News & Views
One Lavish Production: One Night with the King
Nearly every little girl dreams of being a queen -- the palaces, the crowns and fancy dresses, and above all else, marrying the king. Esther lived that dream. The movie One Night with the King tells her story.
I have to admit, I went into this movie very suspicious of it. Though the trailer was intriguing, I usually think of Bible movies as being as low-budget Sunday school productions. Also, sometimes the plot is less interesting because I already know what is going to happen. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I loved the film One Night with the King.
The film tells the Biblical story of Esther as she rises from peasant girl to Queen of all Persia. She lives in Susa, the capitol city, with her uncle, Mordecai the Scribe. She dreams of returning to Jerusalem. However, fate intervenes. She is taken to the palace to try to become the next Queen. While there, she falls in love with the king. After their royal marriage, she discovers a plot by Haman the Agagite to kill off all of her people, the Jews. Esther must decide what to do to stop this plot. After much soul-searching and prayer, she decides to risk her life to see the king, punctuating the decision with the immortal words, “If I perish, I perish.”
The film is an intricately woven story with many subplots. Palace intrigue, love, jealousy, hatred and racism combine forces to shape the destiny of the Jewish orphan girl who became queen.
Esther walks the aisle in the movie One Night with the King. (Gener8xion Entertainment Photo)
The primary storyline follows Esther and Xerxes as they fall in love. Crucial to believing the storyline, however, is buying into the theory of love at first sight. On their second meeting the King proposes to Esther after she gives him her most valuable possession, a necklace her parents had given her. “This is my past, my present and my future—and it is all yours,” Esther says. This all seemed rather rushed to me. If the real Esther fell in love with Xerxes, I think it would have taken much, much longer.
The set of the movie was lavish and gorgeous. The movie was filmed on location in three exotic, ancient Mogul palaces in Rajasthan, India, with costumes designed by an award winning Indian costume designer Neeta Lula. For some of the scenes, they brought in rose petals by the truckload. The many imaginative sequences in the film make me think of the Phantom of the Opera. The film is a visual feast, done on the epic scale of the Lord of the Rings.
The producers chose excellent actors to play the roles in the film. Esther was played by Hollywood newcomer Tiffany Dupont, who has never been in a motion picture before. Some areas of the character could have been better developed, and sometimes what the character says or does or the emotions displayed are confusing. However, because she is a newcomer, her work as the lead is exceptional.
The producers wanted a complete newcomer for the role. In the production notes, it said, “They were intrigued by the prospect of an audience watching an actress undertake a journey from unknown to potential star that paralleled Esther’s own rise from obscurity to Queen.” The actress looked the part of the innocent Jewish girl who rose to be a powerful Queen.
Overall, the movie is a lavish production that creates a captivating depiction of the beloved story of Esther. Unfortunately, it is not showing in Bartlesville, but it is worth the drive to Tulsa to see it. It is rated PG and is 123 min.
Find out where the movie is showing.