The Kingdom (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
The Kingdom is an eight-episode Danish
television
mini-series, created by Lars von Trier
in 1994, and co-directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred
. It has been edited together into a five-hour movie
for distribution in the United Kingdom
and United States
. It is currently available on DVD in the United States from Koch-Lorber Films
and on Madman Entertainment
's Directors Suite label in Australia and New Zealand.
The series is set in the neurosurgical
ward of Copenhagen's
Rigshospitalet
, the city and country's main hospital
, nicknamed "Riget". "Riget" means "the realm" or "the kingdom" and leads one to think of "dødsriget", the realm of the dead. The show follows a number of characters, both staff and patients, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and 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.
The first quartet of episodes ended with numerous questions unanswered, and in 1997, the cast reassembled to produce another group of four episodes, Riget II (The Kingdom II).
This second series ended with even more questions unanswered than the first, and a third series was planned. However, due to the death in 1998 of Ernst-Hugo Järegård
(who played Stig Helmer) and the subsequent deaths of Kirsten Rolffes
(Mrs Drusse) and Morten Rotne Leffers who played the male dishwasher, the likelihood of a third series is now very remote. Von Trier actually wrote the third and final season, but the production was not picked up by DR
. At that point, five regular cast members had died and it seemed impossible to continue the series. The abandoned scripts were sent to the producers of Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital
, but it is unclear whether they used the scripts or not.
Despite being a mini-series, it appears as one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
.
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, ultimately finding 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 his research. (In fact, he wants it as a trophy, it being the second largest hepatosarcoma ever recorded.) When his request is denied, Bondo has the cancerous liver transplant
ed into his own body (the patient having 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 her baby 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 stands on the roof and screams his famous catchphrase: Danskjävlar (danish scum has been a common translation, but danish bastards would be closer to the context to what he means).
horror
writer Stephen King
developed a thirteen-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, Stig Helmer became Dr. Stegman). A significant difference in the American series was the introduction of the character of a talking giant anteater
in the role of spirit guide/death/Anubis/Antubis.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
mini-series, created by Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
in 1994, and co-directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred
Morten Arnfred
Morten Arnfred is a Danish film director and screenwriter. His 1983 film Der er et yndigt land was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival, where it won an Honourable Mention...
. It has been edited together into a five-hour movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
for distribution in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is currently available on DVD in the United States from Koch-Lorber Films
Koch-Lorber Films
Koch-Lorber Films, launched in February 2003, is an independent film distributor and DVD label based in New York...
and on Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
's Directors Suite label in Australia and New Zealand.
The series is set in the neurosurgical
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
ward of Copenhagen's
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
Rigshospitalet
Rigshospitalet
Rigshospitalet - Copenhagen University Hospital, or simply Riget, is the national hospital of Denmark, located in the capital city of Copenhagen, between the streets of Blegdamsvej, Tagensvej and Nørre Allé...
, the city and country's main hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
, nicknamed "Riget". "Riget" means "the realm" or "the kingdom" and leads one to think of "dødsriget", the realm of the dead. The show follows a number of characters, both staff and patients, as they encounter bizarre phenomena, both human and supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
. The show is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down Syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital.
The first quartet of episodes ended with numerous questions unanswered, and in 1997, the cast reassembled to produce another group of four episodes, Riget II (The Kingdom II).
This second series ended with even more questions unanswered than the first, and a third series was planned. However, due to the death in 1998 of Ernst-Hugo Järegård
Ernst-Hugo Järegård
Ernst-Hugo Alfred Järegård, was a Swedish cult actor.-Biography:...
(who played Stig Helmer) and the subsequent deaths of Kirsten Rolffes
Kirsten Rolffes
Kirsten Rolffes was a Danish actress, internationally mostly recognized for her role in The Kingdom and Matador...
(Mrs Drusse) and Morten Rotne Leffers who played the male dishwasher, the likelihood of a third series is now very remote. Von Trier actually wrote the third and final season, but the production was not picked up by DR
Danmarks Radio
DR – officially rendered into English as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation – is Denmark's national broadcasting corporation. Founded in 1925 as a public-service organization, it is today Denmark's oldest and largest electronic media enterprise...
. At that point, five regular cast members had died and it seemed impossible to continue the series. The abandoned scripts were sent to the producers of Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital
Kingdom Hospital
Kingdom Hospital is a thirteen-episode television miniseries based on Lars von Trier's The Kingdom , which was developed by horror writer Stephen King in 2004 for American television...
, but it is unclear whether they used the scripts or not.
Despite being a mini-series, it appears as one of the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die is a film reference book edited by Steven Jay Schneider with original essays on each film contributed by over 70 film critics...
.
Plot
Rigshospitalet
Rigshospitalet - Copenhagen University Hospital, or simply Riget, is the national hospital of Denmark, located in the capital city of Copenhagen, between the streets of Blegdamsvej, Tagensvej and Nørre Allé...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, 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
Patient
A patient is any recipient of healthcare services. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, veterinarian, or other health care provider....
, Sigrid Drusse, who hears the sound of a girl crying in the elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
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, ultimately finding it preserved in a specimen jar in the office of the hospital's professor of pathology, professor Bondo (Baard Owe
Baard Owe
Baard Owe is a Norwegian-born actor who has acted in many Scandinavian films and TV-series. He moved to Denmark in 1956, where he has lived and worked since.Owe is mostly known for his role as pathologist Dr...
).
Meanwhile, neurosurgeon
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spine, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.-In the United States:In...
Stig Helmer, a recent appointee from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to the neurosurgery department, tries to cover up his responsibility for a botched operation which left a young girl in a persistent vegetative state
Persistent vegetative state
A persistent vegetative state is a disorder of consciousness in which patients with severe brain damage are in a state of partial arousal rather than true awareness. It is a diagnosis of some uncertainty in that it deals with a syndrome. After four weeks in a vegetative state , the patient is...
.
Pathologist
Pathology
Pathology is the precise study and diagnosis of disease. The word pathology is from Ancient Greek , pathos, "feeling, suffering"; and , -logia, "the study of". Pathologization, to pathologize, refers to the process of defining a condition or behavior as pathological, e.g. pathological gambling....
Dr. Bondo attempts to convince the family of a man dying from liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
to donate his liver to the hospital for his research. (In fact, he wants it as a trophy, it being the second largest hepatosarcoma ever recorded.) When his request is denied, Bondo has the cancerous liver transplant
Organ transplant
Organ transplantation is the moving of an organ from one body to another or from a donor site on the patient's own body, for the purpose of replacing the recipient's damaged or absent organ. The emerging field of regenerative medicine is allowing scientists and engineers to create organs to be...
ed into his own body (the patient having signed an organ donor
Organ donation
Organ donation is the donation of biological tissue or an organ of the human body, from a living or dead person to a living recipient in need of a transplantation. Transplantable organs and tissues are removed in a surgical procedure following a determination, based on the donor's medical and...
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 her baby is developing abnormally rapidly. In every episode, two dishwashers (each with Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
) in the cellar discuss the strange happenings at Riget and Stig Helmer stands on the roof and screams his famous catchphrase: Danskjävlar (danish scum has been a common translation, but danish bastards would be closer to the context to what he means).
Cast
- Ernst-Hugo JäregårdErnst-Hugo JäregårdErnst-Hugo Alfred Järegård, was a Swedish cult actor.-Biography:...
- Stig Helmer - Kirsten RolffesKirsten RolffesKirsten Rolffes was a Danish actress, internationally mostly recognized for her role in The Kingdom and Matador...
- Sigrid Drusse - Holger Juul HansenHolger Juul HansenHolger Juul Hansen is a Danish actor.Holger Juul Hansen has starred in a large number of Danish movies and television shows. His most prominent roles was as banker Hans Christian Varnæs, head of one of the two rival families in Matador, and as Doctor Moesgaard in The Kingdom.-References:...
- Moesgaard - Søren PilmarkSøren PilmarkSøren Pilmark is a Danish actor.With Natasja Crone Back, he is notable for hosting the Eurovision Song Contest 2001 in a seemingly endless string of rhyming couplets....
- Krogshøj - Ghita NørbyGhita NørbyGhita Nørby is a popular Danish actress with 117 film credits to her name from 1956-2005, making her one of the most active Danish actresses ever. She was born in Copenhagen, Denmark to opera singer Einar Nørby...
- Rigmor - Baard OweBaard OweBaard Owe is a Norwegian-born actor who has acted in many Scandinavian films and TV-series. He moved to Denmark in 1956, where he has lived and worked since.Owe is mostly known for his role as pathologist Dr...
- Bondo - Annevig Schelde EbbeAnnevig Schelde EbbeAnnevig Sifka Schelde Ebbe is a Danish actress and voice actor from Aarhus, Denmark.She contributes to acting Danish language dubbing. She dubs characters from cartoons, movies, anime, and more. She also played Mary Jensen in the DR 1 canceled mini series The Kingdom. She dubs Stacy Hirano,Vanessa...
- Mary Jensen - Birgitte RaabergBirgitte RaabergBirgitte Raaberg is a Danish actress starring in The Kingdom.-External links:...
- Judith - Udo KierUdo KierUdo Kier is a German actor, known primarily for his work in horror and exploitation movies.-Early life:...
- Åge Krüger / Little Brother - Jens OkkingJens OkkingJens Dyhr Okking, is a Danish actor and politician.Jens Okking is known from Lars von Triers TV-series The Kingdom, and was a member of the European Parliament 1999 - 2003.- Filmography :*Oktoberdage...
- Bulder - Peter MygindPeter MygindPeter Mygind is a Danish actor. Internationally, he is perhaps best known for his parts in the World War II movie Flame & Citron and the TV series Unit One and The Kingdom I and II, the latter directed by Lars von Trier...
- Mogge - Louise FriboLouise FriboLouise Fribo is a Danish singer, actress and dancer.Fribo, who studied the violin from age 4 and was trained as a classical dancer from age 7, made her motion picture debut as Lisa in the 1986 Danish feature film Barndommens gade based on a novel by Tove Ditlevsen and directed by Palme d'Or...
- Sanne Jeppesen - Vita Jensen - Female dishwasher
- Morten Rotne Leffers - Male dishwasher
- Stellan SkarsgårdStellan SkarsgårdStellan John Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,...
- The Swedish lawyer
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 døde" / "The Living Dead"
Riget II
- Day 5: "Mors in Tabula" / "Death on the Operation Table"
- Day 6: "Trækfuglene" / "Birds of Passage"
- Day 7: "Gargantua"
- Day 8: "Pandæmonium"
Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital
AmericanUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
writer Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
developed a thirteen-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
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
, and placing it on the site of a mill built before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Many of the characters derived their names from the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
original (e.g. Sigrid Drusse became Sally Druse, Stig Helmer became Dr. Stegman). A significant difference in the American series was the introduction of the character of a talking giant anteater
Giant Anteater
The Giant Anteater, Myrmecophaga tridactyla, is the largest species of anteater. It is the only species in the genus Myrmecophaga. It is found in Central and South America from Honduras to northern Argentina...
in the role of spirit guide/death/Anubis/Antubis.