The Kingdom

TV Miniseries, 8 episodes

Second Sight

R2

Danish with English subtitles

In this dark film Lars von Trier examines the battle between science and superstition. The Kingdom is the Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen in Denmark. The name is abbreviated to Riget which can also mean “the realm” or “the Kingdom”. It is old and decaying and gradually seems to be slipping into the prehistoric swamp on which it was built. The doctors represent the voice of reason and science, but the Kingdom has more than a fair touch of the occult. The hospital has gathered a number of mysteries.

There is the old-style ambulance that comes in every night but never has a driver or patient. Nobody can see inside – it is filled with a very bright light.

The hospital is haunted by the ghost of a little girl, Mary, who died mysteriously in the hospital in 1919. Her body disappeared but her ghost is seen from time to time, usually by those who are psychically sensitive or semiconscious. Her body was never buried, but was marked “for internal use”. “Why must I be killed?” - Mary’s tragic story unfolds during the series.

Mrs Drusse, a regular headstrong “patient” who has some psychic ability, is a permanent malingerer. She gets herself admitted to hospital by falsifying her symptoms, something she is good at. She is also good at comforting the dying, so the ward staff tolerate her. She has seen Mary’s ghost and is trying to find out Mary’s history. Her son is a porter in the hospital and she bullies him ruthlessly to get her way with access to parts of the building. As she investigates the hospital for spirits she senses something is wrong with the building. She will be critically important in coming events.

“The Lodge” is a group of doctors who will protect and help their own to the point of breaching medical ethics. Their aim is to fight all non-scientific substitutes for science and medicine like herbalism, chiropractic and all forms of “alternative medicine”. Only medical science should remain. In spite of this belief they indulge in silly childish rituals which look to be occult in themselves. The Lodge refuses to acknowledge some of the strange events that are occurring.

Two young people with Downs Syndrome work in the washing-up room of the kitchen. They seem to know exactly what’s going on in peoples’ minds. They know of little Mary and her ghost and they know of Mrs Drusse’s attempts to contact her. They know of every involvement of every member of staff and the boy seems to sense that something nasty is about to happen. He may seem retarded but he is profoundly sensitive to the hospital’s goings-on. His conversations with the girl, while not too relevant to the plot, summarise what has been happening and prepare us for what is coming.

The other staff have their own shortcomings.

The Administrator, Moesgaard, is an incompetent man who begins to lose his grip on reality when the hospital is investigated. He is a typical manager rather than a doctor. Instead of concentrating on improving the efficiency of the hospital he spends his time and effort on window dressing to impress the Minister, such as his “Operation Morning Breeze”, a plan to improve the environment of the hospital for patients. So far the only practical signs of this Operation are the printing of a lot of stickers and moving some of the kids’ paintings from the children’s ward into the hospital corridors. He still affects a white coat, though. He spends most of his time covering up his own incompetence and protecting his friend Helmer but his efforts are no longer enough to cover up the inefficiencies of the hospital. There are moments of light comedy when the new Administrator finds out some of the things that have been going on.

Helmer, head doctor of Neurosurgery, is a rude, vicious and incompetent man. He is Swedish and hates Denmark and the Danes. He had to leave Sweden when he was accused of stealing the work of a colleague and publishing it as his own. The Kingdom is his last chance. He is now up to his old tricks again but uses his rank and the Lodge to defend himself. He is under suspicion for incompetence in an operation that left a girl brain-damaged. The Lodge will help defend him, but he has already managed to get rid of the incriminating reports from Archives. This has led Denmark’s Chief Medical Officer to open a hearing into his behaviour and Moesgaard’s administration. Helmer is the de facto administrator of the hospital’s neurological staff in the absence of a competent administrator.

Dr Hook is a Registrar (junior doctor) and a victim of Helmer’s regular jibes and rudeness. Hook is living unofficially in a small storage room in the network of tunnels and corridors that forms the Kingdom’s lowest levels. From there he “fixes” things for the staff when not on medical duty. He has a wide group of friends and useful obligations built up from the people he helps. The hospital seems to be built on waste and inefficient use of resources so through his network of contacts he can get the right equipment to the right people. He has managed to get the last copy of the anaesthetist’s report on Helmer’s botched operation and is therefore a target for Helmer’s increasing fury. Hook is also keeping a list of the hospital’s other faulty operations. Horrifyingly, there seem to be quite a lot.

There are other eyes watching the Kingdom, too. They are not friendly. As the story changes from human drama and hospital politics towards grim horror the evil in the Kingdom increases, leading to murder, demon invasion and devil worship. In a hospital dedicated to science and medicine, superstition may be taking overt. Mrs Drusse is finding this out.

There are many intertwined plots, both human and occult. All seem doomed to disaster.

The DVD set encompasses the two series produced so far, but many questions have been left unanswered. Von Trier wrote a third series but since two of the main actors have now died it seems unlikely that it will be made, unfortunately. Steven King produced Kingdom Hospital based on the series, suitably Americanised of course. The story doesn’t quite make it into the realms of conventional horror, rather it maintains a constant and mysterious creepy feel that is a good alternative to the splatter we could usually expect. It is the build-up of this feeling that gives the series its impact.

It is not a superficial series. You must follow the plots carefully or be left behind as they develop. It is well worth the effort.

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