EL REINO (The Kingdom)

[+ José Soplanucas]

 

"El Reino" is an Argentine production you can watch in Netflix. I recommend it. The trailer is in Spanish, but you an set up the youtube's subtitles feature to get the translation. It was a huge success and locally very controversial because of its negative depiction of Evangelicals, a growing group in Latin America.

But what actually inspired this thread is a coincidence. In the series, the pastor and his wife hide money in the walls of the temple. Today, I woke up to this news in the Post:

A plumber was working on a toilet at Joel Osteen’s church. Then a trove of cash and checks fell out of the wall.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/12/03/joel-osteen-lakewood-plumber-cash-toilet/

It is behind a pay wall, but the headline is enough.

[cany10011]

Talk about art imitating life, or vice versa. 

[+ José Soplanucas]

1 hour ago, cany10011 said:

Talk about art imitating life, or vice versa. 

I thought about making that comment, and then I thought... where did El Reino's writers get the idea?

Obviously, the series is written based in a lot of research. Perhaps, this is an extended practice amongst churches and other organizations hiding illegal money. I would not be surprised. 

[cany10011]

I hear real life stories from friends/ colleagues about wife swapping in a bridge club, swinging, hiring rentboys at the pied a terre while the husband is busy working overtime and paying the doorman off in crystal meth not to gossip, forcing the sale of a piece of art to purchase a new plot of land on the vineyard to prevent a neighbor from building nearby, internecine struggles for inheritances and makes one wonder why isn't there a telenovela out there depicting this. So, yeah, art sometimes does imitate life. 

[mike carey]

19 hours ago, latbear4blk said:

It is behind a pay wall, but the headline is enough.

Puts a whole new slant on 'pay wall'.

[+ José Soplanucas]

2 hours ago, mike carey said:

Puts a whole new slant on 'pay wall'.

I had not realized it!

[BSR]

On 12/4/2021 at 6:18 AM, José Soplanucas said:

 

"El Reino" is an Argentine production you can watch in Netflix. I recommend it. The trailer is in Spanish, but you an set up the youtube's subtitles feature to get the translation. It was a huge success and locally very controversial because of its negative depiction of Evangelicals, a growing group in Latin America.

But what actually inspired this thread is a coincidence. In the series, the pastor and his wife hide money in the walls of the temple. Today, I woke up to this news in the Post:

A plumber was working on a toilet at Joel Osteen’s church. Then a trove of cash and checks fell out of the wall.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2021/12/03/joel-osteen-lakewood-plumber-cash-toilet/

It is behind a pay wall, but the headline is enough.

I always read the IMDB user reviews before starting a series, and the ones for The Kingdom were interesting.  Viewers seemed to either love it or hate it, depending on whether or not they liked the series' condemnation of evangelicals.  I loved the series, but didn't see it that way.  Instead, I saw it as a study in how power and money corrupts.  The pastor loses his soul as he stashes vaults of cash in the temple walls and lusts for the power of the presidency while his disciple, the dirt-poor Tadeo, lives a true and pure life.

Controversy aside, the series is brilliant.  An evangelical pastor drawn to politics is thrust into the spotlight when his running mate (for president, the pastor for VP) is murdered.  It turns out to be a mistake since it's soon discovered that the assassin had intended to kill the pastor.  The series exposes the sordid underbelly of the church and the equally sordid backroom deals of politicians as we learn why the pastor was targeted.

The whole cast is good, but two performances really stand out.  Chino Darín plays the pastor's son-in-law and right-hand man.  It's a complicated role (can't say more than that, don't want to give away spoilers) in which Darín really shines.  I was pleasantly surprised since he was totally wooden and awful in a series I saw him in 6 years ago (The Embassy).  Maybe Chino decided to buckle down & hone his craft instead of living off his father's name (dad's a very famous actor). 

Even better was Diego Peretti, who plays the pastor.  The cash hidden in the temple walls is just the tip of the iceberg of this guy's wrongdoing, yet he preaches the gospel as if he were living and breathing every word.  In other words, yeah, the pastor's a nutjob.  But to be able to play the role without sinking into parody or caricature is a helluva feat.

The Kingdom isn't easy to watch.  It presents a very dark and cynical view of human nature.  If you're looking for something fun, skip this one.  If you're in the mood for romance or comedy, run away as fast as you can.  But if you know what to expect, the series is well-done and well worth watching.

Edited June 19, 2022 by BSR
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