Kingdom 1 (1994) [Part 1-4]
"Riget 1"
Directed by
Morten Arnfred
Lars von Trier
Writing credits
Tomas Gislason
Niels Vorsel
Lars von Trier
Cast
Ernst-Hugo Jäåegrd ... Helmer
Kirsten Rolffes ... Sigrid Drusse
Holger Juul Hansen ... Moesgaard
Søren Pilmark ... Krogshøj
Ghita Nørby ... Rigmor
Jens Okking ... Bulder
Otto Brandenburg ... Hansen
Annevig Schelde Ebbe ... Mary
Baard Owe ... Bondo
Birgitte Raaberg ... Judith
Peter Mygind ... Mogge
Vita Jensen ... Dishwasher 1
Morten Rotne Leffers ... Dishwasher 2
Solbjrg Høøjfeldt ... Camilla
Udo Kier ... Aage Krüger
Gordon Kennedy ... Laborant
Laura Christensen ... Mona
Nis Bank-Mikkelsen ... Priest
Ole Boisen ... Christian
Lea Risum Børgger ... Mary's Mother
Morten Eisner ... Mechanic
Bente Eskesen ... Night Nurse
Louise Fribo ... Sanne
Peter Gilsfort ... Voice, Dishwasher 2
Svend Ali Hamann ... Haman
Benny Hansen ... Driver on the Radio (voice)
Søøren Hauch-Fausbll ... Auxiliary Nurse
Paul Hüttel ... Dr. Stenbaek
Henning Jensen ... Hospital Manager
Søren Elung Jensen ... Man in Top Hat
Ruth Junker ... Voice, Dishwasher 1
Dick Kays ... Security Manager
Annette Ketcher ... Casualty Nurse
Henrik Koefoed ... CT-Scanner Operator
Soren Lenander ... Young Man
Lars Lune ... Minister of Health
Troels Lyby ... Hook
Mette Marckmann ... Young Nurse
Tove Mas ... Mrs. Zakariasen
Michael Moritzen ... Ear Specialist
Finn Nielsen ... Madsen
Claus Nissen ... Jensen
Gunnvor Nolse ... Charlady
Holger Perfort ... Professor Ulrich
Else Petersen ... Old Lady
Mette Munk Plum ... Mona's Mother
Benny Poulsen ... Senior Registrar
Kurt Ravn ... Zakariasen's Son
Ole Emil Riisager .... Narrator
Lise Schroder ... Nurse 2
Michael Simpson ... Man from Haiti
Soren Steen ... Porter OK
Thomas Stender ... Student
Claus Strandberg ... Hypnotised Patient
Solveig Sundborg ... Miss Kruger
Birte Tove ... Nurse 1
Lene Vedsegrd ... Gynecologist
Helle Virkner ... Mrs. Mogensen
Erik Wederse ... Voice, Aage Kruger
Klaus Wegener ... Doctor in Casualty
Julie Wieth ... Pediatric Nurse
Lars von Trier .... Himself
Produced by
Sven Abrahamsen
Philippe Bober
Peter Aalbk Jensen
Ole Reim
Ib Tardini
Original music by
Joachim Holbek
Cinematography by
Eric Kress
Film Editing by
Molly Marlene Stensgard
Jacob Thuesen
Production Design by
Jette Lehmann
Costume Design by
Bjarne Nilsson
Makeup Department
Birthe Lyngøse ... makeup artist
Kim Olsson .... special makeup effects
Lis Olsson ... makeup artist
Production Management
Bo Lindkuist ... production manager
Sound Department
Peter Hansen ... sound recordist
Benny Jensen ... boom operator
Per Streit ... sound designer
Special Effects
Niels Fly ... special effects
Niels Skovgaard ... special effects
Other crew
Annelise Bailey ... wardrobe supervisor
Katrine Bonfils ... property master
Torben Bækmark ... property master
Henrik Harpelund ... steadicam operator
Jan Iversen ... property master
Per Joergensen ... set constructor
Kaj Larsen ... gaffer
Jens Nissen ... set constructor
Morten Nybo ... electrician
Ole Pedersen ... focus puller
Leif Sylvester ... grip
Erik Thal-Jantzen ... focus puller
Runtime
Denmark:280
Denmark / France / Germany / Sweden
Language
Danish
Color
Sound Mix Dolby
Surround
STORY
Adapted from a twelve-part
television series, Lars von Trier's marathon hospital soap opera-cum-ghost
story is set in a labyrinthine Copenhagen medical institution
known as "The Kingdom". It earned that name when it
was founded before World War I by Denmark's best and brightest,
to accommodate patients from all over the Kingdom of Denmark in
the most modern and advanced conditions. But the high-science
veneer of the institution is beginning to crack. Back in 1919,
the infamous Dr. Krüger, one of the hospital's founders,
murdered his illegitimate young daughter Mary. Decades later it
is only the sick and mentally retarded who hear the dead girl's
cries. Enter Madame Drusse, a patient who dabbles in spiritualism.
She feigns her way into the neurosurgical ward and, together with
a doctor who has also begun to feel Mary's presence, she seeks
now to put the little girl's spirit to rest. Meanwhile... the
staff of the neurosurgical ward...
A stinging blend of satire, horror, and soap romance characterizes
"The Kingdom". Riotously entertainting with an unpredictable
and nourishing narrative, this marathon of a film attracted crowds
of fanatics and followers wherever the series exhibited...
"THE KINGDOM is a
fantastic, surreal tour de force from master director Lars von
Trier (ZENTROPA), who takes us on a bizarre excursion through
a medical institution that is meant to embody the height of reason,
but where nothing reasonable ever happens..."
October Films Interactive
"At least once a
year critics, theater owners, and diehard movie buffs gather at
an undisclosed location, hem and haw about the zeitgeist, balance
out their desires for coherent plots vs. fractured, surreal narratives,
and declare another up-and-coming director -- preferably young
and European -- to be the hot new thing. Thanks to "The Kingdom"
-- a four-and-a-half hour horror miniseries made for Danish TV
-- Lars von Trier is the "It Boy" for 1995."
Bruce Reid, film.com
"Denmark's Lars von
Trier, best known for 1992's surrealistic ``Zentropa,'' made ``The
Kingdom'' for Scandinavian television. Call it a Danish ``Masterpiece
Theatre,'' episodic but with a grand design to satirize the lunacy
of that most smug of sciences, modern medicine. Not nearly as
challenging as ``Zentropa,'' with its knotted-up railroad-as-metaphor
theme about European postwar disintegration, ``The Kingdom'' plays
at times like an otherworldly, darkly entertaining soap opera.
The humor is off- center: Little by little the film opens up views
of the complicated irrationalities of a world supposedly devoted
to the rational. It's horrific, but mostly by suggestion.
PETER STACK, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Critic
REVIEWS
"Kingdom" by Bob Angilly
"There's something very rotten in the State of Denmark!"
by Adrian Martin
