It’s not that Bernd is all that bothered by the skimpily dressed teenage girls surrounding him every day. He has been a teacher for decades and he’s used to that. Besides, he has a teenage daughter at home. Still, kids today seem to be pushing limits to an extent that he hasn’t witnessed before.
In a beautifully understated performance by the great actor Ton Kas, boring old Bernd shifts his viewpoint when his P.E. colleague tells him that he’d better get used to the new reality, and maybe enjoy it even. The next school dance offers him the opportunity to try out the cool new Bernd—with the aid of some confiscated booze.
Fingers is tragicomical look at a middle-aged man who’s more out of touch than he thinks he is. It was nominated for a Gouden Kalf (‘best short film’) at the 2013 Netherlands Film Festival. Director Michiel ten Horn—whose second feature Aanmodderfakker won best film a year later—paints a compassionate picture of a person who could just as easily have been portrayed as some dirty old man. Watch out for screenwriter Martijn Hillenius’ cameo as the new teacher in class.
