‘Armand’ review: Parents, teachers clash in school-set drama

The title character of Halfdan Ullman Tøndel’s directorial debut is almost never seen, though he looms large in the drama that unfolds in a sprawling, empty elementary school over the course of a single afternoon. His name is uttered like a prayer, an oath, as his mother, Elisabeth (Renate Reinsve of “A Different Man”), speeds toward her son’s school, summoned for an emergency meeting with the administration and the parents of another student.

The incident that spurs the meeting provides the fulcrum of the drama at the center of “Armand,” but it’s never seen, only discussed, in indirect, roundabout ways by the teachers, more bluntly by the parents. It is also the entry point to a messy interpersonal conflict that spills out from the classroom and involves decades of family history, which the screenplay slowly parcels out in agonizing, tantalizing drips of information. The resulting image, however, is a frustratingly muddled watercolor.

To get it out of the way: Director Tøndel is the grandson of the legendary Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman and Norwegian star Liv Ullmann. It’s a heavy familial burden to bear for a filmmaker, but that doesn’t stop Tøndel from embracing bold and daring ideas in his debut, in which he tackles a provocative subject with a fascinatingly surrealist approach to symbolism and subjectivity.

Then again, it’s during the restrained moments of “Armand” that the film truly shines, the mysterious trickle of narrative information combined with a powerhouse performance from Reinsve, who goes toe-to-toe with Ellen Dorrit Petersen as Sarah, the mother of Thomas, the other child involved in the incident with Armand. Elisabeth, a famous actor, arrives at the school in stilettos and glam, stalking the halls with heavy, jangling footsteps, her tall, athletic frame and imposing energy utterly steamrolling Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen), the sweet, timid teacher who has been tasked with achieving parental diplomacy during this tense meeting.

At times, “Armand” is almost a Scandinavian comedy of manners, as Sunna, the school’s principal (Øystein Røger) and its nurse (Vera Veljovic-Jovanovic) deliver a darkly comic lesson on how not to run a meeting such as this, with vague suggestions for repair, a disastrous unwillingness to escalate and a nosebleed that won’t stop gushing. A non-Scandinavian audience member might wonder if the film is an indictment of extremely passive cultural norms or simply a depiction of them. At any rate, Elisabeth’s behavior during the proceedings is highly abnormal and unusual, from an uncontrollable laughing fit to an almost fantastical modern dance she performs in a hallway.

It’s Tøndel’s directorial choices that elevate “Armand,” and also hinder it — he could edit down some of the more outré ideas he plays with here. But the cinematography by Pål Ulvik Rokseth is spectacular, utilizing natural light in the school, largely emptied for summer break, the camera imbued with a curious mind of its own. Tøndel empowers the camera to follow characters down hallways and then continue, peeking around corners, finding an eavesdropper. It seemingly pulls and pushes characters around the space, or drifts in on curious closeups (the back of a head, an arm), fixated largely on Elisabeth as conversations unfold around her. In the opening and closing shots, the camera takes a good long look at the school’s exterior, regarding this institution with an almost foreboding — yet ultimately healthy — sense of skepticism.

But then there’s also the nagging feeling that Tøndel doesn’t have the firmest grasp on his own material. The surrealist experiments are grating, not entirely successful, and a rug-pulling twist lands the overall message of the film in uncomfortably murky waters, especially when considering how victims of violence are treated. Elisabeth is an enigmatic character, painted negatively by her own actions, as she pokes holes in every calmly leveled allegation. But the film empathizes with her to a degree that doesn’t feel earned, inadvertently tipping into morally uneasy territory. Perhaps that’s the intent, but as a viewer, there’s a sense of feeling unmoored, even betrayed by where the story goes.

The unpredictable nature of this thought-provoking tale and its unusual execution is laudable for its originality, but the ending of “Armand” troubles its strong start, with the sense that Tøndel’s assured direction at the outset has slipped as he makes his way to a strange climax and a questionable conclusion.