(Lars von Trier’s one, not “Kingdom Hospital” ala Stephen King)
I just finished watching the tape I made of the second series, which they showed on IFC the other night (they showed all 5 hours at once). I loved the first series, which I’d rented on video a couple of years ago. This was even more messed up than the first series, which was surprising (how do you get MORE wierd than that? Like the second season of Twin Peaks, I guess). Did anyone else see this? Is Helmer an ass or what? Jeez, and the cliffhanger/s were even more. . . cliffhangery.
I have both series on DVD. I thought the first season started off a little slow, but it picked up nicely. During the last scene I was literally on the edge of my chair with my mouth agape. What an ending!
Season 2 was even better. The ‘child’. How twisted was that?
The timer on my DVD player was counting down. The story was getting more and more intense. I could see that there was not going to be enough time to finish the story in the time remaining. Oh, my god! Another great ending, and one hell of a cliffhanger!
I really wish he had made Season 3. The story needs an ending. Sadly, this will never be since Ernst-Hugo Järegård is dead. I, for one, would accept another actor in the role in order to see the end of the story.
DUDE! Where did you find DVDs? Are they region 1 or 2 (or 26 or whatever Scandinavia might be)? Tell me tell me tell me.
I know, like 5 cliffhangers at once. And so many bizarre developments for season 1 characters.
Which character did Ernst-Hugo play?
Ernst-Hugo Järegård played Stig Helmer.
The DVDs are Japanese all-region releases. I don’t remember where I bought The Kingdom, but I bought The Kingdom II by phone order from Scarecrow Video in Seattle a number of years ago. They may, or may not, have a copy in the store. None turn up when I search their site.
There are a couple new DVDs of the first series on eBay with Buy It Now prices of $9.95. Seller is in the U.S. There’s also a three-disc set (The Kingdom and The Kingdom II) for a starting bid of $24.99 out of Hong Kong (all region, sealed). Seller has 98.6% positive feedback with 9,463 total sales, 1,427 sales in the last month, 12 neutral in the last month, 5 negative in the last month. The first seller (the one with only the first series) has 99.5% positive feedback. 17,136 total sales, 2120 in the past month, 16 neutral in the last month, 7 negative in the last month.
He played Helmer, the snobby Swedish neurosurgeon. Og, I loved those shots of him in Riget 2 from the toilet bowl.
About the DVD’s - I don’t have them but I’ve found this link for region 2 DVD if it is of any help to you.
“Little brother” was simply unbelieveable. One could say that Trier beat Mel Gibson to The Passion with this one. 
I clicked on the ‘compare prices’ link, and none of the 8 places in their chart had it. eBay’s probably the best bet.
There’s a definitive 4 DVD set of Riget I and II. I ordered it off of www.xploitedcinema.com about a year ago, but it may be out of print now since it doesn’t seem to be listed currently.
It’s got a fair number of extras: an interview with von Trier, some commentary on selected scenes, a music video for the theme song, some commercials von Trier did starring Ernst-Hugo Järegård, and trailers for some of von Trier’s other movies.
This set isn’t available in region 1, so if you find it and decide to buy it, make sure you have a region free DVD player that is PAL compatible.