Kungen (2023) User Reviews

Very good production, terrible journalist

[emilgrus · 6/10 · 17 September 2023]

Amazing production and so interesting to get a glimpse into the life of the Swedish King. However, the journalist makes in difficult to watch and I cringed hard many times. She seems to lack common social skills and is not adapting her questions to the situation which makes the king feel so uncomfortable. She brings up unessesary topics like if it's ok for her to walk in front of the king when he obviously does not care and already is doing it, and instead of moving on she continues with the silly questions. I wish a serious interviewer did this documentary so he would be more comfortable and open up more.

Then she seems surprised that they haven't met for over a year... I would never want to meet again after been being asked stupid questions where it feels from the beginning that she has something against him.

She also asks why he doesn't care about hbtq and immigrants which is not true at all and irrelevant in the situation she's asking the questions. He represents a country with some of the biggest immigration per capita and best hbtq politics in the world.

Too little 'King' - too much 'I'

[ingeklarlund · 6/10 · 29 September 2023]

The production should have 10 stars. The filming was excellent. Beautiful pictures. Beautiful light. Beautiful scenes. The music very well chosen. The scenes without speaking has a great effect.. The journalist was no good. She didn't create a room for the king to feel confident and maybe losen up and tell more about himself. Instead she put the spotllight on herself. She came to play a role in the way she interviewed the king and that is a big failure. He is the one we want to learn about. Not her. It was like 'me, myself, I'. Of course the title says it: 'The Kind and I', but it's a shame she missed her chance to make a really good documentary.

Big cinema

[johansk8god · 9/10 · 29 October 2023]

Aims High and delivers. The interviewer/producer Karin Af Klintberg is one of Swedens best documentary makers.

She puts faith in the pictures, here it isong sequences with great photography and cinematic music, a lot of classical music and opera. A bit pretentious and I love it.

Not a journalistic piece but has some cinematic ambitions.

The story about the king is somewhat untold. He had a struggle in his life with his dad passing away early and he has to take on the role as the king. The king is surprisingly open and delivers a good performance.

This is much better than I would ever hoped for, even though I really like Karin Af Klingberg's style. As for the negative reviews, we'll this is not a portrait to please royalists. This is something more, a deeply human picture. All thumbs up.

Negativity on negativity

[hmtnzkjy · 1/10 · 10 September 2023]

No mention about successes or what the king actually does. It's just full of negativity. Questions are disrespectful and probing. It would have been better to get to know the king. Instead he was pushed against the wall and he put up his guard.

How can you put this out and be proud? A huge possibility lost. You put the king under a microscope, instead of creating mutual trust.

So in essence what you're saying in your film is that he's a human who has challenges like everyone else. And you give an incredible amount of space for negativity. It's very challenging to watch.

The soundtrack is from hell itself. I'm gonna have nightmares about this one.

Disappointing due to interviewer's mannerism

[charlies77 · 1/10 · 1 October 2023]

Had looked forward to this documentary. Unfortunately the interviewer totally lacks the ability to adapt to the situation and addressing the king and royal family. Her way of communicating and interviewing the king at times comes across as insensitive and disrespectful. The questions many times are inappropriate, bad or strangely worded. It is noticeably that the king is annoyed by this. The interviewer should wastes an opportunity to get to know the king and understand his world and emotions by asking these questions. Positives are the nice shots and video clips from the archives but that's about it.

Documentary with a wasted opportunity due to anti-monarchy bias

[alfredkilis · 4/10 · 15 July 2023]

I was incredibly excited to watch this documentary with exclusive access to the life of the King of Sweden. However, for the most part, the host wasted a unique opportunity by at times appearing unprepared, unaware of proper manners when engaging in conversation with royalty, and exhibited poor journalism by not properly determining whether or not a question was appropriate. It was rather obvious throughout the documentary that the core issue was concerning the "be or not to be" of Swedish monarchy, as opposed to utilizing this opportunity to extensively review and portray the life and times of a King who has served for over 50 years. The documentary did mostly give accurate and relevant depictions of both highlights and controversies surrounding the King.

Not what you think and terrible journalist

[Kaioh123 · 1/10 · 14 October 2023]

This doc was just about ruined by the journalist. She pretty much shows from the start what a child trapped in an "adults" body looks like.

As a documentary you pretty much learn nothing but how ill-mannered a journalist can be when they really put effort behind it. The images are beautifully shot and the King is great and preserves himself with dignity over her constant snarky remarks and questions, why the palace accepted this interview I do not know they must have been as startled as I was.

From the start her mocking attitude of everything surrounding the Castle sets a bad precedent for what's about to come. If she had so much disdain for the king and the monarchy it's quite petty to show up just to be rude, her anti the King anti the Monarchy anti "history and men" agenda became absurd and quite embarrassing to watch. She entered with a strong bias and acted like a petulant child from the start and was more concerned of degrading the King with condescending remarks and questions instead of getting to know him by being tactful and getting him to open up so we could delve more into of the Kings persona and the Swedish monarchies history. Feels more like a personal attack on the King and the institution than an educational documentary. What a shame and a waste of time.

Stupid journalist

[ollenordelll · 1/10 · 14 October 2023]

The journalist tried her best to destroy the interviews just to challenge the normal way you speak to the king. Would like to see her try a new documentary about the Saudi king in Saudi. That would be interesting so to speak...

Clearly biased towards making the king and the whole thing of a monarchy to look bad. Disrespecting and playing stupid to make every single interview awkward. The King is now old enough to not really care about a little girl playing stupid to make him look bad. Could have been interesting but it was so obvious the whole documentary had only one goal and I recognized that to early to be able to really watch the rest with any interest..

Great potential ruined by bad interviewer.

[XavierCarlos · 4/10 · 6 February 2024]

What looked like a promising documentary at the beginning slowly gets more and more cringeworthy with each interview of the King by a pushy and disrespectful journalist who treats him like a child but at the same time seems desperate for his approval. I am surprised that the King even finished the film as he was clearly displeased and uncomfortable with the rude and intrusive manner displayed by interviewer/ director Karin af Klintberg. If you are looking for an example of how NOT to interview an important person this film clearly demonstrates it. By the end the clear winner is the King who conducts himself professionally and honourably with a sense of humour at times. The clear loser is Karin af Klintberg.

Stupid journalist terrible music choice

[lindalarsen-46608 · 1/10 · 22 October 2023]

This documentary gave me anxiety. Who put this journalist on this assignment, downright embarrassing. Not being able to read situations or address royalty in the right way is both embarrassing and painful to watch.

To be given this opportunity to meet the king and the royal family and not manage it better is scandalous.

Who has approved the music selection in this documentary? It was terrible from start to finish...

she spoke nothing of his successes and all the good he has done during his time as king Who has approved the music selection in this documentary? It was terrible from start to finish...

We have a fantastic royal family and it's sad that the right person didn't get this opportunity instead and could make a more professional and real documentary, this one is really wasted. Karin af Klintberg should continue to stick to children's programs.

Well...

[kijowh · 2/10 · 3 October 2023]

This documentary only showed that the king of Sweden is a white man born on the 1940s without the ability to talk about feelings or go deep. It has a lot to ask for and I wish not the queen and Victoria would have been given a bigger role as it would have broaden the picture. What I did like is the fact that Silvia said "I love you' to the king and he replied "shhhh". I would have wished more of those things, more of them being human beings just as you and I. Not someone you can't even call "you". It's a weird tradition and I hope it doesn't last that long, cause I can see the money being spent way better.