Dimension (2010 film)

 

Directed by Lars von Trier and written by von Trier and Niels Vorsel, Dimension is an unfinished gangster film made from 1991 to 1997 that was an experimental project that was to consist of four-minute segments that was to be shot in a period of 33 years. It is a project that explores von Trier’s desire to experiment with a group of actors on something that was to be unique but never to be due to the deaths of a few actors as the result is a 27-minute short of what could’ve been. Starring Jean-Marc Barr, Stellan Skarsgard, Udo Kier, Katrin Cartlidge, Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Baard Owe, Birgitte Raaberg, Jens Okking, and Eddie Constantine. Dimension, in its unfinished form, is a fascinating and inventive experimental short film by Lars von Trier.

The film follows events in what was meant to be the course of 33 years as it followed the many journeys of various people in the world of crime. It starts with a man (Eddie Constantine) who arrives via helicopter to make a delivery to two gangsters (Jean-Marc Barr and Udo Kier) as he would then sell his horse one year later to a Swedish businessman (Ernst-Hugo Jaregard) where things later get problematic following that man’s death. Even as the two gangsters go on the run as they hide at the home of one of the gangsters’ uncle (Jens Okking) who lets them in but with a catch as they’re later hunted by a hitman (Baard Owe) forcing the two gangsters to go to a woman (Katrin Cartlidge) for information. She would later reluctantly help the hitman and another gangster (Stellan Skarsgard) to retrieve a parcel only for things to go wrong as usual. It all play into the schematics of what is expected in gangster films but also with an absurd sense of humor.

Lars von Trier’s direction is stylish as it is set on various locations in Sweden, the South of France, and Denmark as it starts off in a straightforward yet stylish manner though it is largely presented in a raw form that had been cultivated by Hanne Palmquist. Throughout the course of the film, von Trier’s style went from being somewhat technical in its compositions with straightforward static shots in the wide and medium shots for the locations while becoming looser in the close-ups as they’re shot on hand-held camera. Notably in the scenes involving the two gangsters and one of their uncles as they go grocery shopping as they have to buy him a feast in exchange for temporarily staying with them. Even in the scenes with Katrin Cartlidge’s character as it is shot mainly in the winter as she is jogging where the usage of hand-held cameras become evident including in her scene meeting with the Swedish businessman. The fact that it’s only 27-minutes long showcase an idea that had a lot of potential but given the fact that two of the three actors died during its production with Cartlidge dying in 2002 forced von Trier to shelve it five years after he had stopped film to pursue other projects.

The film’s ensemble cast features a cameo appearance from Birgitte Raaberg as a jogger who passes by the two gangsters and the woman during a jog as well as Baard Owe as the hitman who is pursing the gangsters and the parcel. Stellan Skarsgard is superb as another gangster working with the hitman while Katrin Cartlidge is excellent as a woman who knew the two gangsters from the film earlier in whom she is reluctant to give them information. Jens Okking is fantastic as an uncle of one of the two gangsters who gives them a place to crash on the condition they buy him a feast while Ernst-Hugo Jaregard is brilliant as a Swedish businessman buying a horse. Jean-Marc Barr and Udo Kier are amazing as the two gangsters who go out in hiding following some bad decisions as they deal with the chaos of a deal they made a long time ago. Finally, there’s Eddie Constantine in one of his final film performances film just before his death as a man who delivers the gangsters a parcel and later becoming this ailing man who sells his best horse to the Swedish businessman.

Dimension is an excellent project from Lars von Trier in its unfinished form. While it showcases an idea that is unique and imaginative. The fact that it is left unfinished due to the deaths of Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Eddie Constantine, and Katrin Cartlidge does showcase the potential that von Trier had for a unique gangster film. In the end, Dimension is a superb yet unfinished film from Lars von Trier.

Lars von Trier Films: The Element of Crime - Epidemic - Medea - Europa - The Kingdom I - Breaking the Waves - The Kingdom II - Dogme #2: Idioterne - Dancer in the Dark - Dogville - The Five Obstructions - Manderlay - The Boss of It All - Antichrist - Melancholia - Nymphomaniac - The House That Jack Built - The Kingdom: Exodus - (Etudes)

Related: Favorite Films #3: Breaking the Waves - The Auteurs #7: Lars von Trier

© thevoid99 2023

Gertrud

Based on the play by Hjalmar Soderberg, Gertrud is the story of an opera singer who goes on a journey to find love and fulfillment through a series of lovers following a breakdown in her marriage. Written for the screen and directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, the film is a study of a woman trying to find herself in a very personal journey through the men who play major roles in her life. Starring Nina Pens Rode, Bendt Rothe, Ebbe Rode, Baard Owe, and Axel Strobye. Gertrud is a haunting yet mesmerizing film from Carl Theodor Dreyer.

Set in late 19th Century Denmark, the film follows the life of an opera singer who decides to leave her husband for her lover but complications begin to ensue. Especially as it leaves the titular character (Nina Pens Rode) into a personal journey where she would encounter former lovers as it play into a sense of torment and uncertainty about where she’s going. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s script is largely driven by dialogue as there’s not many scenes that occur as it’s more about what Gertrud wants but also what she had in her life. Through the meetings she would have with her husband Gustav (Bendt Rothe), her current lover in pianist Erland Jansson (Baard Owe), a former lover in poet Gabriel Lidman (Ebbe Rode), and a longtime friend in Axel (Axel Strobye). Gertrud copes with the decisions she is making but also ponders the life she leads now and her hopes for a change.

Dreyer’s direction is very entrancing for not just its minimalist approach to the filmmaking but also wanting to not rely too much on style. Featuring less than 90 shots, Dreyer’s emphasis on wide and medium shots rather than close-ups add a lot to what he wanted to tell visually but also in having the drama be told very slowly. Especially where Dreyer would have the actors recite long monologues and dialogue with one another for several minutes that includes one notably scene that lasts nearly 10 minutes in a single take. The camera would move for a few tracking shots and pans but it is mostly about the conversations that are taking place between Gertrud and whoever she is meeting with. Even as the film becomes much crueler in what Gertrud would encounter as Dreyer showcases a world that she has trapped herself in and what she needs to do to escape. Overall, Dreyer creates a compelling yet evocative film about a woman’s personal journey to find herself.

Cinematographers Henning Bendtsen and Arne Abrahamsen do brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white cinematography to play into some of the gorgeous scenery in the few exterior scenes along with intricate lighting for the interiors as well as some heightened lights for the flashback scenes. Editor Edith Schlussel does nice work with the editing as it is very straightforward with a few fade-outs as transitional cuts along with a few rhythmic cuts for dramatic purposes. Production designer Kai Rasch does excellent work with the look of the home that Gertrud shared with her husband as well as the dining hall sequence where she, Gustav, and several friends celebrate Lidman‘s work. The sound work of Knud Kristensen is superb for its minimalist and sparse approach as it is more about natural elements in the dialogue and objects rather than create a mood for a scene. The film’s music by Jorgen Jersild is wonderful for its string orchestral-based score to play into the drama and some of the melancholic moments in the film while the songs/poems by Grethe Risbjerg Thomsen provide some of the material that Gertrud sings as an opera singer.

The film’s amazing cast features notable small roles from Vera Gerbhur as Gustav/Gertrud’s housekeeper, Lars Knutzon as a student paying tribute to Lidman, and Anna Malberb as Gustav’s mother who appears early in the film unaware of what is happening with her son’s marriage to Gertrud. Axel Strobye is fantastic as longtime family friend Axel who attends Lidman’s tribute dinner as he is concerned for Gertrud’s health at the dinner. Baard Owe is superb as Gertrud’s current over Erland Jansson as this concert pianist who is eager to have a life with her only for things about him are unveiled that would change things.

Ebbe Rode is excellent as the poet Gabriel Lidman who still carries a torch for Gertrud as he wonders why she left him as well as offering a chance to return to him. Bendt Rothe is brilliant as Gertrud’s husband Gustav as a politician that is given the chance for a big position as he still needs Gertrud’s support as he is aware why she’s leaving him but also wants her to stay with him. Finally, there’s Nina Pens Rode in an incredible performance as the titular character as this opera singer seeking a new life away from her husband as she then copes with the realities of her surroundings and the consequences of the decisions she’s made as it’s a performance filled with anguish and torment as well as being told with such restraint as it’s just astonishing to watch.

Gertrud is a phenomenal film from Carl Theodor Dreyer that features a sensational performance from Nina Pens Rode. It’s a film that isn’t just this rapturous study of a woman trying to find herself but also a film that explores a woman’s anguish over the men she’s been with for much of her life. Especially as it’s told in this very intoxicating visual style by Dreyer that is the antithesis for much of today’s conventional approach to cinema. In the end, Gertrud is a remarkable film from Carl Theodor Dreyer.

Carl Theodor Dreyer Films: (The President) - (The Parson’s Widow) - Leaves from Satan's Book - (Love One Another) - (Once Upon a Time) - (Michael (1924 film)) - Master of the House - (Bride of Glomdal) -The Passion of Joan of Arc - Vampyr - (Two People) - Day of Wrath - Ordet

© thevoid99 2016

Medea (1988 TV film)

Based on the Greek tragedy written by Euripides, Medea is the story of a woman who seeks revenge on her husband following a betrayal. The 1988 TV film version is directed by Lars von Trier with an unreleased screenplay written by legendary Danish filmmaker Carl Theodor Dryer and Preben Thomsen. With additional work by von Trier, the TV movie would explore some of the themes of women and the sacrifices they’ve made that von Trier would delve into for his work in the late 1990s. Starring Kirsten Olesen, Udo Kier, Henning Jensen, Baard Owe, Solbjord Hofeldt, Preben Leidorrf Rve, and Ludmilla Glinska. Medea is a visually-arresting yet chilling TV film from Lars von Trier.

After being betrayed by her husband Jason (Udo Kier) following the Golden Fleece adventures as he is to be rewarded by King Creon (Henning Jensen) who gives Jason his daughter Glauce (Ludmilla Glinska). Medea (Kirsten Olesen) vows revenge for Jason’s betrayal as Creon and, later on, Jason each plea for Medea to make a case for her upcoming exile from the land. However, Medea has plans of her own as she gains refuge from oracle leader Aegeus (Baard Owe) in return to help him with wanting a child for himself and his wife. Before she goes to Athens with Aegeus, she would meet Jason one final time to make way for her revenge on him.

The TV film based on Euripides’ play is essentially a tale of revenge where a scorned woman makes a plan to seek revenge on her husband who betrayed her for power, wealth, and a younger woman. In turn, she decides to make a plan for him to suffer in the same way she has suffered in his betrayal but in the most extreme way. The script by Carl Theodor Dreyer and Preben Thomsen, with additional work by Lars von Trier, has a very theatrical feel to its dialogue and scene placements. Still, it’s all about this woman’s desire for revenge as she would do things to make her husband suffer where she would also sacrifice something to ensure that suffering. There’s not much plot to the script although there are some well-rounded characters. It all revolves around Medea and her own plans for vengeance.

While Lars von Trier’s direction has a great degree of visual style where some of it owes to the work of Dreyer. Some of the visual trick he uses such as gazing images of nature is definitely inspired by the works of Andrei Tarkovsky. While the film opens with text where von Trier claims he’s not trying to make a Dreyer film. Some of what von Trier is claiming is sort of true as he employs some hand-held work into some of the intimate moments and medium shots in the film. The landscape shots have this wide depth of field where it includes some aerial work involved. One of the key elements of style von Trier uses in the film are superimposed images to create this very surreal world that the characters live in as it works to maintain that sense of fantasy. Overall, von Trier has created a truly dazzling TV film that is provocative but also captivating.

Cinematographer Sejr Brockmann does an excellent job with the film‘s grainy yet monochrome cinematography that gives the TV film a very entrancing look with some dreary settings for the swamp scene where Croen tries to talk to Medea. Editor Finnur Sveinsson does a nice job with the editing that is quite stylized with its use of jump-cuts and fade-outs while maintaining a leisured pace for the TV film. Costume designer Annelise Bailey does a very good job with the period costumes made such as Medea‘s black dress to the more free-flowing dress of Glauce.

The special effects by Soren Buus does an extraordinary job with the visual effects created to add a surrealism to the fantasy sequences that occur between Medea and Jason. Sound editor Thomas Krag does a terrific job with the sound work to emphasize the chilling atmosphere of the exteriors to the hollow sounds of the castle Creon lives in. The music of Joachim Holbek is truly haunting from its brooding orchestral pieces to more ominous electronic touches to play up the dramatic portions of the TV film.

The cast for the TV film is wonderful as it features appearances from Solbjorg Hojfeldt as Medea’s nurse, Preben Lerdorff Rye as the king’s right-hand man Pedagog, and in the role of Medea and Jason’s son, Jonny and Richard Kilde. Notable supporting roles including Henning Jensen as the powerful King Creon, Baard Owe as rival king Aegeus, and Ludmilla Glinska as the innocent yet beautiful Glauce (whose voice is dubbed by Mette Munk Plum). Udo Kier is excellent as the ambitious Jason who betrays Medea for power as Kier brings a chilling approach to his performance though his voice is dubbed by another actor in Dick Kayso. Finally, there’s Kirsten Olesen in the titular character as Olesen brings a very dark yet cunning approach to the character that feels wrong as there’s also an entrancing sense of anguish over what she plans to do as it’s a very mesmerizing role from Olesen.

Medea is a dark yet very hypnotic film from Lars von Trier that features a script from the late Carl Theodor Dreyer. While the film is among one of von Trier’s weakest works of his career, it is still an interesting one in where he would get some of the visual ideas for his next film Europa and the themes he would explore in the late 90s-2000 Golden Hearts trilogy. In the end, Medea is a stellar yet ominous TV film from Lars von Trier.

Lars von Trier Films: The Element of Crime - Epidemic - Europa - The Kingdom I - Breaking the Waves - The Kingdom II - Dogme #2-Idioterne - Dancer in the Dark - Dogville - The Five Obstructions - Manderlay - The Boss of It All - Antichrist - Dimension (2010 short) - Melancholia - Nymphomaniac - The House That Jack Built - The Kingdom: Exodus - (Etudes)

Related: The Auteurs #7: Lars von Trier

© thevoid99 2012

The Kingdom II (TV Miniseries)

Riget II (The Kingdom II) is the sequel to the 1994 TV mini-series created by Lars von Trier about a Danish hospital being haunted by strange happenings involving the supernatural. For its second part that is directed by von Trier and Morten Arnfred with scripts written by von Trier and Niels Vorsel. The sequel has many of the mini-series previous characters returning as it involves more supernatural mysteries involving a baby born in a man’s body, voodoo, and all sorts of bad things. Starring Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Kirsten Rolffes, Holger Juul Hansen, Soren Pilmark, Ghita Norby, Baard Owe, Birgitte Raaberg, Henning Jensen, Erik Wedersoe, John Hahn-Petersen, Birthe Neuman, and von Trier regular Udo Kier along with an appearance from another von Trier regular in Stellan Skarsgard. Riget II is an even crazier and stranger mini-series than its predecessor.

Episode 5: Death on the Operation Table

After being hit by an ambulance, Mrs. Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes) returns to the hospital as she realizes that more spirits need her help as Bulder (Jens Okking) and Hansen (Otto Brandenberg) help her out. Returning from Haiti, Dr. Helmer (Ernst-Hugo Jaregard) conspires to poison Hook (Soren Pilmark) as he is asked by Moesgaard (Holger Juul Hansen) to manage things at the hospital. Moesgaard tries to deal with the country’s health director Bob (Henning Jensen) and his assistant Nievesen (John Hahn-Petersen) over funding forcing him to seek help from the hospital‘s rogue shrink Ole (Erik Wedersoe). Hook looks after Judith (Birgitte Raaberg) as he convinces her to see her new mutated baby (Udo Kier).

Episode 6: Birds of Passage

After her near-death experience, Mrs. Drusse realizes her mission to save the lost souls in the hospital is bigger than ever under the watchful eye of an evil presence. Meanwhile, Helmer gains an electric car while dealing with detectives about Mona (Laura Christensen). With Mogge (Peter Mykind) becoming Helmer’s assistant, he also tries to help his friend Christian (Ole Boisen) to woo Sanne (Louise Fribo). Moesgaard tries to deal with Ole’s unconventional tactics along with the presence of Bob who continues to meddle in the activities of the lodge. With Bulder helping out his mother to get a psychic surgeon named Philip Marco (Fash Shodeinde) who would have an encounter with the recovering Bondo (Baard Owe). Things get stranger as Helmer tries to find Hook’s body while Mrs. Drusse holds a seminar for the spirits asking what they want.

Episode 7: Gargantua

After being shot by Rigmor (Ghita Norby), Helmer’s plan for Hook is changed when Hook has returned from the dead seeking vengeance on Helmer. Judith and her baby receives a strange visit from Aage Krger (Udo Kier) as Mrs. Drusse realizes that he is here and was the man who flew away the spirits. Helping out Moesgaard and the elders of the lodge, Nievesen tries to make sure things go right for Bob’s inspection while Helmer meets a lawyer (Stellan Skarsgard) about Mona’s case as they share their disdain towards the Danes. Christian continues to pursue Sanne while Mogge becomes overwhelmed by his relationship with Camilla (Solbjorg Hojfeldt). After realizing what is lurking inside the hospital, Mrs. Drusse makes a plan to uncover the secret while Helmer finds himself in big trouble as evil starts to emerge into the hospital.

Episode 8: Pandemonium

Following a plane crash that nearly killed them, Mrs. Drusse and Bulder go further into the hospital where they find a much darker secret involving Satanic rituals. After going through a series of humiliating ordeals involving the lodge, Rigmor, Mona, Mogge‘s examination test, a server, and losing his beloved car, Helmer goes on the offensive. Bondo’s ailment starts to get to him as members of the lodge desperately try to find a donor where the candidate is the most unlikely person in the hospital. Christian decides to make a move to prove to everyone he’s not a bore while Moesgaard has an epiphany through Ole’s treatment. All of this leads to a collision where Mrs. Drusse tries to uncover who is one of the dark souls in the hospital as all hell breaks loose.

In the sequel to Riget, things become even stranger and looser as the story revolves more about Mrs. Drusse’s attempt to save the spirits around her in the hospital while dealing with the big evil lurking inside. Meanwhile, Helmer returns to Haiti to try and poison Hook only to counter more trouble as detectives are after him about his botched surgery on Mona along with all sorts of trouble. Hook gets poisoned as he decides to go after that is wrong while Judith tries to take care of her deformed, mutant baby. All of this is told once again by the two Down syndrome dishwashers (Morten Rotne Leffers and Vita Jensen) who know that something is up or something is going to happen.

The script by Lars von Trier and Niels Vorsel is much looser than its predecessor as the structure is more disjointed where there is a way each episode in the first mini-series had. In the second part, the early meetings don’t happen quite often early on as Helmer no longer has his car while Moesgaard is dealing with various issues. Though each episode does have Helmer saying “Danish scum” towards the end onto a toilet. Things definitely get much weirder and confusing as it all builds up to this climatic suspense over what is watching the Kingdom hospital. Since there was supposed to be a follow-up for this second part of Riget, unfortunate circumstances, due to the death of a few key actors, leaves the series with an ending that leaves everything in a cliffhanger with more questions than answers.

The direction of Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred is much looser in terms of its presentation as well as more ambitious ideas. Among them is the design of Judith’s baby as well as the use of more set pieces beneath the realm that is the Kingdom. With the camera work much looser and jarring for its presentation where the framing becomes more off-kilter as the camera is often moving around or staying still in a very tilted approach. The visual style remains the same but there is this very green, night-vision look to it that emphasize that something evil is lurking around. The humor is definitely more off the wall as it even lean towards darker territory which includes various orderlies and medical students betting on a crazed ambulance race that happens every night. The overall work that von Trier and Arnfred does is more entrancing as well as being more unconventional in creating a sequel that is just as good as its predecessor.

Cinematographer Eric Kress does a fantastic job with the mini-series‘ grainy yet sepia-drenched 16mm cinematography to play up more of its visual style as well utilizing night vision for the evil presence lurking throughout the series. Editors Pernille Bech Christensen and Molly Marlene Stensgaard do great work in the editing to maintain a very loose feel for its pacing while utilizing jump-cuts to create a disjointed feel throughout each episode. Production designers Jette Lehmann and Hans Christian Lindholm do excellent work in creating the set pieces such as the dark hallways and mysterious places lurking in the hospital as well as the rooms and such that many of the characters encounter. Costume designer Annelise Bailey does a very good job with the costumes made such as the hospital lab coats and casual clothing many of the characters wear.

Special effects makeup by Kim and Lis Olsson do amazing work with the look and design of Judith‘s baby from its long arms and big body to the makeup work that is made for Udo Kier. Special effects by Lars Andersen and Annette Rolfshoj is superb for the effects made for the spirits that surrounds Mrs. Drusse as they help her in her mission to save the hospital. The sound work of Hans Moller is wonderful for the atmosphere that is created along with mixes to help build up the suspense that occurs throughout each episode. The score by Joachim Holbek is terrific for its chilling electronic pieces to play up the drama while utilizing more rhythmic cuts for its suspenseful moments.

The ensemble cast for this mini-series is truly the highlight of the entire project as it features some notable appearances from Stellan Skarsgard as Helmer’s lawyer, Birthe Neumann as Moesgaard’s secretary who often annoys Helmer, Ole Boissen as the very timid Christian, Louise Fribo as the blood-phobic Sanne, Solbjorg Hojfeldt as Mogge’s sleep lab older girlfriend Camilla, Annevig Schelde Ebbe as the ghost Mary, and Laura Christensen as brain-damaged girl Mona. Other noteworthy supporting roles include Henning Jensen as the snoopy director Bob, John Hahn-Petersen as Bob’s assistant Nievesen, Erik Wedersoe as the eccentric psychiatrist Ole, Otto Brandenberg as the humorous orderly Hansen, Birgitte Raaberg as the weary yet maternal Judith, and Udo Kier in dual rules as Judith’s baby and his demonic father.

Jens Okking is very funny as the lazy but helpful Bulder while Baard Owe is very good as the ailing yet driven Bonde. Peter Mygind is wonderful as the very upbeat and charming Mogge as is Ghita Norby as the vengeful but cunning Rigmor. Morten Rotne Leffers and Vita Jensen are brilliant as the two dishwashers who comment everything that happens as they each bring a wonderful enthusiasm to their roles. Soren Pilmark is excellent as the vengeful Hook who comes back from the dead to go after the ills he sees.

Holger Juul Hansen is terrific as the kind but insecure Moesgaard who tries to deal with his own personal issues. Kirsten Rolffes is fantastic as Mrs. Drusse who becomes more determined to save lost spirits following her own near-death experience. Finally, there’s Ernst-Hugo Jaregard in an amazing performance as Stig Helmer as Jaregard makes Helmer more despicable but also funny as it’s a great role for the legendary Swedish actor.

Riget II is a dark yet more off-the-wall TV mini-series from Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred. While the only disappointing factor is that there won’t be a third part due to the deaths of Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Kirsten Rolffes, and Morten Rotne Leffers. It does however manage to be a very exciting follow-up to its 1994 predecessor that never gets boring nor keep things off track while still being very crazy. In the end, Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred deliver once again with Riget II as it reminds everyone to keep the good with the evil.

Lars von Trier Films: The Element of Crime - Epidemic - Medea - Europa - The Kingdom I - Breaking the Waves - Dogme #2: Idioterne - Dancer in the Dark - Dogville - The Five Obstructions - Manderlay - The Boss of It All - Antichrist - Dimension (2010 short) - Melancholia - Nymphomaniac - The House That Jack Built - The Kingdom: Exodus - (Etudes)

Related: The Auteurs #7: Lars von Trier

© thevoid99 2012

The Kingdom I (TV Miniseries)

Created by Lars von Trier, Riget (The Kingdom) is a four-part TV mini-series about a Danish hospital that is haunted by strange occurrences relating to the supernatural. Directed by Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred and written by von Trier, Niels Vorsel, and Tomas Gislason. The TV mini-series is a mixture of horror and medical dramas taken to strange heights. Starring Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Kirsten Rolffes, Holger Juul Hansen, Soren Pilmark, Ghita Norby, Baard Owe, Birgitte Raaberg, and von Trier regular Udo Kier. Riget is a strange yet very exciting TV mini-series from Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred.

Episode 1: The Unheavenly Host

At the most technological advanced hospital in Denmark that was built on top of a mysterious mystical marsh some many years ago. Yet, something strange is going on at Kingdom hospital where top neurosurgeon Stig Helmer (Ernst-Hugo Jaregard) is about to attend a secret ceremony while dealing with young doctors who defy his authority. Particularly when an old woman named Sigrid Drusse (Kirsten Roffes) keeps checking because of she has no feeling in her arm. Yet, Drusse is really trying to contact a mysterious spirit she heard crying above the elevator as she asks her son Bulder (Jens Okking) to help her out. Meanwhile, a young student named Mogge (Peter Mygind) is causing trouble as he is attracted to an older doctor named Camilla (Solbjorg Hojfeldt) where he tries to give her a strange present.

Episode 2: Thy Kingdom Come

Helmer is under fire over a botched surgery that left a young girl named Mona (Laura Christensen) brain damage where the hospital’s manager Einar Moesgaard (Holger Juul Hansen) is trying to help Helmer with the situation. Meanwhile, Mogge is in trouble with his superior in professor Palle Bondo (Baare Owe) who is going through his own troubles over research for a tumor is being stopped by a patient’s family. During a surgery performed by Helmer, its patient sees a mysterious young girl (Annevig Schelde Ebbe) in the form of a ghost as it is the ghost Drusse has been trying to find. While Drusse comforts a dying woman who helps her make contact with the ghost learning her name is Mary. With Helmer dealing with lots of issues as he finds comfort in fellow doctor Rigmor Mortensen (Ghita Norby) as he attends another meeting with Moesgaard and Bondo.

Episode 3: A Foreign Body

After learning that a copy of report about Mona’s brain damage worries Helmer as he tries to get the report before the medical board reads it. Hook learns about the report as he tries to obtain the report with Mogge’s help where they had to go into the archives. Drusse makes a breakthrough about the secret ambulance that comes to the hospital every night as she thinks it has something to do with Mary. With Bulder’s help to gather archives about what happened to Mary, Drusse makes a big discovery about how Mary may had died as she wanted to go to Dr. Bondo for help. Yet, Bondo decides to take his study about a liver tumor to new heights following Helmer’s suggestion about taking the transplant since the patient had already signed up to be a donor years ago. When Hook’s pregnant girlfriend Judith Petersen (Birgitte Raaberg) finally gathers the report legally for Hook. Something strange is happening inside her while Drusse and Bulder get closer about what happened to Mary.

Episode 4: The Living Dead

In fear over what the chief medical officer might find in the report, Helmer decides to take a leave of absence as Moesgaard asks Helmer to be the presenter for a visit with the country’s health minister. Helmer agrees to do it as he tries to confront Hook about the report copy he obtained yet Hook has other problems to deal with. With Judith’s pregnancy going rapid as he and Mrs. Drusse thinks there is something wrong with her fetus. Mrs. Drusse makes a breakthrough in her discovery about what happened to Mary as she learns who her killer is. Hook helps Mrs. Drusse and Bulder out where he makes a discovery about Judith’s boyfriend (Udo Kier). With Dr. Bondo still ill from the surgery and Helmer fleeing to Haiti with a hospital worker, Moesgaard finds himself having to show the minister what goes on in the hospital as all hell breaks loose.

The TV mini-series is about a hospital that was built on a mysterious marsh where strange things happen as a spiritualist patient tries to communicate with the dead while a Swedish doctor is being accused of medical negligence. There’s a lot that goes on in the TV mini-series as some of it is told by a couple of dishwashers with Down syndrome who would also unveil things that would happen. Yet, each episode takes place in the span of 24 hours where something is going to happen.

The teleplay that is written by Lars von Trier and Niels Vorsel, with Tomas Gislason co-writing the shooting script with von Trier, has a structure of how each episode opens and ends. The episode always opens with a prologue about the marsh and its mysteries where a hospital was built in a state of arrogance by those wanting a hospital. After the prologue and the opening credits, each episode (with the exception of The Living Dead) has a simple way of setting each episode for its beginning and end. It always open with Dr. Helmer arriving into a special parking space with cones around his car as he takes out the hubcaps from the car and later make some complaints to parking security officers.

Then there’s the meeting led by Moesgaard where Helmer either doesn’t participate or makes some kind of complaint. Late in the episode, Helmer and Moesgaard go to a meeting with elders that included Bondo while all sorts of mayhem occur. Towards the end, Helmer is always looking up in the sky screaming “Danish scum” as the closing credits has Lars von Trier commenting on the episode and tells his viewers to take the good with the evil. That’s how the structure of each episode happens with the exception of The Living Dead as there’s changes that occur once the suspense starts to build up over the death of this girl many years ago. Meanwhile, there’s a lot going on throughout each episode that involves various characters that play up to the nightmarish horror that occurs or bring all sorts of strange humor that happens throughout the series.

The direction of Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred is truly hypnotic in the way they frame the scenes while shooting the project entirely with hand-held cameras where there’s a bit of shaky element to it. There’s parts of the film where things become very shaky for more intense, hyperactive moments while a lot of remains still and such with constant shots of an elevator looked from above or a shot of Helmer screaming with a camera above him. While it is a TV project that is a mixture of horror and hospital-based dramas, there is an element of humor that is quintessential to what von Trier is known for.

There’s also a lot of strange, surreal moments in the film where von Trier puts characters in very different set pieces to add the element of fantasy as they either face nightmares or discover some big clues. The way suspense is built is done in a very slow yet methodical rhythm where at times, it can go off kilter. What is revealed can be presented but not in particular the right moment as von Trier and Arnfred play with these rhythms. Some of it the horror moments play off in a form of dark humor or to the point where it will test a viewer’s idea of gore and such. Overall, this is truly an outstanding yet chilling project from Morten Arnfred and Lars von Trier.

Cinematographer Eric Kress does a fantastic job with the mini-series‘ stylish photography where it‘s dominated by a very grainy yet sepia-like orange palette for its look. Notably as it aims for a style that is a precursor to the Dogme 95 style that von Trier co-founded but with a large degree of style where everything seems very surreal. Editors Molly Malene Stensgaard and Jacob Thuesen do amazing work in the editing to create unconventional rhythms in the use of jump-cuts and other unique approach to pacing where it feels much looser in its tone for an episode that often averages for more than an hour.

Production designer Jette Lehman does an excellent job with the creation for some of the rooms and elevator lifts that happens in the hospital where it seems like a place that is about to fall apart no matter how modern it tries to be. Costume designer Bjarne Nilsson does a very good job with the costumes from the hospital coats and gear many of the cast wears to the pink bathrobe that Mrs. Drusse wears. Special makeup effect designers Kim and Lis Olsson do incredible work on the makeup for characters like Mary and Mona as the two young girls play up to the manic state their in. Visual effects work by Soren Buus does terrific work with the visual effects where it‘s meant to be cheesy and surreal for the superimposed backgrounds that is made along with transparent visual effects to play up the ghostly aspect of the mini-series.

Sound editors Per Streit and Hans Moller do a fantastic job with the sound work to build up the suspense of some parts of the mini-series including creating intimate yet chaotic moments in the board meeting scenes and other chilling moments. The music of Joachim Holbek is superb with its eerie electronic score to play up the drama and suspense along with brooding orchestral touches along with a thunderous theme song for the opening and closing credits for each episode.

The ensemble cast for the mini-series is truly spectacular for the people that is brought in for this project. In small but recurring roles, there’s appearances from Udo Kier in a flashback role as the mysterious Age Kruger as well as Judith’s boyfriend along with Louise Fribo as medical student Sanne, Birthe Neumann as Moesgaard’s secretary, Otto Brandenberg as orderly Hansen, Laura Christensen as the brain-damaged Mona, Annevig Schelde Ebbe as the ghost of Mary, and in the charming roles of the Down-syndrome dishwashers are Vita Jensen and Morten Rotne Leffers. Other notable supporting roles include Solbjorg Hojfeldt as sleep lab consultant Camilla, Jens Okking as Drusse’s orderly son Bulder, Peter Mygind as the lanky yet playful Mogge, and Birgitte Raaberg as Hook’s pregnant girlfriend Judith.

Baard Owe is excellent as Dr. Bondo, a part-time professor who takes a risk in taking a cancerous liver into his own body for his own research. Ghita Norby is wonderful as Rigmor, the only doctor who likes Helmer as she helps him with reports and such only to later be spurred by him. Soren Pilmark is superb as Hook, a competent doctor who helps out Mrs. Drusse while running a black market operation inside the hospital. Holger Juul Hansen is terrific as Mogge’s father and hospital manager Moesgaard who tries to make things easy for Helmer as well as wanting a very positive atmosphere in the Kingdom hospital. Kirsten Rolffes is great as Mrs. Drusse, a spiritualist who makes contact with ghosts as she leads the charge to uncover the mystery unaware of how far she has gone.

Finally, there’s Ernst-Hugo Jaregard in a very magnificent performance as Dr. Stig Helmer who despises the way of the Danes while wanting to maintain his own ideas of how to run things. It’s a very strong performance for the late Swedish actor who also brings in a great sense of energy and humor to his character no matter how un-likeable he is.

Riget is a remarkable yet extremely haunting TV mini-series from Lars von Trier and Morten Arnfred. Featuring a great ensemble cast led by Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, it is a mini-series that is filled with lots of creepy and suspenseful moments as well as unique humor and an entrancing visual style. For fans of Lars von Trier, it is among one of his most essential works of his career as it’s also a must-see for those interested in medical dramas with a dash of horror. In the end, Riget is a phenomenal mini-series from Morten Arnfred and Lars von Trier that suggests to take the good with the evil.

Lars von Trier Films: The Element of Crime - Epidemic - Medea - Europa - Breaking the Waves - The Kingdom II - Dogme #2-Idioterne - Dancer in the Dark - Dogville - The Five Obstructions - Manderlay - The Boss of It All - Antichrist - Dimension (2010 short) - Melancholia - Nymphomaniac - The House That Jack Built - The Kingdom: Exodus - (Etudes)

Related: The Auteurs #7: Lars von Trier

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