Customer Reviews

The Kingdom ( Riget ) ( Hospital der Geister - The Kingdom ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Denmark ]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I agree that this is a brilliant series filled with black humor, pathos, social satire and horror. Set in and actually filmed at Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, it is essentially a ghost story, a haunting, but told in a quirky, refreshing way. One can see why it attracted Stephen King and inspired him to write his subsequent novel "Kingdom Hospital." It certainly deserves all the 5 stars it gets at this site.

However there is a problem with the DVD edition issued by Koch/Lorber. On Disc Two, Episode 3, during the scene where Helmer enters the Central Archive after Mogge, the picture suddenly skips (at just after 39mins) to a part of the movie that is actually from Episode 1 on Disc One (the scene where Helmer's nose is being patched up). This sequence from the previous Disc then goes on for about 2 minutes before you suddenly switch back to the current episode but several minutes later with Dr Mogge already out of the Central Archive and running for his life. You are left wondering what happened in between.

This is not a problem with an individual disc. Replacing the disc makes no difference because they all have the same flaw. It is a production issue. It probably occured during the video-editing or mastering process. How this could have been passed for release is beyond me. I know Fox Lorber's previous reputation for producing shoddy DVDs but after the name change and several fairly good early releases under the Koch/Lorber label, I actually believed they had reformed. Alas not. This kind of sloppiness is wholly unacceptable. Koch/Lorber goes into the same black book as its disgraceful predecessor. If it had any conscience, Koch/Lorber would order a recall and replacement. But with this company's reputation, it's hardly likely. Hopefully the rumors are right and Criterion will pick this up for release in the future as part of a Lars von Trier retrospective.

Like other reviewers I found an error 39:11 into Disc Two. If you have purchased this movie and have such a problem Koch Lorber is aware of the error. You can get in touch with them through their web site www.kochlorberfilms.com

I sent them a brief message explaining the problem on a Sunday afternoon at 4:42 and by 6:18 Monday morning had received a very polite response from Jason Vitteritti (jason.vitteritti@kochent.com) - That's not a typo, the address on the email read "kochent", not kochnet like you might expect.

Anyway, the long and the short of it was by Wednesday I had a new disc two with no errors so as far as I'm concerned Koch Lorber rules!

Oh, and Riget is awesome too.

The Kingdom is the name of a gargantuan decaying hosital in Copenhagen where this amazing Lars von Trier Gothic television miniseries is set. of course, the title also refers to the kingdom of Denmark (in the staff meeting room where many scenes take place, the portraits of Queen Margrethe and her consort are prominently displayed), for which the hospital is a metaphor, and for the kingdom of society in general. And, as von Trier explains in his charming afterwords to the episodes, it also refers to the kingdom of the imagination itself.

The miniseries works on all these levels. It's a quirky, incredibly atmospheric study of the hospital centering upon the discovery of the ghost of a girl murdered 75 years previously on the same site haunting the hospital, and it revolves around a giant cast of dozens of memorable characters, all of whom are intensely sympathetic even though they're pretty miserable human beings. The three at the core of the story are a malingerer, the septuagenarian medium Mrs. Drusse, obsessed with discovering the story behind a ghost; a blackmailer, the young and sexy Dr. Hook; and his nemesis in the neurology department, the jaw-droppingly arrogant brain surgeon Dr. Helmer, who had to take this job in Denmark (which he loathes) after being cast out of a job in his native Sweden under suspicion of plagiarism. Although the Gothic aspects to the story are beautifully brought out by the labyrinthine deserted basement hallways of the hospital and Von Trier's gorgeous sepia-tinted cinemtography, like all the best ghost stories the ghosts here serve as metaphors for what's wrong with the state of society in general. The miniseries is an amazingly funny satire on the dilapidated Danish health care system, and the film's funniest moments involve the attempts of the neurology department's manager, the marvelously manipulative and passive-aggressive Professor Moesgaard, to implement a hilariously inane PR campaign called "Operation Morning Air" that involves (among other things) having the neurosurgeons cheerfully sing introductions to one another at staff meetings.

The series has often been compared to "Twin Peaks," but it's probably even better. Like the Lynch series it does a marvelous job of conveying atmosphere, but it is deeper and more carefully engineered and imagined. Though there are moments that sag (including the disastrous idea of having Dr. Helmer visit Haiti near the end, which jarringly breaks the miniseries' adherence otherwise to the Aristotelean unities by and large), as a whole it is a genuine masterpiece. It is one of the richest works for television ever made.

This 5-hour marathon was originally a mini-series on Danish television, which partly explains the length. It won't take you long to get completely involved in the weird goings-on at the massive Copenhagen hospital complex named "The Kingdom", though, and once you're hooked, you'll want to savor every minute. The primary plot concerns a malingering woman's search within the hospital for the spirit of a young girl, but there's also a phantom ambulance, a secret society (complete with some really bizarre initiation rites!), a Greek Chorus doing the dishes, and at least a half-dozen sub-plots. Although there are some visually disturbing scenes, plus a few steamy ones, the overall tone is best summed up as "quirky humor". The vast impersonality of the hospital is conveyed through washed-out sepia-tinted shots of endless corridors and fly-over shots of the huge complex, but the halls are chock-full of nuts. The Swedish chief neurosurgeon, on the lam from Stockholm thanks to assorted misdeeds there, shouts his frustrations at the "Danish scum" from the rooftops. A resident takes *his* title quite literally, setting up living quarters in the basement, where he recycles pharmaceuticals and keeps tabs on who's up to what. A portly orderly, cowed into submission by his psychosomatic mother, wheels her throughout the building while she searches for the spirit of a young girl she believes was murdered. The loopy head of staff seeks to inspire the workers with a typically management-brain-dead scheme he proudly calls "Operation Morning Wind". If you like the movies of the Coen brothers ("Fargo", or "The Hudsucker Proxy") or if you enjoyed "Twin Peaks", this is *definitely* one to check out. And since this isn't enough in itself, yup, there's a five-hour *sequel*!

Actually, I'd give it 4.75 stars. The last, say, half-hour or so isn't nearly as inventive as the first four, and the ending is a real letdown if you don't know there's a "Kingdom II" (I didn't the first time I saw this).

But, oh, those first four...!

I got my first hit of the cinematic drug that is "The Kingdom" with a large audience at the glorious Detroit Film Theatre. We cackled and howled all the way through it, but I had to leave a light on when I went to bed that night. First time I've ever seen a horror/comedy that united those two reactions so seamlessly.

At first, I didn't know what to make of the quasi-documentary look (washed-out & grainy picture, jerky camera, jump cuts, etc.), but I got used to it very quickly and it became a key part of the atmosphere. As my friend noted, it feels kinda like you're watching things you're not supposed to see, shot secretly with a hidden camera and smuggled out of the hospital. (Of course, he also kept bellowing, "Lars! Oh, Lars! What hast thou wrought! " after it was over, so I don't know if you want to listen to him.)

I should also note that the Dishwasher Chorus really irritated me the first time, but I've grown fond of the pair on subsequent viewings. Anyone else have similar feelings?

Watch it in the right frame of mind, and it could drive you stark raving mad. If that sounds like a compliment to you, this is your kind of movie.

This is a superb Danish film. A treasure box filled with excitement, scares and laughter! The director, Lars does it again with The Kingdom 2 and if you contact me at my email, I can give you info how you can obtain your own copy of The Kingdom 2!

I would seriously consider plonking down some dollars for an updated edition of this show. I have the Asian version that has the whole 4.5-hour story on one disk, but the subtitles are often horribly miswritten, and one transition 3 hours into the show skips over 25 minutes (you have to figure out you're missing something, then rewind to get the missing portion).

Anyway, the review is for the show itself, rather than the existing disk product. I'm just glad I was able to see it at all. Visually, it reminds you of St. Elsewhere or Hill Street Blues. But the content is occult/horror-comedy. A lot of it really creeps up on you. Brilliant characters: Dr. Helmer is one of the most perversely and laughably despicable people I've ever seen on TV.

Too bad it ends with such an outrageous cliffhanger. I hope the American DVD set contains part II also.

"Riget" or "The Kingdom" is probably the most interesting movie I have ever seen. And I don't mean that in that "Ah, yes, you're new clay pot is, uh, interesting" kind of interesting. I mean it in the original form of the word meaning something to the effect of "This ain't like nothing I ever seen!" ER on Acid? Yeah, kinda. Søren Pilmark does kind of look like Anthony Edwards, especially if you add the "on acid." Like another reviewer, I wasn't thrilled with the Dishwasher Chorus duo, though I can see where their framing effect is helpful. Other than that this was dead on terrific. If you are trying to decide if you should buy a foriegn miniseries (as I was) then shrug and tell yourself It's only $ and go for it. I totally enjoyed this movie.

But don't be surprised if you find yourself wandering the web looking for the 1997 sequel. And just so you know, the official site for "Riget II" is in Danish. And the translation sites don't really help that much. Which is a real shame, cause the site looks like lots of fun, very reminiscent of the movie.

"Kingdom" is rather strange whether we talk about the composition of the whole TV show, about its pacing, about style or about feelings it invokes. And that may be the obvious thing for I personally can't boast of having seen a huge amount of Danish pictures. But once you get into it, into "Kingdom's" atmosphere and rhythm, you start to like it. And as far as the story itself isn't new at all (story about haunted places, and about the living ones solving the violent nature of someone's mysterious death and helping the ghost rest in peace), it's not about "what", it's about "how". I'd say "Kingdom" is made in an unusual way, it's pretty unconventional thriller. I'm not even sure I can call it a thriller or a horror movie - it's more of a mystical drama. With lots of laugh of course - just recall the last minutes of it, when a health minister arrives at the hospital! What makes "Kingdom" outstanding is that its creators didn't concentrate only on horrors and thrills (because you might get such an impression reading different reviews and synopsises), but they put a lot of effort into human relations, into everyday's life of this immense hospital. Sometimes I got a feeling I was more interested in daily doctors' routine than in that mystical concept. The story-line has many subplots which are very interesting to follow. Certainly people from Denmark will see more in it than all the others, because we have to be familiar with Scandinavian realia to fully understand and appreciate the series, but nevertheless "Kingdom" still looks great.

The DVD edition itself has a couple of mishaps, the transfer is not great at all, it's rather grainy, and sometimes when the screen is dark it's practically indistinct. On the other hand Lars von Trier says in commentary it was partly intentional. Well, it's actually a dark (not literally) film, and this slipshod release fits it very well as it seemed to me. Don't be too hard on it.

I think you'll like "Kingdom" although it's different and not what you used to watch usually (I presume).

Lars von Trier is a director who is incredibly keen on taking extreme left-hand turns in terms of his filmmaking. Before "The Kingdom" was first aired in 1994 to rave reviews and amazing success in its native Denmark, as well as achieving cult supremacy the world over (anyone who's seen the follow-up series is officially in my good books!), Trier had made "The Element Of Crime", "Epidemic" and "Europa" (or "Zentropa", the name of his production company), which his producer / friend Vibeke Windelov has described as "intellectual and cold". Then he came to prominence in anglophone territories with his affecting, emotionally involving/manipulative (which do you prefer?) 'Golden Heart Trilogy'; "Breaking The Waves", "The Idiots" and "Dancer In The Dark". "The Kingdom", however, is a true original in the Trier filmography, mixing the typical blacker-than-oblivion humour of Trier with an effectively spooky ghost story that has to be seen to be believed.

Trier's humour can be felt within the whole spiritualism-versus-modern medicine spectrum on which the many characters of the show populate, as highlighted in the hilarious Ernst-Hugo Jaregard as Stig Helmer's ongoing conflict with Kirsten Rolffes' Mrs Drusse, who passes her time either patrolling the immense hospital for ghosts or leading seances with her fellow patients. In essence, Helmer is the comedy character of the show, whether he's sternly lecturing his girlfriend about the follies of voodoo or staring open-mouthed at the full-blown inanity of the "Operation Morning Air" logo. It's a credit to the phenomenal Jaregard that, whether he's taking credit for other doctors' discoveries, bungling operations, screaming at the skies and treating his girlfriend like scum, Helmer remains a wonderful comic monster (think Pauline the Restart Officer from "The League of Gentlemen" TV show with grey hair and without the balloon-size pink lips).

The horror element of the show can be attributed to the often-unmentioned Morten Arnfred, who co-wrote and co-directed this behemoth alongside Trier. Stripped of Trier's acute comedy, "The Kingdom" would easily hold its own as a significant spookshow, albeit a traditional one given some fresh twists. Amid several nods to Nicolas Roeg's "Don't Look Now", Arnfred and Trier handle the scares with an assured hand and some low-key special effects, and are aided substantially by Rolffes as the fiercely dedicated 'ghostbuster'; no way would Hollywood have a 70-year old heroine at the forefront of a horror film, but Rolffes cuts a stern, likeable rug throughout, whether she's interviewing her possessed fellow-patients or getting drenched in icky ectoplasm. And, mindful at the massive duration, Arnfred and Trier have devised the creepiest Greek chorus for some time in the two retarded dishwashers. Not only that, but they have an effective ghost in the figure of Annevig Schelde Ebbe's tortured Mary and the most stomach-churning cliffhanger in TV history (warning: prospective mothers may wish to turn their attentions away for the last few minutes).

Everything about "The Kingdom" smacks of class, with well-drawn characters and effective performances populating a hospital unlike anything American TV would even dare to cook up. Sure it's long and the language barrier will be a problem for some, but divert your prejudices elsewhere and lap up this horror-comedy classic. Just remember what Trier tells us peaking through his fingers come journey's end ("Always take the good with the evil...") As for the DVD, a Region 1 version does exist, as well as a Region 2 double-disc edition, which comes complete with the Lars von Trier-documentary "Tranceformer", otherwise seen on the Criterion Edition DVD of Trier's debut film, "The Element Of Crime". And, the bad news, Jaregard and Rolffes (and one of the dishwashers too) have sadly passed away, so "The Kingdom 3" isn't likely to be arriving anytime soon.