Armand

Suffer the little children An early “drip, drip, drip” from an elementary school sink is the ideal metaphor for this curious tale of two six-year-old school chums (Armand and Jon) who get into a sexual altercation where the former—apparently, my on-purpose metaphor—bullies, bruises, scratches and threatens penetration on the primary school’s boys’ bathroom floor. Finally, in the metaphor department, are the errant ringing of the school’s fire alarm bells at appropriate dramatic points along the journey of “Well, what on earth should be done about this?” From the school’s administration: principal Jarle (done up with appropriate policy-over-facts tone by Øystein Røger), literally bloody-nosed second-in-command Ajsa (all “no nonsense, but let’s try to keep this under wraps as the school year is just ending”) is admirably portrayed by Vera Veljovic-Jovanovic as well as she who has been tasked with bringing the parents of both boys together to discover an appropriate “Plan of Action” so that this difficult situation can never be repeated, Sunna (Thea Lambrechts Vaulen manages to go beyond her required “let’s find a way out of this”, then demonstrates so most welcome moments of care and understanding). For the parents, widowed Elisabeth as the mother of Armand is brought blindly into the group meeting and is appropriately stunned by the alleged assault. An actor by profession, viewers must decide for themselves what reactions are staged or genuine. On Jon’s team, we have mother Sarah who is cold as ice even as the heat turns up with every revelation and relationship—none better than Ellen Dorrit Petersen to portray the wicked witch of Norway. Hubby Anders (Endre Hellestveit, another excellent characterization), seemingly plays both sides off the middle to the point of forcing some unwanted truths into the mix from both mothers of the children. In our current era of those running the show (whether high-up educators or low-down politicians knowing just what is required for the young minds under their care), Tøndel (who also wrote the script) has done a masterful job of taking a slam-dunk situation and gradually letting those who ought to know better reveal themselves as not the solution but the problem with havoc swirling around two boys who would rather spend their time running about in the playground than being thrust into an untenable, life-changing situation. Key to the success of the film’s message is that we never, ever hear from the accused or victim themselves. Sadly, this sort of guilty without evidence seems to be epidemic in 2024 in countries all around the world, much less primary schools. A couple of scenes are worthy of mention: the pair of at-each-other’s throats mothers’ unexpected meet-up in the loo is a marvel of no need for dialogue, the looks speak so much louder than any words could; the wonderfully fanciful pas de deux between Elisabeth and the school’s janitor (to upbeat renderings from a hip jazz band) is just the tonic to the brooding moments on both sides of the welcome chart. It's a production that needs to be seen by a very wide audience, but especially those who are convinced that their version of the truth is the only one that counts.

Halfdan Ullman Tøndel, Ingmar Bergman's grandson, debuts with a very interesting film about a serious school incident between some kids, but his insistence on being noticed greatly undermines the work. The film starts well, creating a very uncomfortable psychological confrontation between adults, but the narrative soon delves into a surreal and somewhat unnecessarily terrifying world. Visually unsettling, yet all the social questions it raises are quickly forgotten. However, it’s very well acted; Renate Reinsve knocks it out of the park with an unhinged performance.