As the second wife of the King of Persia, Queen Esther went from Jewish maiden to a very powerful woman, and use that power for good. Now that's the type of princess or queen to celebrate, and her goal is for her people to be able to live in peace. Under the reign of King Ahasuerus (Thomas Kretschmann), Queen Esther (Louise Lombard), corruption in his regime is discovered, through his own right hand man (Jürgen Prochnow), while Esther saves the life of her cousin/guardian F. Murray Abraham. This is a biblical story taking place during the time when the post-Exodus Jews were a scattered people, with many of them living in Persia, and Israel not yet under their control. This is years before David and Solomon, an era not much dealt with in the movies, although there was a 1960 B Epic with Joan Collins and Richard Egan, fun but mediocre, and easy to find 8n a public domain version.
This film, made over a year before its American TV release, is spectacular and certainly cinematic, and while not in a huge wide screen does look very good on modern televisions. Lombard certainly is quite a beauty, and very convincing. Abraham adds another memorable role to his many others, with Prochnow a great villain (given some noble qualities to make him less one dimensional) and Kretschmann a very commanding king who is allowed to be troubled, sometimes arrogant and proud. A shocking scene has Esther, picked up basically as a slave, and tossed into a harem, becoming the wife after the king gets rid of his first one, Vashti (Ornella Muti). One of many made for cable biblical films in the 90's and early 21st century, this is quite a stunning movie.
This film, made over a year before its American TV release, is spectacular and certainly cinematic, and while not in a huge wide screen does look very good on modern televisions. Lombard certainly is quite a beauty, and very convincing. Abraham adds another memorable role to his many others, with Prochnow a great villain (given some noble qualities to make him less one dimensional) and Kretschmann a very commanding king who is allowed to be troubled, sometimes arrogant and proud. A shocking scene has Esther, picked up basically as a slave, and tossed into a harem, becoming the wife after the king gets rid of his first one, Vashti (Ornella Muti). One of many made for cable biblical films in the 90's and early 21st century, this is quite a stunning movie.