Ingmar Bergman’s Grandson Directs Renate Reinsve

Norwegian writer-director Halfdan Ullmann Tondel takes some large swings together with his first characteristic Armand, not all of which join, however the ambition and risk-taking are largely spectacular.

A single-setting drama that unfolds in an echo-filled elementary faculty after hours, it stars Renate Reinsve (The Worst Particular person within the World) as native celeb Elisabeth, the mom of never-met Armand, a first-grade boy who’s accused by his classmate Jon, additionally by no means seen, of sexual abuse.

When the boys’ instructor and key faculty staffers name a gathering with dad and mom to determine the following steps, Elisabeth clashes with Jon’s dad and mom, Sarah (Ellen Dorrit Petersen) and Anders (Endre Hellestveit), though not all is because it appears. The essential setup remembers, amongst different tales about accusations, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of stage play Carnage, however Armand will get a lot weirder because it goes on, with choreographed dance sequences and melodramatic revelations that really feel contrived and tacked on to make the movie extra arthouse and fewer issues-driven-middlebrow.

Reception in Cannes has been largely heat following its debut within the Un Sure Regard strand, and Armand has racked up some offshore gross sales.

Little by little, Ullmann Tondel’s screenplay reveals that Elisabeth and Sarah have extra historical past than shared playdates for his or her children. They’ve recognized one another since they had been youngsters at this exact same faculty, and Elisabeth was married to Sarah’s brother, who’s now useless, presumably from suicide after a tempestuous relationship with Elisabeth. Reinsve performs her character right here as a lady making an attempt to dwell as regular a life as potential and be one of the best mom she will be, regardless that she’s nicely conscious how her fame adjustments the dynamic in each room she enters — although egalitarian-minded Norwegians usually attempt to appear unimpressed.

That’s definitely the case with the boys’ classroom instructor Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen), who, though she appears younger, is making an attempt to look as skilled as potential and deal with the entire state of affairs by the e book. The college’s principal, Jarle (Oystein Roger), is usually involved with masking his again and avoiding any escalation that might get him in bother. College safeguarding lead Ajsa (Vera Veijovic) is there to again him up with coverage recommendation, however when she retains getting uncontrollable nostril bleeds the fixed interruptions to the assembly solely serve to escalate the stress.

The ambiance might be reduce with a popsicle stick from the beginning already, with prissy, judgy-faced Sarah able to name the cops at any second and eager to place all of the blame on Elisabeth. However Elisabeth is to not be trifled with, and he or she defends her son vigorously, stating that it’s just one child’s phrase towards one other and questioning whether or not or not what was mentioned was misinterpreted.

Backwards and forwards the bickering goes till Ullmann Tondel begins to throw unusual shapes into the drama. Within the press notes he talks concerning the affect of movies by Luis Buñuel, particularly The Discreet Appeal of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel, and that’s felt within the more and more surreal touches, as when Elisabeth immediately will get an uncontrollable match of giggles — a scene that goes on uncomfortably lengthy. Whereas that feels nearer to Buñuel’s style for shock strikes and absurdist thriller, the sequences of Elisabeth immediately breaking right into a choreographed pas de deux with the college janitor (Patrice Demoniere) and later an virtually orgiastic ensemble dance with a bigger solid simply appear self-indulgent and foolish.

Some could discover themselves straining to search out inventive traces right here of the work of Ullmann Tondel’s grandparents, Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, however millennial-generation Ullmann Tondel’s directing type feels extra of a bit with up to date Nordic cinema, with its flights of fancy and quirky humor, than the excessive type of his progenitors. His screenwriting right here, nevertheless, feels prefer it’s misplaced its manner when it tries to tidy all the pieces up within the last scene, even when the staging strains to keep up a way of thriller by drowning out the dialogue with thrashing rain.