Trivia for
"Riget" (1994) More at IMDbPro »

• Lars Von Trier says on the DVD that this is an up-to-date Matador, a Danish TV series that ran from 1978-82, depicting life in a small provincial town from the 1920's through to just after the second world war. The series was a huge success, and has become somewhat of an icon.
  
  
• Ernst-Hugo Järegård never had a driver's license, and only ever drove a car during the shooting of this series.
  
  
• Despite (maybe even because of) his character's Dane-detesting attitude, Ernst-Hugo Järegård became hugely popular in Denmark in the wake of Riget, and was even considered a sex symbol by many Danish women - much to his own surprise.
  
  
• The dishwashers' voices had to be dubbed throughout the first series, as it proved impossible for the two actors to recite their lines correctly.
  
  
• The large factory-like building that Dr. Helmer surveys with his binoculars from the hospital roof is the Swedish Nuclear Power Plant at Barsebäck. Due to its proximity to Copenhagen it was a frequent source of friction between the two countries until it was shut down in 2005.
  
  
• The character name Stig Helmer, is taken from the name of the character Stig-Helmer Olsson (portrayed by Lasse Åberg) which is the protagonist in the long running Swedish comedy movie series of "Sällskapsresan" during the 80's and 90's. The character Stig-Helmer Olsson is the epitome of Swedish dullness and strictness, which is somewhat parallel to the character of Stig Helmer as an unsympathetic Swede.
  
  
• For the German-speaking markets, 'Riget' was translated into 'Hospital der Geister - The Kingdom', as a direct translation, 'Das Reich', for obvious reasons was deemed inappropriate.
  
  

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