Director Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel: ‘Armand’ and School Drama Satire

by

In his twenties, Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel took on multiple positions at a primary school, such as standing in for teachers, supervising after-school activities, and working with children who had special needs. He found this experience incredibly impactful, enabling him to encounter many wonderful individuals, as he himself put it. Additionally, it provided him with opportunities to closely observe the behavior of parents.

Prior to his days in feature filmmaking, Tøndel had already gained experience working with children. However, he is not unfamiliar with the realm of cinema; he is the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. His first feature film focuses on a school setting, which mirrors where he spent a significant part of his early career professionally.

The film titled “Armand,” which was shortlisted for Norway’s international feature film at the Oscars, debuted in U.S. cinemas on Friday. It delves deeply into how parents respond to a severe incident involving children. Renate Reinsve, known for her role in “The Worst Person in the World,” portrays Elisabeth, a solitary mother whose young son Armand is falsely accused of a startling confrontation with a classmate.

In a classroom setting, renowned actor Elisabeth gets embroiled in a heated discussion with other students’ parents, which is facilitated by school staff. The conversation, according to Tøndel, mirrors political banter due to its convoluted and empty nature. Things get even stranger when one of the staff members attempts to halt a persistent nosebleed during the dialogue, and Elisabeth erupts into an unusually long fit of laughter lasting nearly 10 minutes. The movie then takes on a dreamlike quality with two dance sequences.

Or,

Elisabeth, a popular actor, finds herself in the midst of a tense discussion with other students’ parents in a classroom, led by school staff. Tøndel observed that their conversation resembled political debates because it was full of convoluted and empty language. The situation becomes bizarre when one of the staff members tries to stop a persistent nosebleed while still talking, and Elisabeth bursts out laughing for almost 10 minutes straight. Two dance scenes later, the movie takes on a surreal feel.

Last year, Tøndel was nominated for the Directors Guild of America’s award for a first-time theatrical feature film director and won the Caméra d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Following the DGA Awards held last Saturday, he quickly traveled to Paris and had an interview with EbMaster via Zoom, discussing the visual arrangement in “Armand,” expressing Elisabeth’s emotional turmoil, and sharing his experience at the DGAs.

What prompted you to make fun of or criticize the educational setting? In this context, the administration and government were represented as the school system, parents played the role of the people, and the Greek choir symbolized public opinion. The school environment offered many similarities to our larger society in a more manageable scale.

What intrigued me about Renate’s character was her unique blend as both a mother and a popular figure at school. It’s fascinating how the show explored this duality, particularly because actors can often be seen as inauthentic or insincere due to public perception. This doubt can be detrimental when someone in a maternal role needs to be trusted wholeheartedly. Yet, it also leaves room for speculation – is she being genuine, or is she manipulating situations? For instance, in the laughter scene, one might question whether her amusement was sincere.

How did you handle the intense, close-knit conversation scenes in the classroom setting, and what was it like while filming these specific moments? To create a sense of progression, we designed the staging so that they start off sitting further apart, gradually moving closer together, and finally with Elizabeth surrounded by a sort of barrier when she’s alone with the three school officials. We deliberately chose to shoot these scenes in a more unconventional manner. For instance, during the nosebleed scene, we opted for a Spielberg-inspired approach, where the camera circles around the table before settling on a profile shot of the character experiencing the nosebleed. Our aim was to experiment with unique compositions and pay close attention to the staging in order to avoid the typical shot-reverse shot conversation style we often see, focusing instead on the claustrophobic atmosphere created by using only close-ups. We minimized the use of master shots almost completely during these dialogue scenes.

Could you explain what’s happening during the laughing scene?
It’s a reaction to an overwhelming and unexpected situation. In this instance, she’s being summoned for a meeting where she encounters accusations regarding herself and her son that she wasn’t aware of before. She’s being confronted in front of other parents, and there are a multitude of emotions at play – grief, fear, confusion, among others. At times like these, when emotions are muddled and reactions are unpredictable, laughter can occur. For instance, I once laughed when I was robbed at knife-point, and I also laughed during my grandmother’s funeral because I didn’t know how to process the feelings that arose within me, so they manifested as laughter. This is a very instinctual response to situations we struggle to handle effectively.

What was the reason for incorporating the dancing sequences that deviate from the main narrative flow?

I envisioned the first dance scene as a symbol of Elizabeth’s rebirth in a way. Dance is an exquisite art form, and I have always appreciated its inclusion in films. Moreover, given her profession as an actress and performer, I felt it was fitting for her to utilize dance as a means of self-recovery. Additionally, I find intriguing the fact that we’re unsure of the viewpoint from which these scenes are presented, and at this point in the movie, everyone seems to be losing touch with reality. In the beginning of the scene, we follow the principal’s perspective, observing the dance through his eyes. However, as the scene progresses, it appears to shift to a different perspective that resembles Elizabeth’s more closely. This ambiguity adds an element of mystery and makes us question who might be losing their grip on reality – both characters could potentially be affected.

1. Could you share details about the school where the movie was filmed? It took me around 250 schools to find this one, and I was thrilled when I did. This school was special because we could create and paint there, and it had a unique soul to it. The film’s atmosphere seems to reflect that as well. I was looking for specific qualities in the school, such as wide corridors, stone floors, Gothic architecture, institutional ambiance, and an air of mystery. The school’s feel and appearance were clear in my mind from the early stages of scriptwriting, which started in 2017.

2. Was the scene featuring blue projection light in a room a visual concept that came to you after finding the school? That idea was part of the script from the beginning. While I worked at a school myself, I often walked into classrooms where someone had left the projector on. As the film transitions more into fantasy and moves beyond social realism, I felt we could experiment with the visual style as well, making it more cinematic.

How did I find being at the DGA Awards alongside fellow filmmakers? Incredible! I felt a great sense of pride, even more so because I was nominated. As a debut director from Norway, it’s quite an achievement to be recognized as a first-time feature director in the U.S. It was truly an honor to be in the same room with such talented artists and filmmakers. Attending this event was one of the most significant honors during my wild journey, and I must say, RaMell Ross deserved his win for “Nickel Boys.” That film, with its boldness, exceptional writing, and powerful acting, is a work I deeply admire. So, losing didn’t bother me in the slightest – just being there was an absolute delight.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Read More

2025-02-15 20:48