Hello Everyone,
Evelyn Here,
Last Tuesday evening I went the movies with a friend to see the movie “One night With the King", which is based on the biblical story of Esther and King Xerxes/Ahasuerus. the movie tells a beautiful story of the a n intelligent young Jewish woman, Hadassah, with a free-spirit who is caught up in the political intrigue and a 500 year old grudge that threatens to destroy her, her people and Xerxes' kingdom.
On the advice of her uncle, Mordecai, Hadassah changes her name to Esther. Her story begins when she and hundreds of youth women throughout the kingdom are brought to Xerxes' palace to train as candidates for new queen of the land. Xerxes dismissed his first queen, Vashti, for not coming to a political feast. Her presences would have meant a show of unity in the kingdom in front of the other princes and consulates. According to the bible, after refusing to come to the feast several times an ancient law was provokes that resulted Vashti losing her status as queen and sent to lands unknown but where men were despised.
Esther is trained alongside all the other candidates and becomes popular among them. However, unlike the others, she does not change as a person. she is her own woman. whereas some women put on airs they never possessed before, show signs of selfishness and greed, or simply faint away at their first sight of the king. Esther does none of this and is so unpretentious and witty that King Xerxes falls in love with her at their first meeting.
The story get more involved, and an ancient race of people bent on settling a 500 year grudge bring Esther and Xerxes’ love more to the surface. The movie ends with this determine young woman saving the king, the kingdom, and her people by defying age old traditions, which states that no woman under any circumstances shall enter the presences of the king without being first summoned. The penalty for such as act was immediate unquestionable death.
As with other religious based movie released in the last three to five years, I have enjoyed this one, and I was surprised that it was not given better promotional reviews like the “Passion of Christ”. While “One Night With The King” does not have Mel Gibson as director and producer, the movie has all the spiritual elements that not only unified a nation but can empower woman of today.. The Book of Esther is a great biblical story, and Esther is a great role model for women throughout the ages.
This version of the Book of Esther is adapted from the book, “Hadassah: One Night with the King” by authors Tommy Tenney and Mark Andrew Olsen.
The movie has a PG rating for violence, very mild sensuality, and some of its thematic elements. Its moral rating is Excellent!
The cast includes Peter O’Toole (Samuel), Tiffany Dupont (Esther), James Callis (Haman), John Rhys-Davies (Mordecai), Omar Sharif (Prince Memucan), Luke Goss (Xerxes), John Noble (Prince Admantha), Tommy Lister (Hegai)
Director: Michael O. Sable
Producers: Gener8Xion Entertainment / Marilyn Beauties, Stephan Blink, Richard J. Cook, Matthew Crouch, Wendi Lampas, Lawrence Mort Orff, and John Nelson
"One Night With The King" released on October 13, 2006.
This is a “must see” movie for the Christian community.
