THE KINGDOM (RIGET)
A film review by Peer Wandel Hansen
Copyright 1994 Peer Wandel Hansen
Rating (0 to 10): 8.2
Date Released: 12/15/94
Running Length: 4:30
Starring: Kirsten Rolffe, Ernst Hugo Jaeregaard, Soeren Pilmark,
Ghita Noerby, Solbjoerg Hoejfeldt, Jens Okking,
Holger Juul Hansen, Birgitte Raabjerg and more ..
Director: Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred
Story: Niels Voersel and Lars von Trier
Cinematography: Eric Kress
Music: Joachim Holbek
Released by: Danmarks Radio and Zentropa film
The story is situated in the Danish National Hospital (Rigshospitalet) a.k.a. The Kingdom (Riget). The site was originally a bleach pond where clothes were damped and laid out in the sun to bleach, causing the moor to be constantly shrouded in fog. Now the Hospital is located were the pond used to be, with all its doctors, scientists and technology, defining life so superstition never again will shake believe in science. But perhaps this arrogance and the consistent denial of the spiritual has been too much. The cold and moisture have returned and the solid and fashionable building has begun to show signs of fatigue. The gate to the Kingdom has begun to reopen.
This is how the new thriller from Lars von Trier opens. Originally THE KINGDOM was a television series in four parts, but simultaneously it has now been released as a movie. One of the main characters is mrs. Drusse, a professional patient and clairvoyant, who hears the cry of a little girl ghost in the corridors of the Hospital. Her task is to reveal the plot of the film. Whenever she is discharged, she invents a new disease to be hospitalized so she can explore the mystery. Her contrast is Dr. Helmer, chief surgeon and a stupid bastard who eventually ends up worshipping the occult area, as the Zombie culture is normally regarded. This is one of the characteristics in Lars' movies: to blend scientific research and metaphysics, science and superstition, the exact and the occult.
The inspiration from "Twin Peaks" is turned from fire into water steaming from the broken pipes in the basement parking lot. The strength in this story is the small anecdotes--for example, the medical student who can't stand the sight of blood, but spend the time on duty in the sleep-laboratory by watching a horrible bloody movie on VCR. There are many references to other pictures, Ridley Scott having provided material to some of the spiritualistic scenes.
Eventually the story reaches its climax in the end where the Minister of Health visits the hospital and all the spirits are led loose. The series reached almost cult status in Denmark: while it was running in December, the streets were almost empty when a new episode was shown. Everywhere people were discussing the latest development in the series, more often than to debate the weather. It will be exiting to see the promised sequel, and how the rest of the world will welcome this black-humoured thriller.
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