Morten Arnfred and Lars von Trier's second chapter in the ongoing Danish television series The Kingdom chronicles the further misadventures of the staff and patients of an ultramodern Copenhagen hospital located atop an ancient, haunted swamp. The film opens with Judith (Birgitte Raaberg) giving birth to her mutant child (Udo Kier). Dr. Stig Helmer (Ernst-Hugo Järegård) is coming under heavy scrutiny for a botched operation that left a patient brain dead, and beginning to dabble in the dark arts in order to ward off those seeking an end to his career. Hypochondriac Mrs. Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes) finally does have something bad happen to her medically when an ambulance hits her. This is supposedly the second of a planned three-part story. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Review
All hell literally begins to break loose in The Kingdom II, the second absorbing installment of Lars von Trier's acclaimed Danish TV miniseries. Though The Kingdom II doesn't have quite the same evocatively foreboding atmosphere of The Kingdom (1994), von Trier picks up the pace, weaving together twice as many story lines and increasing the presence of previously minor characters. Everyone is nuttier, including Ernst-Hugo Jaregard's pompous Dr. Helmer, and the central conflict between mysticism and science is more melodramatic, comical, and grotesque; von Trier almost out-Lynches David Lynch with a giant baby akin to the mutant in Eraserhead (1978). The handheld camera still glides and skips through the sepia-toned hospital like the spirits that dog Mrs. Drusse, while a green, iris-like filter now creepily suggests the nearness of the ultimate demon. Upping the spiritual stakes, The Kingdom II ends with a cliffhanger pointing to a decisive Christmas Day showdown between Good and Evil, even though, as the director puckishly informs the audience, the two must always coexist. With The Kingdom II as well received as its predecessor, von Trier was set to shoot the final chapter in 1998, but Jaregard's death that same year left the project, and the fictional hospital, in limbo. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Jette Lehmann - Art Director, Hans Christian Lindholm - Art Director, Peter Aalbæk Jensen - Associate Producer, Marianne Slot - Associate Producer, Annelise Bailey - Costume Designer, Lars von Trier - Director, Morten Arnfred - Director, Pernille Bech Christensen - Editor, Molly Malene Stensgaard - Editor, Bo Lindquist - Line Producer, Joachim Holbek - Composer (Music Score), Eric Kress - Cinematographer, Svend Abrahamsen - Producer, Vibeke Windeløv - Producer, Hans Møller - Set Designer, Lars Kolding Andersen - Special Effects, Annette Rolfshoj - Special Effects, Peter Christian Hansen - Sound/Sound Designer, Lars von Trier - Screenwriter, Niels Vørsel - Screenwriter
