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starring: Miles Anderson, Romane Bohringer, David Bradley, David Calder, Bruce Davisondirected by: Kristian Levring
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 0027616880017
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Compilation, Dolby, NTSC
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Release Date: November 19, 2002
Running Time: 110 minutes
Sales Rank: 4723
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: May 11, 2001
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Editorial Review:
Description:
'Stunning' (The Village Voice), 'stylish' (Los Angeles Times) and 'potent' (Variety), this exquisitely crafted film charts the tale of ten hapless tourists lost in the heart of the African desert. Compelling performances from a 'strong international cast' (The Hollywood Reporter) highlight this 'original, epic vision [that] reacquaints us with the mystery of what it isto be human' (Film Quarterly)! When their bus breaks down in the middle of the Namibian desert, a mismatched group of travelers meets the absurdity of their situation head onby staging an impromptu production of 'King Lear.' But as tempers flare, passions ignite and their hopes of rescue dwindle, they soon begin to realize that in the heart of the African wilderness, the only thing more fearsome than Mother Nature is human nature.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Pretentious, Dreary, Ugly and Boring -- With Unlikable Characters
I'm a fan of survival films, especially desert survival films like "Flight of the Pheonix" and "Sands of the Kalahari." Other films could partially fit this description as well, such as "Lawrence of Arabia," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," "Sahara," "The English Patient" and even the recent "Mummy" flicks.
"The King is Alive" is such a film. A bunch of travelers get stuck in the desolate Namibian desert and conduct Shakespeare's play "King Lear" to pass the time and keep their sanity.
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Rating:  - One of the top twenty best pictures in 2001
This film turns around the study of the several sociological human reactions under edge knife conditions. The play of Lehar in the middle of the desert is just one more device to explore the inner soul of every human being in that hopeless place.
An extraordinary performance of Jeniffer Jason Leigh.
In this argumental line there's a film of Buñuel titled El angel exterminador , that is very closed related to this one.
Rating:  - The Dead Zone
This "experimental" movie about 11 people who get lost in the desert, managing to survive in a difficult and unusual situation, is a missed attempt at trying to examine the human condition. Shakespeare`s play "King Lear" is a central element here, as the filmmaker tries to use it as a starting point to study its characters ideas, dramas, reactions and motivations, however this doesn`t quite work as well as it should and ends up being a pretentious, long and lifeless movie. There`s a promising dramatic ... Read More
Rating: - Powerful film, **not** a "Lear" remake!
"A group of people stranded in the desert decide to stage King Lear" does not begin to summarize this powerful and challenging film, which shows how extremity reveals both flaws and strengths of our characters. One of the stranded characters, who has unresolved issues with his own daughter, attempts to convince the other characters to stage "Lear," or as much of it as he can remember and write down. This attempt proceeds haltingly against crisis incidents between the various characters and against fragmented ... Read More
Rating:  - Reach Exceeds Grasp
"The King is Alive," is problematic in a very good way. It's a Dogme film, which means it was made under a set of rules that holds the film maker to natural light, ambient sound, actual locations, and possibly a few more restrictions. Working within that format the director, Kristian Levring, has made something quite remarkable. His location is the Namibian desert, and he has captured the splendor of the light, color, and landscape quite well. The intrusion of a soundtrack is blissfully missing, and the only ... Read More
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