good movie. good cast. good storyline. good movie. The story of Ester is a classic. The movie is a very good love story that may or may not make you cry.

I'm not familiar with many Biblical tales but I do know a bit about the Persian empire and Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. So, to learn about a historical connection to the Biblical Esther was interesting. The story plays like a love story between...
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I'm not familiar with many Biblical tales but I do know a bit about the Persian empire and Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. So, to learn about a historical connection to the Biblical Esther was interesting. The story plays like a love story between Xerxes and Esther, all very cutsy, wrought with miscommunication and passion (between two attractive lead pics). It also reads of a story of courage and sacrifice as Mordecai stands for his beliefs and Esther declares herself and begs her king/husband to save the Jews from extermination. I suppose it could be real, depending on how much stock you put into the bible and into which historian you prefer to believe. So, historical accuracy aside, onto to the film. It was a bit too cutesy but uplifting. I did have to rewatch the first few scenes because I wasn't well versed in the story of Saul and Agag, etc. I thought those first few scenes provided a nice historical background but not enough for those ignorant of the story. In any event, Peter O'Toole was a welcome glimpse at the beginning...isn't he in any film? So, the pacing, the story, the actors, dialogue...all were fine, mediocre. Honestly, what stood out for me, though, were the costumes. I don't know quite how realistic they were but utterly beautiful they were. The clothing, the crowns, the sets, the makeup...perhaps over the top but rich nonetheless.

A biblical story about Esther (The book of Esther). Nicely told, with some high quality actors in it and a believable re-telling.
Although I found it played a little to happy. Now, this is debatable of course, as what I could assume as a...
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A biblical story about Esther (The book of Esther). Nicely told, with some high quality actors in it and a believable re-telling.
Although I found it played a little to happy. Now, this is debatable of course, as what I could assume as a general happiness that flowed through all the scenes of the movie (even in the bad-guy scenes) could in fact be related as a prevailing sense of hope (and the universal recognition of Joy through the Divine) but since I'm not privy to the filmmakers vision, I have to assume that it's just bad film making.
The direction is well done, not great, but there a couple of very moving and powerful moments.
The real star of the show is Omar Sharif. He is a scene stealer that wily one.
Tiffany Dupont (Hadassah / Esther) is a solid choice for the role. She's beautiful and petite against the giants and the sets, helping to symbolize the raw power of what she was facing, (both physically and spiritually).
The wedding scene was very well researched in my opinion, as at that time so many cultural cross-pollinations were the norm.