The Bible: Esther DVD 1999 A Biblia: Eszter / Directed by Raffaele Mertes / Starring: Louise Lombard, F. Murray Abraham, Jürgen Prochnow, Thomas Kretschmann

UPC 5999546332469

MADE IN HUNGARY

REGION 2 PAL DVD

Audio: English 2.0, Hungarian 2.0

Subtitles: Hungarian

Runtime: 90 minutes

English Summary:

Hadassah (Louise Lombard), a beautiful Jewish girl, lives with her cousin (and legal guardian) Mordechai (F. Murray Abraham) in Shushan, the capital of Persia. After King Achashverosh (Thomas Kretschmann) deposes Queen Vashti (Ornella Muti) for her refusal to obey his decree, he is advised to choose a new queen. Guards then search his entire kingdom for worthy candidates, taking them from their homes by force and removing them to the palace. Mordechai attempts to hide Hadassah but she is captured by the guards. For her protection and at the insistence of her cousin Mordechai, Hadassah changes her name to Esther, meaning "hidden". Esther and the rest of the young women are taken to the first harem, where they are placed under the custody of Haggai, a royal eunuch and chief caretaker of the harem. Meanwhile, Haman, another royal advisor (Jürgen Prochnow) rises to power and favor of the king. Memuchan (Umberto Orsini), a trusted chamberlain of the king, is wary of Haman's ambition. Mordechai also makes an enemy of Haman, due to Mordechai's refusal to kneel and show Haman deference as others in the kingdom do. Haman plots revenge on Mordechai.

After a time of purification, it is time for Esther and the other women to present themselves to the king for one night. The king falls in love with Esther and crowns her queen. Sometime later, Mordechai hears a plot that two of the king's guards, Bigthan and Teresh, are plotting against the king and reports to Esther. Esther then exposes the plot to the king, and the men are sentenced to death.

Hungarian Summary:

Jeruzsálem pusztulása után, csaknem hat évszázaddal Krisztus megszületése előtt a babiloni területeket perzsák hódították meg, és létrehoztak egy hatalmas, új birodalmat. Ahasvérus, a perzsa király elrendelte, hogy kutassanak fel fiatal szüzeket a háremébe. Ide került a zsidó Márdokeus húga, Eszter is, akit a király nemsokára Perzsia királynőjévé tett. A szép és okos királyné kezébe vette a zsidó nép sorsát és megmentette az esztelen pusztítástól.

Cast / Szereplők:

• Louise Lombard as Hadassah / Queen Esther of Persia
• F. Murray Abraham as Mordechai
• Jürgen Prochnow as Haman
• Thomas Kretschmann as King Achashverosh of Persia
• Ornella Muti as Vashti
• Natasha Williams as Mimouna
• Frank Baker as Ezra
• John Hollis as Charbonah
• Umberto Orsini as Memucan
• Phil Davies as Chagai
• Peter Halliday as Karshenah
• Cristopher Ettridge as Hatach
• Darren Branstord as Nehemiah