The basic premise is a tale told by a local African man about a group of people who get stuck in a dead end village in the African desert 500 miles from any major city. They have little water and a bunch of old tin canned carrots that they found in a run down building that they can eat to keep themselves alive. With virtually nothing to do but wait for one of their own to return from another village with news – and hopefully some kind of help – they begin to rehearse Shakespear's King Lear.

At first, due to their predicament, it seems ridiculous to be staging a play. But after a while it seems just as legitimate as anything else since they have no where to go and nothing else to do. Plus, what could be better theater than real people dying in the desert doing Shakespeare?

The film, directed by Danish director Kristian Levring, is shot in video and follows the Dogme 95 rules, which include such regulations as; shooting must be done on location, props and sets must not be brought in, the camera must be hand held, etc. Like the other Dogme films it does break some of the rules but it stays close to the most significant rule which is, 'to force the truth out of the characters and settings.'

The characters all have their own personal baggage and, of course, the desperate desert dilemma they face only heightens the problems. Especially with the two married couples who decide they don't love each other any more.

The major actors include Jennifer Jason Leigh who plays a dumb sexy blond, Bruce Davison and Janet McTeer who are unhappy married couple number one, Chris Walker and Lia Williams who are unhappy married couple number two, David Bradley who is the man who stages the play, a fussy French woman played by Romane Bohringer and a cocky Brit played by David Calder. Rounding out the gang is Miles Anderson who heads off to the nearby village for help and Vusi Kunene the bus driver who got them into this mess by following a faulty compass.

Each of the actors do a pretty good job of playing serious drama. But there seems to be something completely artificial and intentionally confrontational about the whole thing. If you buy the whole story and you like the actors as well as the concept of performing a play while at death's door then it's worth a look. But if you don't and you find the whole thing ripe for comedy then it's a waste of a good two hours.

Video:
The movie is shot in video 1.33 to 1 and transferred to film giving it both a slick and a grainy look. On the big screen the images were startling due to the desert lighting but on the small TV screen it looks unremarkable. Plus there are a good number of scenes with compression artifact. The images are also bright with good detail.

Audio:
Audio is presented in Stereo surround and sounds very good. Most of the film is comprised of talking heads and everything can be heard well. The desert locale adds a lot of wind and natural dusty sounds giving the film an genuine soundscape. There is not much of a soundtrack.

Extras:
For a $30.00 list price this DVD should have some extras other than a trailer but alas it does not.

Overall:
The King is Alive is a very powerful drama that is at times almost too ridiculous to be believed. A dozen people stuck in the African desert faced with a most certain death decide to stage Shakespeare's King Lear. The concept is fascinating, the acting is fairly good and the images are good but don't transfer to well to DVD.