Search - The King Is Alive on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Adult Language, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 2000 DVD Release: 11/19/2002 Format: DVD - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 46 mins Studio: MGM Members Wishing: 2 Genres: Drama, Psychological Drama, Ensemble Film

Shot against the barren sand dunes of Africa's Namib Desert, The King Is Alive is the fourth film to adhere to the stripped-down aesthetic of the Dogma 95 movement, and the first to bear the directorial stamp of the manifesto's co-author Kristian Levring. The improvised, shot-on-digital video production concerns the exploits of almost a dozen tourists who find themselves stranded when their bus breaks down miles from civilization. A thespian amongst the group, Henry (David Bradley), is the first to suggest that their situation may be more dire than it seems. His doubts send the rest of the folks -- including American travelers Ray (Bruce Davison), Liz (Janet McTeer), Ashley (Brion James), and Gina (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and a high-minded Parisian, Catherine (Romane Bohringer) -- into fits of fear and dread. To get their minds off the heat, hunger, and dehydration, the castaways stage an impromptu reading of Shakespeare's King Lear, which they can only fitfully remember. As their situations worsen, the tourists begin to take out their personal aggressions on one another. The King Is Alive was shown as part of the 2000 Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide

Miles Anderson - Jack
Romane Bohringer - Catherine
David Bradley - Henry
David Calder - Charles
Bruce Davison - Ray

Kristian Levring's unusual The King Is Alive comes to DVD with a standard full-frame transfer. The closed-captioned English soundtrack is rendered in Dolby Digital Stereo. English and Spanish subtitles are accessible. There are no supplemental materials of any consequence, making it difficult to recommend this MGM/UA release to anyone who does not have an appreciation for films made far outside the Hollywood mainstream. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide