Esther (1999 film)
| Esther | |
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DVD release cover
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| Genre | Biblical drama |
| Based on | Book of Esther |
| Screenplay by | Sandy Niemand |
| Directed by | Raffaele Mertes |
| Starring |
Louise Lombard F. Murray Abraham Jürgen Prochnow Thomas Kretschmann Ornella Muti Natasha Williams |
| Theme music composer | Ennio Morricone |
| Country of origin | United States Italy Germany |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Roberta Cadringher Lorenzo Minoli |
| Cinematography | Giovanni Galasso |
| Editor(s) | Alessandro Lucidi |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Five Mile River Films Lux Vide Beta Film Quinta |
| Distributor | Beta Films |
| Release | |
| Original release |
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| External links | |
| Website | |
Esther, also known as The Bible: Esther, is a 1999 American-Italian-German television film directed by Raffaele Mertes and starring Louise Lombard as Queen Esther, F. Murray Abraham as Mordechai, Jürgen Prochnow as Haman, Thomas Kretschmann as King Achashverosh and Ornella Muti as Vashti.
It aired in the United States on November 5, 2000.
Hadassah (Louise Lombard), a beautiful Jewish girl, lives with her cousin (and legal guardian) Mordechai (F. Murray Abraham) in Shushan, the capital of Persia. After King Achashverosh (Thomas Kretschmann) deposes Queen Vashti (Ornella Muti) of her throne, because of her refusal to attend a feast in her royal crown , to show her beauty, and for ridiculing him and his officers. He then decrees an order to choose a new queen. Guards then go to the surrounding places of the castle and capture virgins. Mordechai attempts to hide Hadassah but she is captured by the guards. The guards allow her to say farewell to her kinsmen.at the insistence of her cousin Mordechai, Hadassah changes her name to Esther, meaning "hidden", he also tells her to forget her name, but not to forget that she was a Jew. They are taken to the first harem, where they are placed and sorted under the custody of Hagai (Phil Davies), a royal eunuch in charge of the first harem , Esther finds a girl crying and comforts her. Chagai asks which nationality Esther is from ,her answer frustrates him and he sends her to be placed. after a length of time , after a lesson in royal etiquette , while everyone is busy preparing herself for the king, one of the girls tells Esther that when it is their time to go to the king they may ask for anything they want to take with them. Esther asks her new maid-servant, Mimouna (Natasha Williams)about what to expect from the king , and asks how it feels to make love to a man and Mimouna replies that it depends on the man. a few nights later , it is time for Esther to present herself to the king , mordechai gives some money to a eunuch , and we are shown how they prepare the royal bed chamber for the event. that night, at Esther's first meeting with the king , achashverosh tests Esther about what she has learnt from the harem and life, then asks her name and unveils her. A rose falls. The king asks her if she picked it for the king and she answers no. The king then tells her she is different from the others and makes love to her. The next day after being brought to the Queens Chambers, in the second harem to be dressed like a queen , Esther is brought to the throne room and ceremonially crowned queen. a few nights later, Mordechai hears a plot that Bigtan and Teresh are planning against the king and reports to Esther. Esther then exposes the plot to the king, and the men are sentenced to death.
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