Backdrop fallback

The King Is Alive

The King Is Alive

Share

The King Is Alive

"As the sand shifts... madness nears."

2000

1h 50m

5.5(37 votes)

Drama

Overview

Stranded in the heat of a barren African desert, eleven bus-passengers shelter in the remnants of an abandoned town. As rescue grows more remote by the day and anxiety deepens, an idea emerges: why not stage a play. However the choice of King Lear only manages to plunge this disparate group of travelers into turmoil as they struggle to overcome both nature's wrath and their own morality.

Links & Resources

Social & External

Production Companies

Zentropa Entertainments

Newmarket Capital Group

Good Machine

TV 2

YLE

The people behind it

Cast & crew

10 featured cast members

Starring

Romane Bohringer

Romane Bohringer

Catherine

David Calder

David Calder

Charles

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Gina

David Bradley

David Bradley

Henry

Brion James

Brion James

Ashley

Miles Anderson

Miles Anderson

Jack

Bruce Davison

Bruce Davison

Ray

Janet McTeer

Janet McTeer

Liz

Peter Khubeke

Kanana

Chris Walker

Chris Walker

Paul

Creative team

Directed by: Kristian Levring
Written by: Kristian Levring
Anders Thomas Jensen
Produced by: Svend Abrahamsen
Vibeke Windeløv

Similar Movies

Broken English

Broken English

Nora Wilder is freaking out. Everyone around her is either in a relationship, married, or has children, while she's in her thirties, alone with job she's outgrown and a mother who constantly reminds her of it all. Not to mention her best friend Audrey's "perfect marriage". But after a series of disastrous dates, Nora unexpectedly meets Julien, a quirky Frenchman who opens her eyes to a lot more than love.

Empire

Empire

Big time drug dealer Victor Rosa is looking to get out of the game and sees his chance with a big deal with a new friend who happens to be a Wall St. stockbroker. Thinking this will be his chance to go out on top, Victor soon finds out that he's been double crossed and his last option is to get revenge.

Fifty Pills

Fifty Pills

Unless Darren can survive New York's largest drug mogul, write a paper on Dante's "Inferno," escape three thugs chasing the wrong guy and sell fifty pills of ecstasy to make his tuition payment, he'll never date the girl of his dreams.

Neuroworld

Neuroworld

Nothing is what it looks like. Everything is possible. Emotional parasyte dance in a mask play. Monika and Kristina are flatmates and maybe friends. One of the two is a famous YouTuber. One gun, two guns... Based on Miguel Ángel Martín's comics, this story won't leave you indifferent. It happens in a world which could be ours, where technology and social media changed the way we relate to each other.

The United States of Leland

The United States of Leland

A withdrawn young man, Leland Fitzgerald is imprisoned for the murder of a mentally disabled boy, who also happened to be the brother of his girlfriend, Becky. As the community struggles to deal with the killing, Pearl Madison, a teacher at the prison, decides to write about Leland's case. Meanwhile, others affected by the murder, including Becky and her sister, Julie, must contend with their own problems.

Frontier(s)

Frontier(s)

A gang of young thieves flee Paris during the violent aftermath of a political election, only to hole up at an Inn run by neo-Nazis.

Meet Bill

Meet Bill

A mild-mannered bank executive mentors a teenage con artist and tries to make a career change as a doughnut merchant.

Fuel

Fuel

Record high oil prices, global warming, and an insatiable demand for energy: these issues define our generation. The film exposes shocking connections between the auto industry, the oil industry, and the government, while exploring alternative energies such as solar, wind, electricity, and non-food-based biofuels.

Since Otar Left

Since Otar Left

The one joy in the lives of a mother and daughter comes from the regular letters sent to them from Paris from the family's adored son, Otar. When the daughter finds out that Otar has died suddenly, she tries to conceal the truth from her mother, changing the course of their lives forever.

Japanese Story

Japanese Story

Sandy, a geologist, finds herself stuck on a field trip to the Pilbara desert with a Japanese man she finds inscrutable, annoying and decidedly arrogant. Hiromitsu's view of her is not much better. Things go from bad to worse when they become stranded in one of the most remote regions on Earth.

The Tracker

Somewhere in Australia in the early 20th century outback, an Aboriginal man is accused of murdering a white woman. Three white men are on a mission to capture him with the help of an experienced Indigenous man.

Holy Smoke

Holy Smoke

While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru. Her desperate parents then hire PJ Waters, a macho cult de-programmer who confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway. But PJ quickly learns that he's met his match in the sexy, intelligent and iron-willed Ruth.

Missing in America

Missing in America

A haunted Vietnam veteran, living in exile in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, is faced with a life-changing decision after he is visited by a former platoon member and his young Amerasian daughter.

Real Time

Real Time

Real Time is a comedic drama about a compulsive gambler given one hour to live by the man hired to kill him.

August

August

Two brothers, ambitious dot-com entrepreneurs, attempt to keep their company afloat as the stock market begins to collapse in August 2001, one month prior to the 9/11 attacks.

Catch and Release

Catch and Release

For a grieving fiancée, learning to love again requires the help of her late love's three best friends.

Special

Special

A lonely metermaid has a psychotic reaction to his medication and becomes convinced he's a superhero. A very select group of people in life are truly gifted. Special is a movie about everyone else.

Citizen Ruth

Citizen Ruth

"Citizen Ruth" is the story of Ruth Stoops, a woman who nobody even noticed -- until she got pregnant. Now, everyone wants a piece of her. The film is a comedy about one woman caught in the ultimate tug-of-war: a clash of wild, noisy, ridiculous people that rapidly dissolves into a media circus.

Macbeth

Macbeth

Macbeth, loyal to his crime boss, Duncan, is told by witches that he will one day take over. Driven by their prophecy, he and his wife plot to kill Duncan, and takes the leadership of the gang for himself. Maintaining his power will require more murder and violence, finally driving his surviving enemies to unite and destroy him. A sexy, high octane retelling of this classic story.

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood

Faustus is a clerk in St. John's at the Newfoundland Department of Education. He dreams of becoming ruler of Newfoundland and seceding from Canada. In the real world, Faustus' boss Eddie Peddle plans to indoctrinate the citizenry of Newfoundland with a cult-like geometric theory known as Total Education, but Peddle may be foiled by the revelation of a secret from his past career.

Recommended Movies

Salomé

Salomé

After the lewd and frenetic Dance of the Seven Veils, and with the solemn pledge from the very lips of Herod himself that she could have whatever her heart desires up to half his kingdom, wanton and proud young Salomé comes before her king with an unreasonable demand. Beguiled by John the Baptist, and then scorned for the sake of his god, lascivious Salomé—encouraged by her mother, the vindictive, Herodias—commands that John be executed and his head delivered on a silver platter.

Zulu

Zulu

As a child, Ali Neuman narrowly escaped being murdered by Inkhata, a militant political party at war with Nelson Mandela's African National Congress. Only he and his mother survived the carnage of those years. But as with many survivors, the psychological scars remain.

The Young One

The Young One

A jazz musician seeks refuge from a lynch mob on a remote island, where he meets a hostile game warden and the young object of his attentions.

Rogue Agent

Rogue Agent

Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.

Hunting Season

Hunting Season

When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.

The Unforgivable

The Unforgivable

A woman is released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.

The Zero Theorem

The Zero Theorem

A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.

Dear Zoe

Dear Zoe

Tess enlists her biological father – a lovable slacker from the wrong side of the tracks – and the charming juvenile delinquent next door to help her come to grips with the death of her little sister.

The Congress

The Congress

An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.

Lorelei

Lorelei

A man is released from prison after 15 years. He reunites with his high school girlfriend, now a single mother of three. What follows is a lyrical take on love, regret and second chances.

Black Snake Moan

Black Snake Moan

A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.

The Nest

The Nest

Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban surroundings, the family is plunged into the despair of an archaic '80s Britain and their unaffordable new life in an English manor house threatens to destroy the family.

Man with No Past

Man with No Past

Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that ultimately reveals the truth.

American Son

American Son

Time passes and tension mounts in a Florida police station as an estranged interracial couple awaits news of their missing teenage son.

Goodbye June

Goodbye June

Four siblings' lives change drastically when their ailing mother takes a turn for the worse over the holiday season.

Not Without Hope

Not Without Hope

A group of friends' fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they're left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.

The Rover

The Rover

Ten years after a severe economic collapse in the western world, lawlessness reigns and life is cheap. Eric is a lone drifter, and his car is his only possession. When a gang steals it, Eric comes across the injured Rey, left behind by the car thieves. The pair form an unlikely and uneasy alliance.

Extortion

Extortion

A doctor desperately tries to save his wife and their 5 year old son after their vacation in the Bahamas takes an unexpected turn.

Play Dirty

Play Dirty

During World War II in North Africa, a group of British commandos disguised as Italian soldiers must travel behind enemy lines and destroy a vital Nazi oil depot.