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Some of the stars of the show were in attendance and had already received a warm round of applause.
Von Trier still exerts plenty of control over his work and how its seen.
The fact that it was a TV show was incidental, a kind of aesthetic frill.
(This was before suchdebatesbecame vitriolic, cancel-worthy affairs.)
(For the record, he fully intends to continue working.
This is not some sort of valedictory project.)
AndExodusis as hyper, hilarious, and hypnotic as its prior installments.
It picks up where the previous shows left off.
Luckily, he has a replacement: Mikael Persbrandt now plays Stig Helmers son, whom everyone calls Halfmer.
Halfmer is even more of a Swedish chauvinist than his father was.
Much like Stig, he also cries out Danske javlar!
at the end of every episode.
(Now translated as goddamned Danes!
that line will forever be Danish scum!
in the hearts of anyone who saw the series back in the 1990s.)
The jokes about Sweden dont end there.
Over the course ofKingdom: Exodus, everything from Ikea to Tetra Paks comes in for a beating.
Alexander Skarsgard shows up as a Swedish lawyer whose office is a stall in a mens room.
)The Kingdomhad fun with Swedes, butThe Kingdom: Exodustakes things to diplomatic-incident levels.
Instead, theres a gathering darkness inExodus as well as an aching sentimentality.
This is a much sadder and more reflective version ofThe Kingdom.
(Kirsten Rolffes, the original actress, died in 2000.)
(It appears the chill and the damp have returned …
The gate to the Kingdom is opening up once again.)
O death where is thy sting?
Morituri te salutant KING-dom!)
I didnt know whether to cry or cheer.
I think I did a little of both.
For some of us, this was ourTop Gun: Maverick.
Which is why seeing von Trier again was so moving, too.
This time, he doesnt appear during the end credits.
(Though, spoiler alert, he makesan extremely memorable cameowithin the narrative of the show itself.)
Instead, we see a pair of dress shoes behind the red curtain, silent.
Of course, theres a practical reason why hes not there.
But lets muse further.
The evil interpretation would be that God has finally abandoned us.
And given whereExodusgoes, I suspect that von Trier himself leans in that direction.
We will get no final reassurances from our auteur-deity before the lights go up.
The gates have opened, and were on our own.
