February 15, 2025
FILM: ARMAND
DIRECTED BY: HALFDAN ULLMANN TENDEL
STARRING: RENATE REINSVE, ELLEN DORRITT PETERSEN, ENDRE HELLESTVELT
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
During the opening scene of Armand, a woman is speeding down an empty road on her way to her son’s school. She’s been asked to be part of a meeting which concerns that son – Armand. It’s clear that the woman, Elisabeth, is full of fire and nerves. Her movements are chaotic and, upon entering the school’s hallways, she walks with fast-paced deliberate steps which echo throughout the empty hallways. She meets Armand’s teacher Sunna who appears to be the opposite of Elisabeth. Her dress is drabber, and her manner is somewhat submissive. What we soon find out is that Armand is being accused of a “sexual deviation” against another classmate named Jon. The two have been friends for a long time and, it is later revealed, are also cousins.
This opening sets up a very powerful confrontation between Elisabeth and Jon’s parents. As the film unfolds more details are provided about the relationships between the characters, their backgrounds, and some disturbing behavior patterns within the family. I enjoyed these early scenes very much. The characters are richly drawn, and the well-depicted situation is one any parent might dread. Several films within the last decade or so have also explored the complicated family dynamics which lead to explosive meetings between parents. Films such as Carnage, Mass, and Doubt all explore people trying to understand accusations and behavior that is often morally questionable. Children are talked about but rarely seen. In the case of Armand, we hear that he’s been involved with other “reckless interactions with other children” but we never witness it. The parents and the school delve into and argue about what really happened and who should take responsibility for the wrongdoings.
There’s a lot to like about Armand especially the performances by the leads. Renate Reinsve plays Elisabeth. The actress has become a force within the international film world after great work in films such as The Worst Person in the World and last year’s A Different Man. She does an excellent job here as a mother trying to understand her son while also perhaps being in denial as to what may have caused some of his destructive behavior.
The film also does a great job exploring parental and school responsibilities as well as the accusations and pre-conceived notions each has about the other. Plenty of circumstantial evidence is presented in the debates about Armand that blow the situation to extremes perhaps unfair to the boy.
The problem is with the final act of the film which takes the narrative into some questionable and often oblique narrative territory. Early on, there are welcome and lightened moments when, for instance, one of the school administrators has a series of nose bleeds that put the skids on some of the heated discussion between the parents. Elisabeth also has what must be one of the longest laughing attacks ever shown on screen. Even Mary Richards’ sudden laughter at a funeral on the Mary Tyler Moore Show pales in comparison to the incessant hysterics on display by Elisabeth. But then the narrative moves too far in the direction of some seemingly unprovoked scenes, including a hallway dance and a very disturbing scene in which one of the characters is being physically mauled by other faculty members. Is it a dream or metaphor? Unclear. Sadly, these later scenes take us far from getting answers or even making general statements about the earlier outlined issues.
There’s no question that some of the technical elements are to be applauded. The sound design accentuates the coldness in the school’s late afternoon hallways and is appropriately disturbing. The moving cameras and varying perspectives open the various rooms the characters inhabit and create a visually interesting dynamic to accompany their struggles.
Still, I’d have liked a more accessible conclusion to the film’s provocative themes and ideas. Inappropriate touching, for instance, is evident all over the film but like some of the other elements just doesn’t get a satisfying final resolution leaving the story much too open-ended.
Armand is currently playing in limited theatrical release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.
FILM: ARMAND
DIRECTED BY: HALFDAN ULLMANN TENDEL
STARRING: RENATE REINSVE, ELLEN DORRITT PETERSEN, ENDRE HELLESTVELT
RATING: 3 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
During the opening scene of Armand, a woman is speeding down an empty road on her way to her son’s school. She’s been asked to be part of a meeting which concerns that son – Armand. It’s clear that the woman, Elisabeth, is full of fire and nerves. Her movements are chaotic and, upon entering the school’s hallways, she walks with fast-paced deliberate steps which echo throughout the empty hallways. She meets Armand’s teacher Sunna who appears to be the opposite of Elisabeth. Her dress is drabber, and her manner is somewhat submissive. What we soon find out is that Armand is being accused of a “sexual deviation” against another classmate named Jon. The two have been friends for a long time and, it is later revealed, are also cousins.
This opening sets up a very powerful confrontation between Elisabeth and Jon’s parents. As the film unfolds more details are provided about the relationships between the characters, their backgrounds, and some disturbing behavior patterns within the family. I enjoyed these early scenes very much. The characters are richly drawn, and the well-depicted situation is one any parent might dread. Several films within the last decade or so have also explored the complicated family dynamics which lead to explosive meetings between parents. Films such as Carnage, Mass, and Doubt all explore people trying to understand accusations and behavior that is often morally questionable. Children are talked about but rarely seen. In the case of Armand, we hear that he’s been involved with other “reckless interactions with other children” but we never witness it. The parents and the school delve into and argue about what really happened and who should take responsibility for the wrongdoings.
There’s a lot to like about Armand especially the performances by the leads. Renate Reinsve plays Elisabeth. The actress has become a force within the international film world after great work in films such as The Worst Person in the World and last year’s A Different Man. She does an excellent job here as a mother trying to understand her son while also perhaps being in denial as to what may have caused some of his destructive behavior.
The film also does a great job exploring parental and school responsibilities as well as the accusations and pre-conceived notions each has about the other. Plenty of circumstantial evidence is presented in the debates about Armand that blow the situation to extremes perhaps unfair to the boy.
The problem is with the final act of the film which takes the narrative into some questionable and often oblique narrative territory. Early on, there are welcome and lightened moments when, for instance, one of the school administrators has a series of nose bleeds that put the skids on some of the heated discussion between the parents. Elisabeth also has what must be one of the longest laughing attacks ever shown on screen. Even Mary Richards’ sudden laughter at a funeral on the Mary Tyler Moore Show pales in comparison to the incessant hysterics on display by Elisabeth. But then the narrative moves too far in the direction of some seemingly unprovoked scenes, including a hallway dance and a very disturbing scene in which one of the characters is being physically mauled by other faculty members. Is it a dream or metaphor? Unclear. Sadly, these later scenes take us far from getting answers or even making general statements about the earlier outlined issues.
There’s no question that some of the technical elements are to be applauded. The sound design accentuates the coldness in the school’s late afternoon hallways and is appropriately disturbing. The moving cameras and varying perspectives open the various rooms the characters inhabit and create a visually interesting dynamic to accompany their struggles.
Still, I’d have liked a more accessible conclusion to the film’s provocative themes and ideas. Inappropriate touching, for instance, is evident all over the film but like some of the other elements just doesn’t get a satisfying final resolution leaving the story much too open-ended.
Armand is currently playing in limited theatrical release, including the Gene Siskel Center in Chicago.