Coming up next we have 2006's "One Night With The King", the Biblical story of a Jewish girl who became Queen of Persia and saved her people after a plot to annihilate them comes to light.
The film's cast includes Tiffany Dupont, Luke Goss, John Noble, Omar Sharif, John Rhys-Davies, Tom Lister Jr., Peter O'Toole, Jyoti Dogra, James Callis, and Jonah Lotan.
Hadassah is an orphaned young Jewish woman who resides with her people within the Persian Empire.
She lives with her uncle, Mordecai, who works as a scribe within the palace.
The Persian Empire is ruled by King Xerxes, and by his side is the beautiful Queen Vashti.
At a feast before a war which will avenge his father's death, King Xerxes commands Vashti to appear before the assembled guests.
Queen Vashti refuses, saying, "I’m Queen, not a pawn. And I will not lower my dignity or shame my reign by wearing the royal
crown before your drunk and thinly veiled war council."
Because of her disobedience, the king is advised by his ministers to divorce her and to select someone more worthy to take her place.
Women from all over the empire are selected to come to the palace. Hadassah is one of them. Before she goes, Mordecai cautions her to hide her Jewish ancestry and to change her name to "Esther", which would be more acceptable to the Persians.
When Esther arrives at the palace, she is amazed at the luxury and splendor of the Persian court. She also finds favor with the chief eunuch, Hagai. When he asks her where she comes from, Esther coyly replies, "I am...of the wind, whose sound is heard yet
none can tell from whence it comes or where it
goes."
While Esther is preparing herself to meet him, the king finds he is on shaky ground. Some of his ministers want to undermine him and seek to destabilize his rule.
One day, it is discovered that Esther knows how to read. Hagai helps her to gain the king's favor, advising her on what the king likes and dislikes. He also arranges for her to read to him to soothe his troubled mind.
She reads for the King from a scroll, but then begins to tell a story about Biblical characters Jacob and Rachel. The king is intrigued and tells Esther that he would like for her to read to him again.
Esther eventually falls in love with the king, and he, feeling the same way, asks her to marry him.
Still hiding the true nature of her origins, Esther is crowned Queen of Persia before a cheering crowd.
Meanwhile, a man named Haman wants to kill all the Jews in the empire.
Internally, the king's ministers dislike the hold Queen Esther has over her husband, and they seek to divide them, whispering accusations in the king's ear that sows doubt in his mind about their relationship.
Eventually, Haman is made one of the king's ministers and seeks to gain Queen Esther's support in his scheme to rid the empire of the Jewish race. Naturally, she is against such a plan. It also comes to her attention that Haman has it out specifically for her uncle Mordecai and plans to have him hanged publicly.
Queen Esther, hearing her uncle's words in her mind that she was "chosen for such a time as this", hurries to the king's audience chamber. Knowing she could be killed because she goes before him unsummoned, Esther boldly ascends the steps to the throne.
At the last moment, the King extends his scepter to her, meaning that she has his permission, and Esther's life is spared. She invites the King and Haman to a special dinner.
At the dinner, Esther reveals her Jewish origins and also tells the king of Haman's plot to wipe out the Jewish race. With a little help from a necklace the king gave her, Esther's story is believed, and Haman is taken away to be hanged on the very gallows he erected for Mordecai.
Despite her Jewish nationality, the king fully accepts Esther, and the two embrace.
Mordecai is elevated from scribe to the rank of Prince of Persia, and he is instrumental in helping the Jews to achieve better conditions within the Persian Empire.
And that's all for One Night With The King. This movie was filmed on location in Rajasthan, India, and it took three years before it reached movie audiences. The Book of Esther is one of only two books in the Bible that does not mention God. The other is Song of Solomon.
This film is available for you to watch in its entirety here. It's very beautifully done and, even though it received mostly negative reviews, I think it is an excellent adaptation of the story.
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