his newfound friend, is there to help him.

User review:

‘Finnemans’ is a sensitive but also comic portrait of an average family that suddenly becomes a special family. Roelof’s dormant feelings simply had to be released, and it is shown in a believable way how the family members involved deal with them. Kudos to the cast, not only the young Jelmer Ouwerkerk gives an excellent performance, Remko Vrijdag is also convincing. Susan Smit does an excellent job of portraying the confusion that plagues her character. Abbey Hoes plays a completely different role here than in ‘Maite was hier’ (One Night Stand 2009): her role is written a bit like the young hip teenagers act in films that Michael Cera seems to have a patent on, such as ‘Juno’, ‘Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist’ and ‘Youth in Revolt’: films with young people who use a stylized choice of words in their dialogues. That distracts from the story a bit, but she does a very good job. Her character is of great importance to Finn’s development. Also a big compliment to the camera work: the beautiful close-ups show just enough. The events on the screen are turned into a life that can actually come quite close to that of the viewer. Nice! ‘Finnemans’ won a Golden Calf at the Dutch Film Festival. Watch it if you get the chance.

Director: Thomas Korthals Altes
Writer: Maarten Lebens
Stars: Jelmer Ouwerkerk, Remko Vrijdag, Susan Visser
Country of origin: Netherlands
Language: Dutch
Filming locations: Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands