'The Kingdom' (NR)

Filmmaker Lars von Trier pokes around in the innards of a high-tech Copenhagen hospital in "The Kingdom," a Gothic satire consisting of the first four episodes of a 13-part Danish TV soap. Just as exploratory surgery may expose a diseased organ, Trier's story reveals the corruption behind the doctors' white coats. He also addresses the lack of spiritualism in modern life and still has time left over for a bit of Swede-bashing.

All this mucking about requires an investment on the viewer's part: a tuchis numbing 4 1/2 hours. Based solely on viewing hours per dollar, "The Kingdom" is the best buy in town. It's also an imaginative offering, though its four parts never become a seamless whole. And many of the story lines aren't tied up here, but continue to play out in the nine upcoming episodes—and if you want to see those, you may have to go to Denmark.

Like Trier's "Zentropa," a film noir set in post-Nazi Germany, "The Kingdom" has a visual style that is as dark as its subject matter; it's shot in shades of sepia and dried-blood brown. Hand-held cameras and funky lighting also contribute to the dyspeptic mood of this Scandinavian "Twin Peaks." (David Lynch's surreal TV community seems the primary influence, although there are echoes, too, of Robert Altman's "M*A*S*H," TV's "ER" and Agatha Christie's Miss Marple.)

The multiple story lines are set in motion when the handsome young Dr. Krogen Hook (Soren Pilmark) locks horns with his new superior, Dr. Stig Helmer (Ernst-Hugo Jaregard). Helmer, an arrogant Swedish neurosurgeon, is furious when Hook sets up a CAT scan without his permission. Helmer rightly suspects the patient, Mrs. Drusse (Kirsten Rolffes), of faking her illness.

Mrs. Drusse, however, is no ordinary malingerer, but a genteel ghostbuster on the trail of a tormented spirit—a murdered little girl who is unable to "cross into the light." Her son (Jens Okking), an orderly, humors his mother in her dogged efforts to contact and exorcise the tiny spirit.

Helmer is forever reminding his colleagues of Swedish superiority and is also fond of pooh-poohing Danish habits. Meanwhile, Hook obtains proof that Helmer's incompetence has left a little girl brain-damaged. Already thicker than black bile, the plot grows denser still when Mrs. Drusse discovers still darker forces at work within the hospital.

Helmer and Mrs. Drusse, played with gusto by old troupers Jaregard and Rolffes, head the capable cast, which also includes the formidable Ghita Norby as a physician who's hot for the surly Helmer. There's also the enticing Birgitte Raabjerg, playing a pretty researcher on the verge of giving birth to Rosemary's baby. If only we didn't have to see the delivery.

The Kingdom is not rated and is in Danish with English subtitles.