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The Kingdom (miniseries)
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox television
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| genre = Black comedy
Medical drama
Supernatural horror
Mystery fiction
| creator = Lars von Trier
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| country = Denmark
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| num_seasons = 2
| num_episodes = 8
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| runtime = 62-73 minutes
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| network = DR
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'The Kingdom' (Danish title: 'Riget') is a Danish miniseries trilogy created by Lars von Trier in 1994, and co-directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred. Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet nicknamed "Riget" , the show follows a number of characters, both staff and patients, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, including supernatural. The show is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down syndrome who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital.
In December 2020, DR announced the third and final season of Riget would begin filming in 2021 under the title 'Riget Exodus'. The season will consist of five episodes directed by von Trier. It will be written by von Trier with Niels Vrsel. As of August 2021, original cast members Ghita Nrby, Sren Pilmark, Peter Mygind, Birgitte Raaberg, Laura Christensen and Udo Kier return to the series and are joined by Bodil Jrgensen, Nicolas Bro, Lars Mikkelsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Mikael Persbrandt, Tuva Novotny, Ida Engvoll, Asta August, David Dencik and Alexander Skarsgard. Despite being a miniseries, 'Riget: Exodus' has been screening in Venice out of competition alongside Refn's 'Copenhagen Cowboy'.
Despite being a series, 'The Kingdom' appears as one of the '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'.
Von Trier has credited 'Twin Peaks' and the 1965 French miniseries 'Belphegor' as inspirations.
Plot
Each episode of 'Riget' and 'Riget II' begins with the same prologue, detailing how the hospital, Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, was built on the site of the "bleaching ponds", which recur in the name of the street of the hospital's official address, Blegdamsvej, although the exact significance of the reference is never explicitly discussed in the series.
The show begins with the admission of a spiritualist patient, Sigrid Drusse, who hears the sound of a girl crying in the elevator shaft. Upon investigation, Drusse discovers that the girl had died decades earlier, having been killed by her father to hide her illegitimacy. In order to put the spirit to rest, Drusse searches for the girl's body and ultimately finds it preserved in a specimen jar in the office of the hospital's professor of pathology, Professor Bondo (Baard Owe).
Meanwhile, neurosurgeon Stig Helmer, a recent appointee from Sweden to the neurosurgery department, tries to cover up his responsibility for a botched operation which left a young girl in a persistent vegetative state.
Pathologist Dr. Bondo attempts to convince the family of a man dying from liver cancer to donate his liver to the hospital for Bondo's research. (In fact, Bondo wants it as a trophy, as it is the second largest hepatosarcoma ever recorded.) When his request is denied, Bondo has the cancerous liver transplanted into his own body (as the patient signed an organ donor form), so that the cancer will become his personal property and can be kept within the hospital.
Amongst other plotlines, a young medical student becomes attracted to the nurse in charge of the sleep research laboratory, a ghostly ambulance appears and disappears every night, a junior doctor runs a black market in medical supplies, and a neurosurgeon discovers that she was impregnated by a ghost and that the baby in her womb is developing abnormally rapidly. In every episode, two dishwashers (each with Down syndrome) in the cellar discuss the strange happenings at Riget, and Stig Helmer screams his famous catchphrase: 'Danskjvlar' (subtitled as "Danish scum", but literally "Danish devils").
Cast
* Ernst-Hugo Jregrd Stig Helmer (main: seasons 12)
* Kirsten Rolffes Sigrid Drusse (main: seasons 12)
* Holger Juul Hansen Einar Moesgaard (main: seasons 12)
* Sren Pilmark Jrgen 'Hook' Krogshj (main: seasons 13)
* Ghita Nrby Rigmor Mortensen (main: seasons 13)
* Jens Okking Bulder Harly Drusse (main: seasons 12)
* Otto Brandenburg Hansen (main: seasons 12)
* Annevig Schelde Ebbe Mary Krger (main: season 1, guest: season 2)
* Baard Owe Palle Bondo (main: seasons 12)
* Birgitte Raaberg Judith Petersen (main: seasons 13)
* Peter Mygind Morten 'Mogge' Moesgaard (main: seasons 13)
* Vita Jensen Female dishwasher (main: seasons 12)
* Male dishwasher (main: seasons 12)
* Solbjrg Hjfeldt Camilla (main: season 1 & 3, guest: season 2))
* Udo Kier ge Krger / Lillebror / Storebror (main: seasons 13)
* Birthe Neumann Secretary to Moesgaard, later to Helmer (main: season 2-3)
* Erik Wederse Ole (main: season 2)
* John Hahn-Petersen Secretary Nivesen (main: season 2)
* Director Bob (guest: season 1, main: season 2-3)
* Louise Fribo Sanne Jeppesen (recurring: seasons 12)
* Laura Christensen Mona Jensen (recurring: seasons 12, main: season 3)
* Vera Gebuhr Gerda (guest: season 2)
* Christian (recurring: seasons 12)
* Priest (recurring: seasons 12)
* Thomas Bo Larsen The Falcon (recurring: season 2)
* Henrik Koefoed Radiologist (recurring: season 1)
* Paul Httel Steenbk (recurring: seasons 12)
* Helle Virkner Emma Mogensen (recurring: seasons 12)
* Stellan Skarsgrd The Swedish lawyer (guest: season 2)
* Bodil Jrgensen - Karen (main: season 3)
* Nicolas Bro - Balder (main: season 3)
* Nikolaj Lie Kaas - Filip Naver (main: season 3)
* Lars Mikkelsen - Pontopidan (main: season 3)
* Mikael Persbrandt - Helmer Jr. (main: season 3)
* Tuva Novotny - Anna (main: season 3)
* Ida Engvoll - Kalle (main: season 3)
* Asta August - (guest: season 3)
* Anders Mossling - (guest: season 3)
* David Dencik - Bosse (guest: season 3)
* Alexander Skarsgard - Swedish lawyer (guest: season 3)
* Jens Albinus - Dr. Parok (guest: season 3)
* Danica Curcic - (guest: season 3)
* Charlotte Sieling - (guest: season 3)
Episodes
'Riget'
* Day 1: "Den hvide flok" / "The Unheavenly Host"* Day 2: "Alliancen kalder" / "Thy Kingdom Come"
* Day 3: "Et fremmed legeme" / "A Foreign Body"
* Day 4: "De levende dde" / "The Living Dead"
'Riget II'
* Day 5: "Mors in Tabula" / "Death on the Operation Table"* Day 6: "Trkfuglene" / "Birds of Passage"
* Day 7: "Gargantua"
* Day 8: "Pandmonium"
'Riget Exodus'
* Day 9
* Day 10
* Day 11
* Day 12
* Day 13
Release
Home media
The film is currently available on DVD in Australia and New Zealand on Madman Entertainment's Directors Suite label, in the UK from Second Sight, and in the United States from Koch-Lorber FilmsReception
Critical reception
Film critic Leonard Maltin, who reviewed the two-part theatrical version, awarded it three and a half out of a possible four stars, calling it "a must-see for those who think they've seen everything". In the best-selling book '1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die', the film is called "a medical horror epic", with its supernatural elements described as being both eerie and magical.Awards
* 1995 Bodil Award Best Actor (Ernst-Hugo Jregrd), Best Actress (Kirsten Rolffes), Best Supporting Actor (Holger Juul Hansen), Best Film (Lars Von Trier)* 1995 30th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival the film was nominated for the Crystal Globe and won the Best Director Award (Lars von Trier), and the Best Actor Award (Ernst-Hugo Jregrd)
* 1995 Robert Award Best Actor (Ernst-Hugo Jregrd), Best Actress (Kirsten Rolffes), Best Cinematography (Eric Kress), Best Original Score (Joachim Holbek), Best Screenplay (Lars von Trier, Niels Vrsel), Best Sound (Per Streit)
* 1995 Seattle International Film Festival Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film
* 1996 Adolf Grimme Award Series/Miniseries (Lars von Trier)
* 1996 Golden Cable Bronze Cable for Innovation (Lars von Trier)
Remake
American horror writer Stephen King developed a 13-episode mini-series based on 'Riget', under the title 'Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital', which was broadcast in 2004. The plot retained many of the elements of 'Riget', transferring the location of the hospital to Lewiston, Maine and placing it on the site of a mill built before the Civil War. Many of the characters derived their names from the Danish original (e.g., Sigrid Drusse became Sally Druse and Stig Helmer became Dr. Stegman). A significant difference in the American series was the introduction of a talking giant anteater character in the role of spirit guide/death/Anubis/Antubis.
See also
* List of ghost films
References
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