Esther (1999)

Don't Believe the Hype

A Masterpiece!

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

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 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 is another film in the Time Life series of Bible films, and in "Esther" we see the events of the book of Esther from the Old Testament played out in a convincing and realistic way. The film sticks closely to the Bible narrative, even using the script word for word from the Bible, at least from the New King James Version, which I read along with the film while watching. Acting is excellent, and Louise Lombard does well in the title role. F Murray Abraham, an excellent actor, plays the part of Mordecai very well, and Thomas Kretschmann, whom I had not previously heard of, does an excellent job as King Ahaseurus. Jürgen Prochnow does a good job of playing the evil Haman, and by the time Haman is executed, I was hating Haman for his evil crimes, and regarding Mordecai, Esther and Ahaseurus with great admiration. The film also uses other Biblical characters, not mentioned in the book of Esther, but whose books come before Esther in the Bible, i.e. Ezra and Nehemiah. I am not sure if they were contemporary with Esther, or shortly after her time, but the way they are used in the film fits in very well with the story. I had previously seen a 1950s film with Joan Collins about Esther, which was totally wrong and mostly made up, whereas this film is very true to the Bible and worth seeing. Even if you have never read the Bible or know the story of Esther, I would recommend this film as it is a great film in its own right, and very enjoyable and watchable.

This movie is exceptionally well made. It is also extremely faithful to the Scripture, except for the different notation on the result of the war between the Jews and their attackers among the Persian provinces. I saw some other movies of this Bible series, such as Joseph (another favorite of mine), David, and Solomon, and this one ranks up high with Joseph. The only thing I could think about after watching this movie was the magnitude of Esther's moral character. I was in awe when I saw the faith with which she prayed God. ***SPOILER: Maybe the scene that had the greatest impact was the one where Esther prostrated onto the ground to pray for the delivery of her people and fasted for three days and three nights. ***END SPOILER*** Awesome. Ten Stars.