King is Alive

Synopsis: Feature film emerging from the Dogme 95 manifesto and the first to be filmed outside Scandinavia in the English language. 10 tourists, travelling by bus in the Namibian desert, are stranded when the bus runs out of petrol. Jack, an Australian experienced in desert survival, sets off to find help. When he fails to return the group becomes anxious and ex-actor Harry, who has occupied himself writing down all he can remember from King Lear, suggests that they stage the play. In their despair the characters re-articulate Shakespeare’s vision of nothingness.
Language: English
Country: Denmark; Finland; Norway; Sweden; United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 2000
Duration: 109 mins; 9,877 feet

Director

Kristian Levring

Producer

Patricia Kruijer; Vibeke Windelov

Cinematographer

Jens Schlosser

Screenplay

Anders Thomas Jensen; Kristian Levring

Music

Derek Thompson (2)

Cast

Reviews: Reviewed in Sight and Sound Vol. 11, issue 5, May 2001. p. 52-3. Scott-Douglass, Amy ‘Dogme Shakespeare 95: European Cinema, anti-Hollywood sentiment and the Bard’ in Burt, Richard & Boose, Lynda E. Shakespeare the Movie, II: Popularizing the Plays on Film, TV, Video and DVD (New York & London: Routledge, 2003), pp. 252-264

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British Universities Film & Video Council