Kristian Levring

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Kristian Levring is a Danish director born in 1957 in Denmark He was the fourth signatory of Dogme95 He lived eight years in France He graduated in editing at the National Film School of Denmark and has edited a large number of documentaries and feature films besides directing two feature films among these Et skud fra hjertet 1986 He is the recipient of some 23 Danish and international awards for his commercials The King is Alive Dogme 4 is his third feature film The King is Alive tells the story of a mixed group of tourists in Namibia Africa whose bus breaks down in a remote abandoned village formerly a mining town Facing starvation dehydration cabin fever and death one of the group decides to stage a production of Shakespeares King Lear and casts the others as characters As the thin veneer of civilized behavior breaks down the group experiences the absurdity of putting on a play for no audience except one lone indigenous man in such dire and fatal circumstances Filmed in stark digital and adhering to the tenets of Dogme filmmaking The King is Alive is a fascinating study in the dark heart of people under extreme stress Herzogian in its theme and mood the films location remote Namibia is as much a character in the film as the actors like the space ship in Ridley Scotts Alien The King is Alive features Jennifer JasonLeigh and Brion James Blade Runners Leon Cabin Boy Dark tense and desperate it stands as a powerful piece of filmmaking Levrings next film after The King is Alive is called The Intended and features some of the same actors from the former Set in the jungle of Borneo in the 1920s it concerns an isolated English settlementivory trading station Similar in nature to The King is Alive it focuses on what happens to small isolated groups under both internal psychological pressure and external pressure from the environment around them As The King is Alive was filmed by Dogme rules and restrictions The Intended instead has steady camera shots rather than shakyhandheld and ambient music throughout Subtle yet powerful the film explores Conradian contexts through the lens of a female perspective Its influence can be seen in the Australian frontier film The Proposition Description above from the Wikipedia article Kristian Levring licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia