The Kingdom Hospital rests on ancient marshland
where the bleaching ponds once lay.
Here the bleachers moistened their great spans of cloth.
The steam evaporating from the wet cloth
shrouded the place in permanent fog.
Centuries later the hospital was built here.
The bleachers gave way to doctors and researchers,
the best brains in the nation and the most perfect technology.
To crown their work they called the hospital The Kingdom.
Now life was to be charted, and ignorance and superstition
never to shake the bastions of science again.
Perhaps their arrogance became too pronounced,
and their persistent denial of the spiritual.
For it is as if the cold and damp have returned.
Tiny signs of fatigue are appearing in the solid, modern edifice.
No living person knows it yet, but the gateway to the Kingdom
is opening once again.
The Unheavenly Host
Hook? Has anyone come in from that ambulance?
Haven磘 the foggiest.
lt磗 weird ... Look at it!
There you are!
Lovely, eh?
Do you think it磗 weird, too?
She磗 in there. One of yours.
Good evening. Good evening.
My name磗 J鴕gen Hook, and l磎 a neurosurgeon.
My name磗 Sigrid Drusse. ... Are you a good doctor?
No problem there. Your hand磗 acting up?
Yes, pins and needles.
And l need it for my pendulum.
The patient complains of pins and needles ...
Mrs. Drusse, you磖e back again! Yes.
My arm. l磎 going to the neurosurgical ward.
lt磗 very difficult to get a place there.
Say hello to my son when he gets to work ...
Hello. Hello.
Someone was crying. From the children磗 ward.
The lift passes it.
No, no, it was as if someone was on top of the lift.
l see.
ls this neurosurgery? Yes.
lt磗 hard to get a place here.
The little girl has revealed herself to the old lady.
Where did it happen?
ln the lift. ln the lift?
My name is Helmer. Consultant neurosurgeon.
The flagstone must be put right immediately.
Or there磍l be an accident. Can l speak to your boss?
He磗 not here.
Helmer磗 obviously not coming. Let磗 start.
He has a heavy case load. We can磘 expect him on the dot.
He has no neurological complaint,
so the state of his case load is irrelevant.
l admitted Mrs. Drusse with paresis or paraesthesiae in her right arm.
l propose a CT scan.
OK.
You know that only the consultant neurosurgeon can book a CT scan.
Fix it, will you?
The hospital can磘 grind to a halt just because Helmer wants a liein.
l see. And where do you think your boss might be?
l did hear about a water pipe that burst this morning.
The water is leaking beneath the car park.
Excuse me, aren磘 you in charge of the sleep laboratory?
Yes. lnterested? Sure am.
Where磗 the morning conference? lt磗 over.
We didn磘 think you were coming, so l considered ...
You considered, did you?
When Professor Moesgaard has his private clinic,
the conference begins when l get here
and ends when l leave.
Sit down. Last night. Any new admissions?
The door. Thank you.
New admissions, l said! Yes, a Mrs. Drusse.
With paresis and paraesthesiae of the right arm. She has ...
She has? Has what?
She has been sent for a CT scan.
Pardon?
Mrs Drusse has been sent for a CT scan.
A CT scan.
There is one person at this hospital with the right
to book a CT scan. And that, l humbly submit,
is the consultant neurosurgeon.
l considered ...
Considered ... ls there a word for budget in Danish?
Must l spell it out? BUD ...
Rigmor! How far
does the humiliation go
in this accursed country? Can you tell me?
No, Stig.
Cancel that scan instantly.
l磎 afraid it磗 impossible.
She磗 already in the scanner.
Mummy.
You can磘 do this to me. Hello, Bulder.
You promised you磀 never do it again.
Mummy, this hospital is where l work.
Yes, but this time l think l really am ill, Bulder.
Come on, Mummy. Porter? Lay out the patient.
Gently does it.
Now go.
ln we go. Thank you so much.
Hello, Helmer.
Good you磖e here.
Something very, very serious has occurred.
Goodness!
Junior registrar Hook has booked a CT scan.
lllness is always a sad business.
But we must get used to the fact that this is a hospital
surrounded by patients, however difficult it may be.
You know what a blessing a CT scan can be.
Yes, but since when has a junior registrar
had the right to book one? They磖e the prerogative
of the consultant neurosurgeon. l demand
that there be consequences!
Helmer, keep your shirt on. He may not be the best doctor
but in his own way he磗 rather an asset.
For a junior registrar to be able to book a CT scan
is absurd.
Helmer, the best way for you to settle in here
is probably not by instigating disciplinary proceedings.
l am fond of Hook and l am sure you will be, too.
Take a pew.
What do you say to this ... logo?
l磛e called our new human resources plan 创Operation Morning Breeze创.
We must be receptive to new ideas as regards patients and staff.
l rather feel the sun symbolises all that ...
And this is Operation Morning Breeze?
Like it? No.
Shall we have stickers made?
Yes ... perhaps.
You磖e the boss.
You do know why Helmer磗 here?
No Swedish hospital will touch him.
Why not?
He had some researchers in his last department
who did fantastic work. He published it as his own.
That磗 just a rumour. No, it磗 not.
Moesgaard read his article in The Lancet.
l don磘 think he even wrote the article himself.
l like your coat.
lt磗 just like yours.
You look better in yours. Busy tonight?
l磛e got to study. l磛e got to.
All that research can磘 be good for you.
Or is it personal?
Do l offend you? You磖e always so busy when l ask.
Where does the junior registrar think he磗 going?
Home to bed. l磛e been on duty for 12 hours.
lf your boots are big enough for you to book a CT scan
they磖e big enough for you to attend Xray conference.
Now we will purify this room
and all of us here
from the larum of the living.
Are there any spirits here?
lf there are any spirits here
announce your presence!
Yes ...
Yes.
We磛e just time for the acute scan on Mrs. Drusse.
Forgive a slightly ignorant man before we proceed ...
... but how much does a CT scan actually cost?
Pretty cheap, l expect?
Pretty expensive.
lndeed? Expensive? How much?
10,000.
Goodness! What a bargain!
Specially as we磖e living in a financial crisis.
Let磗 see if we got anything.
No, as l would have expected.
Not even a fly dropping.
Look ... junior registrar ...
Here is an illustration of the brain of a malingerer
to stick in your wee scrap book.
There is somebody ...
He is seeking into this circle.
Where is she?
Eh? 26.
He is getting closer.
He is small, hairy ...
... primitive.
What磗 this?
创Please do not disturb Mummy. On behalf of the spirits ...创
A disgusting man. Oh, Oh!
Excuse me, ladies!
l am wholly to blame.
Sister? Who磗 that? ls that Mrs. Drusse?
Yes.
Here is a picture of her nut.
There is some grey matter slopping about inside it
known by the ignorant as her brain.
l understand she is a kind of spiritual leader
for these more or less terminal ladies?
A status she doesn磘 deserve. lt磗 all bluff
on the part of this poor numskull
like the illness she feigns to gain a bit of attention.
Admitted 25 times ...
25 times at this hospital alone.
A malingerer.
A damned malingerer!
l have been to hospital a lot. But l am very ill.
lll? You are ill? Yes.
You are ill.
创The patient says her arm is weak and tingling创.
That磗 a quote.
From A General Textbook in Neurology.
Available at any public library,
any kindergarten.
Look ... 创The arm feels weak and tingling创.
Et cetera.
Next time you want to malinger in my ward,
l磀 be bloody grateful if you磀 refrain
from quoting directly from A General Textbook in Neurology.
Sister! Discharge this patient forthwith.
ldiot!
Who the hell was that? Professor Moesgaard磗 son.
He磗 a medical student.
The professor expects great things of him.
lndeed.
Staff only
Hello, Camilla.
Thank you, Mogge. A rose.
You磖e wasting your money ... But you said ...
l磎 too old for you. Find a fellow student.
You磖e the one l love.
l磎 not running round with a medical student.
The Moesgaards never give up. You磍l have to.
You pain me.
Do l? Yes. l may do something rash.
Such as? Top myself.
l bet! Are those your last words?
Run along now, l磛e got work to do.
Sleep Laboratory
Stig ...
You can be a bit brusque, you know.
But do you know why l love you?
Would you like to know?
l love you because you are a great man.
All the others are so tiny ...
When are you going to move your things into my place?
l have to get settled first.
My little August Strindberg! You do have his curls ...
You know l don磘 like it when you touch my hair.
Stig, we need a holiday.
Haiti. l so much want to go.
Book a table, then.
Haiti? Down there among the ...
What the hell would we do there? History, voodoo, naturopathy.
Pardon? What did you just say?
Nothing. l heard you!
Say it!
Say it now! Naturopathy.
l don磘 ask you to respect much in my company,
but there are some words l磀 ask you to avoid.
Maybe my company doesn磘 mean that much ...
l only meant ... Naturopathy!
You are a doctor. A scientist.
Go and wash out your mouth with soap!
You磖e an old fuss pot. This book ...
... will give you a better idea of Haiti.
There磍l be no reading here. Spirits! To hell with them!
General Textbook in Neurology Maybe he was right.
Maybe l am just an old fool.
Tell me, Bulder, am l a failure as a mother?
No, no ...
You are lots of things.
A bit of a nutter now and then,
but l磎 very fond of you.
You磖e a good boy, Bulder.
l磍l run you home. No need.
l磍l get a number 10 bus. Kind of you to offer, though.
Where did you get the chairs from?
Mummy? The chairs ...
Hello?
Hello.
Hello? Hello?
This is the engineer. ls anything the matter?
No, l pressed a button by mistake. And it stopped.
Press the floor you want and it磍l start again.
Casualty
Hello, l磎 afraid l磎 poorly again.
You!
Come here!
Are you afraid?
No.
Would you mind if l touched your face?
No, thanks.
You!
Stand right next to him.
Closer!
Closer, closer, closer. l don磘 like it.
Like it!
Do you think the people who lie on this table like it?
Will they like it when we begin to cut them up?
l don磘 know.
l say that the fear of being touched, of getting close to others,
is the fear of death.
Why? Because it is the fear ...
... of the fellowship.
The fellowship. Every time
you move along the seat on the bus to avoid contact
every time you avoid poking your fingers into a patient磗 illness
it磗 fear of the fellowship.
That greater fellowship.
Everyone we work on down here has accepted his place
in the fellowship.
A corpse makes no demands.
With sublime generosity a corpse delivers its body
to the science that belongs to all of us.
New legislation requires us to obtain the relatives� consent
if we want to dissect a corpse.
Legislation which may make our work more difficult,
but if we ask openly and reasonably,
nobody can argue that a dissection does not make sense.
The law of the living requires us to ask first.
The law of the dead is to give. That invokes respect.
Right, the first incision.
Hello, we磖e from neurosurgery.
l think the patient is still in the bathroom.
Mrs. Drusse? Having problems?
No, no, my waterworks are a bit dodgy, that磗 all.
My name磗 Judith. From Neurosurgery.
l think we磀 better sit down.
When l tried to get out my bus pass l couldn磘 feel my hand.
Perhaps something is wrong, after all.
l磍l have to test you with some needles.
Look the other way.
Can you feel this? No.
Yes, your hand is a bit cold.
Did you notice he looked like you?
You think so? To a T.
You磖e right.
Have you understood nothing, lad?
The dead don磘 mind giving us a bit of light relief.
He who cannot take pathology seriously
cannot take life seriously.
Evening is coming.
And the girl is in the lift again.
Now she is there, and now she is not.
Yes, events keep repeating themselves.
All the time.
lt磗 spooky.
Yes, it is. lt is spooky.
l can take the lift up by myself.
There, there, my dear ...
l磎 with you again.
l have come to help you.
Just what is going on?
There, there, my dear.
Childish is what it is. Childish and eccentric.
The most important doctors here are members of the lodge.
You couldn磘 be in finer company.
Moesgaard must really believe in you to put you up.
And even from little men磗 shoulders you can see far.
创Operation Morning Breeze创 and the 创Sons of the Kingdom创!
They might help you. They help each other, the lodge.
lf that operation on Mona goes to the General Medical Council ...
l don磘 want to hear another word about Mona.
Why do you keep brushing me? Have l dandruff? Am l losing my hair?
Leave me alone ...
Have a nice time, dear.
Doctors and patients sharing lifts! lt磗 unconscionably embarrassing.
ln Sweden doctors have their own lifts,
and nobody finds it strange.
l borrowed it from a porter.
Hello. Hello.
May l walk about a bit? Nothing wrong with my legs.
We磍l see.
What is that meant to mean? Are you a complete idiot?
Stop it! What a thing to do!
l merely thought you were being introduced to the lodge tonight.
What has that got to do with the lodge?
l just meant mind your nose.
ln 1986 Dr. Lindemann severely damaged his.
The ritual isn磘 without its risks.
Sons of the Kingdom
Maybe it won磘 be that bad.
Venerable Elder, beloved brethren!
A duckling has come home. Salute, my brethren, salute!
Hi, Hook, thanks for the booze. No trouble.
Duckling, raise thy wing.
Repeat after me. l swear eternal allegiance
to the Sons of the Kingdom, my honourable brethren ...
... and l swear to put their wellbeing and articles
before anything else ...
l swear to put their articles and wellbeing before anything else.
l swear allegiance to the physical sciences
and enmity to the occult in all its forms ...
... and enmity to the occult in all its forms.
And now the ritual!
A real shame. This hasn磘 happened since 1986.
How are you feeling?
There she is again. Who?
Drusse, the malingerer.
Which accursed multiple idiot has admitted her this time?
l have. Judith examined her. Obvious paraesthesiae.
l磛e admitted her for observation for a week. lsn磘 that reasonable?
Of course. You磖e the professor.
You know what磗 reasonable, of course.
lf they磛e patched you up now, come back to the brethren.
The rest is just festivities, no more rituals.
l am very grateful.
Don磘 hold the patient when he gets up.
Shall we try? With all due respect,
in Sweden we try to maintain a patina of civilisation
and concentrate our festive activities
around serious, traditional occasions.
So l have heard. Crayfish, that sort of thing?
Oh, yes, l have a request.
That operation you performed on ... Mona somethingorother.
She suffered permanent brain damage.
That can happen when you rummage about in people磗 brains.
My dearest chap ... l know, l know.
But l have to see her mother tonight.
l fear she is going to lodge a formal complaint.
The medical stuff is a bit above her head. l promised you磀 see her.
At once? Splendid idea.
She磗 come to see her daughter tonight. Turn on your charm.
lt磗 all part of 创Operation Morning Breeze创, after all.
Oh, Mona, Mona, Mona, when will l see the day
When l dare to take your pulse without running away ...
Bulder! Mummy!
Drinking after hours? You should be at home.
l could say the same thing to you.
Somebody was calling out.
Mummy! lt磗 not what you think.
Somebody was crying in the lift shaft.
l think it was a little girl.
l couldn磘 just leave her. l had to get readmitted.
Maybe l磛e made contact. For the first time!
lmagine spending a lifetime trying to contact the spirit world
and then succeeding in a lift
without even meaning to!
lsn磘 it exciting? Have you seen any funny goingson?
Yes, l have ... No, no, no!
Bulder, we磛e got to get into that lift shaft.
No, Mummy.
Oh, l never imagined you磀 help me.
l磎 not going to.
l磎 still upset about the fuss you made in May 1968.
What fuss was that?
Eh, Bulder? Did you take to the streets?
You might call it that. l left home.
Well, l was 28, Mummy.
You never said a word about not liking living at home.
You really upset me.
l did move back again a week later.
How is your mother now? My mother died years ago.
How nice for you!
What if there磗 nobody in that lift shaft? Because there isn磘.
ln that case ...
... l磍l hang up my pendulum.
Completely? No more seances?
Since it means so much to you.
Porter磗 office ...
What磗 this about a favour l owe you?
Camilla is on duty.
Just give her the bag with my regards.
Tell her l磎 sorry, but it was the only way out.
Just tell her. What are you going on about?
Just give her the bag.
Hello, Christian. Hello. This is from Mogge.
He says he磗 sorry. l don磘 want anything from him.
He asked me to give you the bag.
Tell him to come and fetch his present again.
He obviously hasn磘 got the message.
She磗 got it. Did she open it?
No. Why not?
l don磘 know. Can l go back to bed?
Excuse me ... l talked to Dr. Hook about coming here.
l should have been in theatre today but l can磘 stomach it.
He thought this place would be more my cup of tea.
Medical students have to observe operations some time.
l know. Just not today.
OK. Hang your coat over there. Thanks.
Good evening.
My name is Dr. Helmer.
l don磘 understand Swedish.
Try again. l am Dr. Helmer.
Try again ...
Come on, Darling. Jolly good!
Swallow it now ...
There.
Sister, this lady doesn磘 understand my accent.
Will you interpret? lf l can.
l am the doctor who operated on your daughter.
This is the doctor who operated on Mona.
l know.
She knows. Thank you.
l do understand what the lady says.
One more time ... Mona?
Come on, Darling ...
Mona ...
Little Mona ...
How is Mona?
How is she?
See for yourself. She磍l never get better.
There are a few things you should know about her operation.
l have talked to a doctor. Which one?
This kind of thing must never happen. You磛e taken her from me.
l磀 rather she had died.
l磎 sorry, my pet ...
l磎 sorry ... Don磘 touch me.
l磎 complaining, even if you say you磖e sorry you made a mistake.
You are accusing me of making a mistake?
Here we have the patient磗 mother, accusing me
consultant neurosurgeon Helmer, of making a mistake.
There is such a thing as libel, even in this accursed land.
l have opened a few skulls in my time.
That snotnosed kid wasn磘 the first.
When things are sad, the children cry.
When things are sorrowful, the grownups cry.
But what are things when the building begins to cry?
What is the old lady doing?
She wants to get to the little girl.
lsn磘 she scared?
No, not any more.
ls the building crying?
The building began crying long ago.
Call it land of angels or heavenly soil ...
Thank you, O Swedish watch towers!
With your plutonium we磍l force the Danes to their knees.
Here, Denmark. Shat out of chalk and water.
There, Sweden.
Hewn out of granite.
Danish scum.
Danish scum!
Her fingers seemed to be scratching through the roof
to get to me.
Get away, damn it!
The water has undermined everything.
Dear viewers, allow me to thank you for coming with us to the Kingdom.
We磛e kicked off cautiously so as not to leave anyone behind.
But from the next episode things hot up considerably.
There is something very wrong here
and a voice is crying out.
How often do voices cry out to you? And how often
do you hold out your hand to them? Often? Rarely? Never?
But this programme is confined to the imagination
and we can never approach the real life God has created.
The most inventive artist is but an ant at his feet.
My name is Lars von Trier and l wish you a very good evening.
Should you wish to spend more time with us at the Kingdom
be prepared to take the Good with the Evil ...
English subtitles JHS lnternational ApS