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Kingdom Hospital is one of my all-time favourite shows, and I think you have to be at least a little wacky to appreciate its dark humour and morbid jokes. Many pretentious snobs have put down this show as terrible because it "rips off" the original Danish program Riget (which it doesn't, this is an adaptation). People are going to think I'm an uncultured idiot for saying this, but I like Kingdom Hospital much more than Riget, and no, not because I didn't understand the first version. While I did very much enjoy Riget, I found it ludicrously overhyped for what it was. Riget was no more original than Kingdom Hospital either, seeing as Lars Von Trier himself was heavily influenced by earlier shows like Twin Peaks. Kingdom Hospital simply stood out to me as the more engaging and complete show. Maybe it's the strong theme of friendship and unity; everyone from eccentric psychic Sally Druse (Diane Ladd) to the visually impaired security guard Otto with his German shepherd (Julian Richings) becomes a part of a family, the Keepers, those who protect the hospital, its patients and its staff from the supernatural netherworld residing amidst the floors. At first the giant anteater (Kett Turton) really threw me off, and it took me two weeks to develop an interest in watching the rest of the episode. By the time the "Na Na Na (Kiss Him Goodbye)" song scene came up, I was hooked like a junkie. So many comedic scenes, but also scenes of strong caring, loyalty, love and above all else, miracles. Kingdom Hospital is a place where medical miracles never cease, but neither does violent death. Everything is in a fragile equilibrium which is threatened by a ghostly boy and of course the pompous Dr. Stegman (Bruce Davison), who begins to lose his own mind after botching a neurosurgery and more or less lobotomizing a young girl. It's a lot of weirdness to take in, but it grows on you and eventually all does begin to make sense.
There are many Stephen King clichés that some viewers may find annoying or even advertising in nature. Lots of references of his books, even a radio announcer mentioning Stephen King's name. Antubis resembles in nature the Turtle from Stephen King's 'It' in many ways. There are quite a few typical King plot devices, too. Either way, I don't think I would have loved this show even half as much if it wasn't for the superb and talented acting. Such a great cast bringing to life some wonderful characters, from Brandon Bauer and Jennifer Cunningham (Christa and Abel, two young adult orderlies with Down's syndrome and a psychic connection), to Del Pentecost (Bobby Druse, an orderly, Sally's son and Otto's closest friend). It was nice to see some actors coming in who looked real, not all dolled-up and fake like supermodels. I was expecting another cheap medical melodrama with a Kim Kardashian lookalike in a lab coat or something, as usual. Boy, was I wrong! So many scenes in this show are as incredible as they are harrowing. Mary's vividly eerie recollection of a deadly fire over a century ago, Otto getting his eyesight back despite being told that he was going completely blind, Peter (Jack Coleman) rescuing Antubis from beneath a collapsed scaffolding, among others. Excellent soundtrack too, and the 35mm opt rather than conforming to that cheap yet religiously trendy HD digital cr*p was a genius move on the director's part. All in all, this probably won't be anybody's favourite, least of all the die-hard Riget fans, but at least give it a chance. Remakes are all too often terrible, but this is a miraculous exception, as miraculous as the miracles within the gripping story.
score 10/10
TheBlueHairedLawyer 22 March 2017
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3668607/ |
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9-11-2020 22:43:05