Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Andreas Gustavsson One thing first folks, I've seen loads and I mean loads of horror movies, sci-fi movies, thrillers, mystical movies and so forth. Beginning with Hitchcock's Psycho from the 60's to the Thai-movie Shutter (2004) - and everything between. Everything. I am ashamed that I haven't discovered Riget until now... I've never missed anything, especially not what people call "cult movies". After having seen Riget/The Kingdom 1 and 2 - I'm totally blown away. It began after I saw Kingdom Hospital (Stephen King's adaptation), which I really couldn't "accept" although it's a good series compared to much crap shown on TV today. Being a hard core Stephen King fan I have BIG standards when it comes to the movies that are are adaptations of his great books! Back to Riget/The Kingdom now: This is some sick, dark, humorous, twisted and brilliant s*it! In an absolutely positive way! Never before have I rated a series (only books) with a 10 point grade, I gave the Swedish movie 'Låt Den Rätte Komma In' (American version: Let the Right one In) 9 points - but Riget is something extra alright. Generally I don't like Danes... "Danskjävlar!!!", as Dr. Helmer puts it.. but this is a marvelous piece of art. If you haven't seen it, shame on you! If you don't want to see it, well... keep on watching low calorie movies and series such as Buffy, OK? ;)

paul2001sw-1 Lars von Trier now has an international reputation for making intentionally teasing, one might almost say perverse, movies. But before any of his features films, he made 'The Kingdom', a hospital drama-cum-ghost story for Danish television. With it's cast of uniquely monstrous (but brilliantly original) doctors and patients, the programme hardly needs its supernatural element; but von Trier blends the two with considerable panache, drawing a dark, but hysterically funny, portrait of the hospital (quite literally) from hell. Vetern Swedish thespian Ernst Hugo Jaregard is brilliant in the leading role as a misanthropic doctor; he steals every scene he's in (apparently, in some cases, to von Trier's chagrin); but the whole piece is immaculately constructed. The claustrophobic, but superficially realistic, setting provide some boundaries to contain the drama that aren't always there in von Trier's movies. It's perhaps his most accessible work; but rest assured, it's scarcely a conventional one.

ozjeppe Now-classic, absolutely phenomenal Danish/Swedish mini-series welds together outrageously hilarious satire, medical ethics and a truly spine-tingling (and heartbreaking) paranormal/ghost story - all inside the corridors of the Copenhagen Kingdom Hospital. This is my favorite Lars Von Trier (on par with "Breaking the waves"); you won't know "unique" until you see this! Hysterical pacing, full of unforgettable characters and scenes... and it's grainy, brownish look and feel is completely its own - and that ominous soundtrack still haunts me... For a swede like me, the Nordic countries' tongue-in-cheek rival connotations are even greater. Love the director's personal in-between episode narrations!9 out of 10 from Ozjeppe.

Graham Greene At the time of seeing the first series of The Kingdom (1994), and then later the second series (1997), the only films of Lars von Trier that I was familiar with were Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). Certainly, I would rate both of these particular films incredibly well; however, after having seen some of von Trier's other films - such as his earlier, self-referential masterworks The Element of Crime (1984) and Europa (1991), and his more confrontational films The Idiots (1997) and Dogville (2003) - I can begin to better appreciate the context of which The Kingdom fits into his career as a whole.Really, The Kingdom is a transitional work between the visually elaborate and enigmatic films that made up the bulk of his work from 1983-1991, and the second, more celebrated phase of his career that saw the drafting of the Dogme 95 manifesto and the more minimal, forward thinking films of the last ten years. On the one hand, The Kingdom shows the early influence of Dogme with the use of hand-held cinematography and multi-camera cross-cutting, as well as the use of actual locations and the more naturalistic elements of the performances. Nevertheless, at the same time it brings to mind ideas familiar from The Element of Crime and the earlier self-reflexive, meta-textual horror/satire of Epidemic (1988), with the references to ghosts, death and an all encompassing, age-old evil. However, unlike any of his work for cinema - which often has a broader intent and more rigid sense of experimentation - The Kingdom is meant, first and foremost, as a work of pure entertainment. There's none of the more obvious sense of cinematic experimentation, polemic or emotional manipulation used so skilfully in his feature-length work, with the story instead relying on great characters, moments of absurd or entirely deadpan humour, and a continual sense of mystery and suspense.The Kingdom II picks up where the first series left off, and yes, it is vital that you see the first series before embarking on the second or you'll have no idea what is going on! Basically, it's more of the same, albeit it, much funnier than the first and with more violence. The ghosts - as you should remember from the first series - are now free to take a greater precedence over the plot, as Mrs Drusse fights her own illness, teetering on the brink of life and death but still trying to discover the secrets of the hospital. Elsewhere, von Trier regular, the late Ernst-Hugo Järegård, returns as the malevolent Dr Helmer, who becomes even more of a central figure to the proceedings as Dr. Moesgaard is forced into therapy. The real treasure of the cast however is Udo Kier, who not only returns as the evil Aage Krüger, but also as Little Brother, Judith's deformed baby, and spiritual brother to the tormented Mary Jenson.Because at least three of the principal actors have died since the completion of the second series, the question is; will there ever be an end? The last episode ends, much like the final episode to the first series, with a cliff-hanger. Lars' intention was that there would be a third series, making the Kingdom an effective trilogy. However, the plan has no doubt been scrapped given the loss of lead performers. Although neither instalment of the series offers any kind of ultimate closure, they still offer a great deal of entertainment; with the bold and atmospheric direction of von Trier and his assistant Morten Arnfred creating tension, terror and an eerie atmosphere that complements the dark aspects of the series perfectly.