One Night with the King
by Michael O. Sajbel
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: John Noble, John Rhys-Davies, Luke Goss, Omar Sharif, Tiffany DupontDirector: Michael O. Sajbel
Brand: Fox
Producer: Carlos DeMattos
Producer: John Nelson
Producer: Laurie Crouch
Producer: Lawrence Mortorff
Writer: Mark Andrew Olsen
Writer: Stephan Blinn
Writer: Tommy Tenney
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 123 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-01-30
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Movie Reviews of One Night with the King
Movie Review: A WORTHY ADAPATATION OF THE STORY OF ESTHER brave, wise, "beautiful and lovely"
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me say that I am a very stern critic of films. Though I love plays and films -and I have written a few plays myself- most modern-day films to me are shallow, trivial and boring because for the most part, they rely on violence, sex and special effects and neglect dialogue and the development of character. Flags of Our Fathers is a good example of a well-mounted, expensive mediocre film with vapid characters and a script that could have been slapped together at the last minute for a made-for-TV production. There was not a single memorable line or performance. The music was insipid and dull. I said of FOOF "when the last Japanese soldier died it died." I also said I would have no interest ever in seeing even five minutes of FOOF again.
Now let me talk about ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING. It was everything that FOOF was not. It is a splendid retelling of one of the masterpieces of world literature from that greatest of all classics, the Bible. For those of you who don't know, Esther is the heroine of the biblical book bearing her name and was the Jewish wife of the King Xerxes of Persia (485- 464 BC or BCE).
Though I knew the story of Esther and Xerxes as least as well as the story of Iwo Jima, ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING, kept me interested and presented the material in a fresh and compelling way. Some nitpickers complain about problems with continuity but this errors (if they are errors) did not distract from the drama in the least, in my opinion.
I didn't know what to expect with this film as the reviews were very mixed.
But I was intrigued but the fact that the WORD OF MOUTH was phenomenal. But people often exaggerate.
But I trust the taste of people I know and who know what I like.
My teenage daughter thought it was the best picture she had seen the entire year. She was entranced by it and said I was sure to like it. I did like it. Very much. So did my wife and the audience who applauded at the end and who watched the film in silence though occasionally, wiping away the tears (as I did myself). ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING was visually beautiful. It had a great story and held my interest every minute and was fast moving (just over two hours).
I thought ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING was very respectful to the original story and there was nothing hokey about it at all. It was very clear that the story was based very closely on the plot of the Biblical story. All the elements are there; Queen Vashti disgracing Xerxes at a royal banquet, Moredacai telling Esther to keep her Jewish identity a secret, Mordecai overhearing guards discussing a plot to murder King Xerxes, Mordcai refusing to bow to the evil prince Haman the Agagite. Peter O' Toole had a nice cameo role as Samuel, the Prophet,and Omar Sharif a good supporting role as Prince Memucan, one of the generals who opposed Xerxes invasion of Greece.
The individuals performances in ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING could not have been better and there was a lot of chemistry between the players. Mordecai played by veteran British character actor John Rhys-Davies was really a tour de force. Rhys-Davies, who also narrated with his rich Welsh voices, created an interesting, dynamic, well-rounded figure who begins as a partially assimilated Jew passing himself off as a scribe in the court of Xerxes and who ends up as a prince of the realm who along with Queen Esther saves the Jews from massacre. His relationship with Hadassah/(Esther) was very warm and believable. Hadassah-Esther was charming played by a very pretty exotic beauty: young Tiffany Dupont. At first I though she was rather plain but later she became -Eliza Doolittle like- a real lady of elegance and intelligence. Part of her charm is her unusual ability to read and interpret the classics of Persia and Babylonia as well as the Bible in several languages. This Cleopatra like class and learned dignity makes her attractive, unique character entirely believable.
Miss Dupont's beauty would not be out of place in Jerusalem today and was entirely believable as the one King Xerxes (Ahasuerus in the Bible) " loved...more than all the women, and she {Esther) found grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins (Est. 2:17). I could not help but compare her to Haya Harareet the "Esther" of Charlton Heston's Ben Hur Haya, who really outside of Ben Hur was principally known from a few Italian sword and sandal epics, was attractive, comely and competent but too old and somewhat matronly -she was pushing 30 in 1959- for the part of the young girl Esther in the Lew Wallace story. By contrast the girlish Miss Dupont is totally believable as a young woman in her late teens or early twenties. Of course, Ben Hur was a big budget epic but besides that it was satisfying as a historical and religious drama in the way most Biblical epics of that era were not. ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING recaptures the same respect for religious heritage as BEN HUR and succeeds as a human drama as well though not on the same large scale as BEN HUR. That alone is a considerable achievement in my book.
I enjoyed Miss Dupont's performance and her relationship with the Hegal the black Royal Eunuch played movingly with Tommy 'Tiny' Lister. Ester had beauty but also charm and brains and with her slim resources built up a network of loyal friends and informants who helped her, in the end, triumph over the ruthless Persian princes. Xerxes played Luke Goss was made to seem a tragic, doomed figure and actually quite sympathetic, hardly at all like the debauched Xerxes of so many re-telling of Herodotus, the Persian Wars or the 300 Sparatans. Haman, the Amelekite played by James Callis was a deliciously sinister anti-Semite who got his comeuppance (off-screen) just before his planned pogrom on the 13th day of the the 12th month (Adar).
Prince Admatha was played by John Noble of Lord of the Rings fame, and was deliciously vile as a plotting, corrupt Persian vizier.
The exotic Indian setting worked and this movie had everything, lovely gardens, exotic monkeys -who playfully ate the pork Esther cut for herself but did not eat-, human characters, intrigue, suspense, betrayal, sudden reversals, delicious reverseals and as in the Bible a happy ending (for the Jews at least).
I am aware that there is some question, historically, whether or not Mordecai and Ester or the antagonist Haman were authentic persons. Historians have debated whether or not the Jewish tale was pure fiction and derived from Persian legends of Marduka and Ishtar.
But the film was very faithful to the Bible tale of Esther as we know it without being stagy and flat like THE GREATEST STORY EVERY TOLD, for example, George Steven's noble failure to tell the story of Jesus. The Greatest Story Ever Told was cinematically lush and had strong individual performances but it just could not succeed as a GREAT movie because it lacked vigor and humanity. But ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING did succeed mightily. I know of no other Biblical film with such an interesting and heroic female lead. The portrayal of Xerxes was totally unexpected and humanly played.
We know the background of Xerxes of Thermopylae fame and his father Darius of Marathon fame to be authentic. We know from Greek sources that some of his advisors opposed the invasion of Greece as beyond the resources of the Persian Empire. We also know that historically there seems to be no independent corroborating evidence that Queen Vashti or Esther existed (outside of the Bible). This does not mean that there is not a solid historical basis to the story. Whoever wrote the original story had first hand knowledge of Persian customs and practices.
ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING is no dud. It really turned out to be one of the most interesting studies of anti-Semitism and quasi-fascist fanaticism made recently. There is no question the film makers were sympathetic to the Jews defending themselves from anti-Semitic pogroms past and present. There is no question the filmmakers were making a direct connection between the evil and murderous hatred of Haman with the Nazis and present day Islamic radicals who repeat over and over calumnies about the Jews and America while urging death and annihilation to America and all the Jews.
I recommend ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING highly to anyone who is interested in the heritage of the Bible, history and splendid free heritage of the Israel and the Western world. As I viewed the film I could not help think that Islamofascists of modern day Persia and Arabia would deeply hate and resent this film and would like to destroy the negative. Then I came to realize that many appeasing secular progressive critics -who cringe before the threat of Islamo-facsict radicals - would not like the message of this film which is that love and truth will triumph over evil , lies and deception.
At the same time I thought that Jews -particularly the heroes of the IDF- and Christians all over the world would gain a new appreciation for the story of Esther and Purim.
Don't be deceived. ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING is entertaining, wholesome, literate and, inspiring.
Filmgoers of taste and discrimination will enjoy this solid film adaptation of the Biblical story of Esther "beautiful and lovely" in which beauty, brains and GOOD triumph over EVIL. Brava, Esther.
This is a film I will watch again with great enjoyment.
This is a film worthy of the splendid ancient heriage of the great, brave and noble people of Israel.
Summary of One Night with the King
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