Ester, a Rainha da Pérsia

Melodramatic, routine Biblical story and passable epic by italian filmmaker Raffaele Mertes . ¨The power , the pageantry , the sweep of one of the greatest love adventures of all¨ . Biblical costumer with Thomas Kretschmann as the great Persian king , statesmanlike as well as conqueror ruler ,after overthrowing Babylonian . He is really the powerful Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), King of the Persians, and whose empire now extends from India to Egypt after the defeat of the Babylonians and he falls for gorgeous Louis Lombard as Judean maid , the young Jewish girl , Hadassah , goes on to become the Biblical Esther , the Queen of Persia , who saves the Jewish nation from annihilation at the hands of its archenemy , Haman . Before the King can pair off with Esther and defeat the villainous Haman, there are several intervening adventures and an additional, attractive woman who competes for attention. As the stiff king wants to her in place of the rejected queen , Ornella Muti .The young Jewess Esther (Louise Lombard) , adopted daughter of her uncle Mordecai (F. Murray Abraham) , is among the girls selected for his harem . When the Jew Mordecai fails to kneel down before Haman (Jürgen Prochnow) like all the others, Haman's irritation with him is transformed into a deep hatred of the Jewish people. The movie is partially true to the Biblical account of a Jewish woman who , at the risk of her own life, stands up to the King and a man named Haman , who was almost successful in convincing the king to wipe out all of the Jews in the land . In the Bible, one of the best lines is spoken by Mordecai , Esther's preceptor , who tries to assuage Esther's fear by saying, "Who knows, perhaps you have been chosen for such a time as this" . It was written : ¨Gather together all the fair young virgins unto the palace and let the maiden which pleased the king be queen¨ . In the end , Haman constructed a gallows from which to hang Mordecai whom he insisted was subversive , but things go awry .

This is the classical and biblical story of Esther , a book in the Old Testament and King Artexerxis , an important Persian king . This is a spectacular TV movie in every sense : filmmaker used spectacular palaces , luxurious gowns , full of beauties , and lots of extras . Writing and direction , however are average . ¨Esther and the king¨ is in the ordinary tradition , the best in mass audience , displaying great production design and lavishly made . There is romance , fights and intrigue as is common with many Old Testament accounts . Epic , rambling events and spectacle are regularly blended in this flick realized in Peplum style , if raggedly and tortuously scripted story of Esther and the King . Overacting acting by Thomas Kretschmann as King Ahasuerus and marvellous Louise Lombard who gives an enjoyable acting as the valiant Esther . Here Esther is portrayed as one who is not only fun-loving but brave and wise and Artexerxes is portrayed as a man who provides cruel measures and strong decisions ; subsequently , falling deeply in love with Esther . It boasts superior secondary cast plenty of known Italian actors . As support cast is pretty well , such as : F. Murray Abraham, Umberto Orsini , Renato Scarpa , Peter Guinness , Jürgen Prochnow as Haman who was hanged on his own gallows . There are other versions about these deeds titled ¨Esther and the King¨(1960) by Raoul Walsh with Joan Collins , Richard Egan , Denis O'Dea , Sergio Fantoni , Gabriele Tinti , Rosalba Neri , Daniela Rocca, Renato Baldini and ¨One night with the king¨ (2006) by Michael O. Sajbel with Tiffany Dupont as Hadassah / Esther , Luke Goss as King Xerxes , John Noble as Prince Admantha , Omar Sharif as Prince Memucan , John Rhys-Davies as Mordecai and James Callis a Haman, the Agagite.

This long epic Italian was shot in big scope and glimmer color by De Luxe well photographed by Giovanni Galasso , filmed on usual location in Ouarzazate, Morocco . Evocative and moving musical score by Carlo Siliotto . The motion picture financed by Lube Lux Vide/Betafilm , British Sky Broadcasting , in association with RAI and was professionally directed by Raffaele Mertes . He is a good cameran and director who has made a lot of TV movies , such as : María Magdalena (TV Movie) , José de Nazaret (TV Movie) , Tomas , Judas , Bible : Apocalypse , Un dottore quasi perfetto (TV Movie) , Sacred Family (TV Movie) , Carabinieri (TV Series) , Un amore e una vendetta , Angeli & diamanti , Questa è la mia terra , among others .

This was the second version of the story of Esther that I have watched (third if you count the VeggieTales version), and it was much better than the other I'd watched. As far as I can remember the other Esther I watched--"One Night With the King"--had poor acting, and I was not pleased with it's adaptation of the Bible story. I was concerned that I'd find the same problems with this version; however, I was pleasantly surprised.

"Esther" follows the Biblical account very well (which is one of the most romantic and exciting Bible stories--it has its own book of the Bible); in fact it brought some aspects of the story to light that I'd never noticed before. The actress playing Esther was perfect for the role (in fact, all the casting was well done). There was beautiful romance, but it did not "cross the lines" (in other words, minimal skin showed), and my mother and I fully enjoyed watching it together.

I have to say i really got exited by this movie and i am not a model Christian. I am not an atheist but i haven't read the bible, I don't go to church, I don't keep lent, I don't pray. I don't even watch Bible movies. But I am really glad I saw this one. It speaks very well of it since it can excite even someone like me. There is faith, there is history, there is romance. It feels like a fairy tale for adults and I mean this in a positive way.

The actors have done a wonderful job and what really pleases me is by the words of the other reviewers the film is faithful to the the way it is depicted in the Bible. I have always thought "When you film a book, be accurate" and I think this should be considered especially for the book of books.

Marvelous, powerful movie. 10/10.

This movie's directing, editing, dialogue, scenography, acting and music are all 10/10. I really cannot find a fault and I find faults in most movies.

I may not agree with the roles of women in the society or that the proposed solution to the massacre is a massacre, but then again, a movie doesn't have to be feminist or pacifist, but to describe a story, and this is a nice story, though not of our time.

I suspect it may be looked down upon for its being a movie from the Bible and not being a big production. Probably no one expects excellency from it and its merits are not recognized. Its vote may depend more on what is expected such a production to be rated.

I have yet to read Esther fully in the Bible (but will tonight after this review) so I cannot comment on the scriptural accuracy of this film, but I will say that whether Jew or Christian, its an exceptional moving film and the main actress worthy of her title as "queen"!

F. Murray Abraham and the Louise Lombard are terrific and bring real feeling to their roles. I also leaped for joy when I saw Ezra and Nehemiah brought in as supporting roles. Of the films in this excellent DVD package (Solomon, Genesis and Jeremiah) I found this the most rewarding. Someone suggested that a theology student shouldn't be using this film and others like it as cliff notes for The Bible, but I would recommend them as a wonderful starting point and rewarding entertainment for others as well. My only wish is that the rest of the films in the series would get released on DVD (Notably "David" and "Moses". They are spiritually uplifting and well worth a rental or a purchase!