Mike and Tim are friends. The two six-year-olds have known each other for ages. But on their first day at school -- a day filled with promise of reading, writing and arithmetic -- Tim brings bad news: he is going to move in a few weeks time. And not around the corner: no, he is moving a very long way away to the province of Flevoland!
Tim is afraid he will have to learn to read and write very differently there (maybe even in Flevolese!) Then he soon finds out this is rubbish, but the idea of this strange language is born and they have a great time with a language they make up themselves for chickens. Every vowel gets changed into an 'o': Ovoro vowol gots chongod ...
On the day they have to say their goodbyes, they don't know what to say to each other. They shyly play with the big red penknife that Tim has been given by his next-door neighbour as a memento. When the teacher walks past, they quickly hide the knife because the teacher is even more fanatical about knives than their parents. That evening, when he is getting undressed, Mike discovers Tim's penknife is in his trouser pocket. They must have hidden it there in the haste.
Mike feels like a thief. Next morning, Mike rushes to Tim's house, but he is too late. The house is empty.
Mike tries to explain the problem to the adults he knows, but they have no time or don't want to listen. And when teacher takes Tim's penknife from him, Mike really does have to steal it and then there's no-one he can turn to. He is a real thief now and so he has to keep quiet.
So a lonely search for Tim starts. Mike tries everything to get in touch with his old friend: he writes a letter, takes a train, even puts an ad in the paper. In this clandestine campaign the chicken language proves very useful. But in his youthful naivety, Mike keeps making little mistakes which wreck the whole adventure.
He has almost given up hope and watches an TV show in which children sing songs they wrote themselves. He suddenly has a brilliant idea which will put him on the trail of Tim.
The Penknife is a film which seems to be about means of communication, but is really about friendship and the relation between children and adults.
Productiejaar 1991
Leeftijd
Lengte Feature film: 90 minutes, television-series; 7 x 20 min
Crew
Director Ben Sombogaart
Screenplay Sjoerd Kuyper
Producer Burny Bos
Co-producer AVRO
Executive producer Maureen Barkey
D.O.P. Reinier van Brummelen
Art direction Michel de Graaf , Wieger de Jong
Sound Bert Flantua
Licht Pieter Vermeer
Costumes Vera de Jong, Maureen Versprille
Make-up Mia de Jong
Editor Herman P. Koerts
Music Karel von Kleist, Roger Verhaart
Stills fotograaf Leoni Ravestein
Cast
Mees Olivier Tuinier
Tim Verno Romney
Mother Adelheid Roosen
Vader Genio de Groot
Teacher Beppie Melissen
Presentator Maxim Hartman
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