Rent The Bible: Esther (1999)
3.2 of 5 from 50 ratings
1h 28min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
After contributing as Director of Photography and cinematographer for most of The Bible series. Raffaele Mertes makes his directorial debut in this powerful story of love, passion and religious conflict. After the proud Queen Vashti refuses to be commanded by her husband King Xerxes, he passes a law that all women must honour and respect their husbands and he effectively banishes Vashti from the royal household. Esther, a young and beautiful Hebrew woman and cousin of the cunning Mordecai, charms Xerxes and the royal court and becomes the new queen. But Esther has hidden her religious and tribal background and when the king's chief treasurer devises a plan to persecute and kill the Jews. Esther has to make some life-changing decisions... - Actors:
- Louise Lombard, F. Murray Abraham, Jürgen Prochnow, Thomas Kretschmann, Ornella Muti, Frank Baker, John Hollis, Umberto Orsini, Phil Davies, Natasha Williams, Peter Halliday, Christopher Ettridge, Darren Bransford, Nicola Harrington, Peter Guinness
- Directors:
- Raffaele Mertes
- Producers:
- Roberta Cadringher, Lorenzo Minoli
- Writers:
- Sandy Niemand
- Studio:
- Lace DVD
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, TV Classics, TV Dramas
- Collections:
- A History of The Classical World In Cinema, A Brief History of Film...
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Reviews (1) of The Bible: Esther
Not very epic - The Bible: Esther review by SB
This is a relatively short and focussed film in a long series of Biblical stories, this one set in the time just after the Jews' captivity in Persia. It is a story of love and court intrigue. The former is simple enough (and very low key since the film is PG certificate), but the latter is a bit difficult to understand at first, mainly because the intriguers are all elderly men with beards. Once the main villain is identified however, all goes well. Louise Lombard hardly looks Jewish, but makes an intelligent and beautiful replacement queen after her predecessor (Ornella Muti, singularly wasted) gets too big-headed and is fired , while F. Murray Abrham tries to be cunning and honest at the same time. It's basically a feel-good film about the origins of the Jewish Purim festival. Nearly all of it is set, fairly credibly, in the King's palace and surrounds, with not many desert scenes.
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