Esther et le roi

Like other Italian works of this era, underappreciated and cynically criticized for what it is not, this is a work of art, beautifully woven together in music, mood, and cinematography leaving the viewer in the end fulfilled in the desire to escape from the modern world into a place inaccessible, and, yes, surrealistic.

The music, written by the Italian master Francesco Lavagnino, one of the great movie music composers of the 20th century, commands the mood of each scene and spans the range of moods in the work, from the march of soldiers to the Queen in the flower garden to her love scene with the King to the mystic mood in the ruins where Simon hides. It is a fine piece of composition.

The words in the script are, in some scenes, not meant to be ordinary conversation, but rather noble thoughts, royal council, and human aspirations, and thus are written and delivered as such. When mental burdens weigh heavily on the King, he is told by his friend Mordecai that "... by lifting the burdens of others one can lift one's own burden ... " Such thoughts are actually quite profound, that in some cases depressed moods arise from self-centered thinking and self-victimization, and that by helping others in a selfless way one can relieve one's own burdens. In the garden, Mordecai councils Esther that " .. the King is attracted to her sense of justice and loyalty, the same qualities that bind her still to Simon, her previous love, and that may turn the King against her in jealousy..."

The cinematography in the scene of the death of Simon, where the camera rises above Simon and the queen to the Star of David, which then appears on the wall of the next scene, is very well done. In another scene, the King is asked whom he had chosen to be his queen, and as he replies "A girl named Esther", the camera pans past the concerned face of Haman to reveal the quite different satisfied expression of Mordecai.

There is much to appreciate in the music, words, and visual presentation of this work. Of course this is not meant to be a documentary, a faithful retelling of an ancient story. Criticism should be directed at how it fails in its own intent as a melancholic, romantic, and introspective fantasy, rather than based on the viewer's expectations. If my understanding of its intent is near the mark, then my conclusion is that this work, like the Raoul Walsh epic The Big Trail made 30 years earlier, succeeds very well.

What do you get when you put middle-range American stars in the leading roles in a peplum film? Pretty good peplum, that's what. Contrary to what one might expect, "Esther and the King" is not a lavish Hollywood historical spectacle in the mode of DeMille, but is an Italian production using Joan Collins and Richard Egan to play the eponymous characters. For this reason the film is often characterized as a bargain-basement epic, whereas it is actually a peplum with a slightly higher than average budget. Appealing performances by the leads, a delightfully schlocky musical score, a good story, and atmospheric sets and cinematography makes this an enjoyable sword-&-sandal effort.

¨The power , the pageantry , the sweep of one of the greatest love adventures of all¨ . Biblical costumer with the hunk Richard Egan as the great Persian king , statesmanlike as well as conqueror ruler , and the gorgeous Joan Collins as Judean maid , the young Jewish girl , Hadassah , goes on to become the Biblical Esther , the Queen of Persia , who saves the Jewish nation from annihilation at the hands of its archenemy , Haman . As the stiff king wants to her in place of the murdered queen , Daniella Roca . The movie is partially true to the Biblical account of a Jewish woman who , at the risk of her own life, stands up to the King and a man named Haman , Sergio Fantoni , who was almost successful in convincing the king to wipe out all of the Jews in the land . In the Bible, one of the best lines is spoken by Mordecai , played by Denis O'Dea , Esther's uncle , who tries to assuage Esther's fear by saying, "Who knows, perhaps you have been chosen for such a time as this" . It was written : ¨Gather together all the fair young virgins unto the palace and let the maiden which pleased the king be queen¨ . In the end , Haman constructed a gallows from which to hang Mordecai whom he insisted was subversive , but things go awry .

This is the classical and biblical story of Esther , a book in the Old Testament and King Artexerxis , a powerful Babylonian king . This is breathtaking movie in every sense : filmmaker used spectacular palaces , luxurious gowns , stirring dances full of beauties , and lots of extras . Writing and direction , however are average . ¨Esther and the king¨ is in the greatest Cecil B DeMille tradition , the best in mass audience , displaying great production design and lavishly made . There is romance , battles and intrigue as is common with many Old Testament accounts . Epic , rambling events and spectacle are regularly blended in this flick realized in Peplum style , if raggedly and tortuously scripted story of Esther and the King . Wooden acting by Richard Egan and marvelous Joan Collins , though this vehicle first was announced for Hedy Lamarr in 1953 . Here Esther is portrayed as one who is not only fun-loving but brave and wise and Artexerxes is portrayed as a man who carefully measures his decisions and falls deeply in love with Esther . It boasts superior secondary cast plenty of known American/Italian actors . As support cast is pretty well , such as Dennis O'Dea , Rick Battaglia , Gabrielle Tinti , Rosalba Neri , Folco Lulli , Renato Baldini and Sergio Fantoni as Haman who was hanged on his own gallows . There is another version about these deeds titled ¨One night with the king¨ (2006) by Michael O. Sajbel with Tiffany Dupont as Hadassah / Esther , Luke Goss as King Xerxes , John Noble as Prince Admantha , Omar Sharif as Prince Memucan , John Rhys-Davies as Mordecai and James Callis a Haman, the Agagite

This long epic Italian/USA co-production shot in Cinemascope and color by De Luxe well photographed by Mario Bava . Evocative and moving musical score by Angel Francesco Lavagnino . The motion picture financed by Galatea Production and realised by Twenty Century Fox Corporation was professional but middlingly directed by Raoul Walsh . Raoul was an expert on action , thriller , Film Noir , Western genres . He made several adventure/epic movies as ¨Blackbeard pirate¨, ¨Sea Devils¨, ¨Captain Horacio Hornblower¨, ¨The world in his arms¨ and this ¨Esther and the king¨ and at the same time collaborated , but uncredited , in ¨Helen of Troy¨ by Robert Wise .

There isn't a whole lot to distinguish this middling biblical epic from the sea of others that came out in the mid-50's and early 60's, but it offers a certain degree of entertainment. Egan (decidedly miscast) plays the King of Persia (with Brillcremed hair and a standard American accent) who returns from a long battle to find that his wife has been enjoying the services of one or more of his men. He excuses himself from her and sets out to find a new virgin bride, choosing from all the maidens in his kingdom. Virginal Jewess Collins (yes...that's right) is the title character. She is snatched away mere moments before becoming wed to Battaglia and is taken to the palace to be groomed for the selection process. Once there, she is protected by her uncle O'Dea (who entreats her to hide her Jewish heritage) and is targeted by Fantoni who is Egan's right-hand man. Fantoni has another lady in mind for the throne so he can use her to his own ends of taking over the kingdom. Eventually, Collins realizes that she and only she can spare her people from destruction and she decides to leave behind her dreams of a life with Battaglia and pursue Egan. Egan, still in very good shape physically, makes a handsome king and gives an okay performance. He is just patently contemporary in his look and delivery. Collins is very attractive throughout (complete with heavy bouffant 60's hair!) and does an adequate job as well, but is always more interesting as a villainess than as a docile young maiden. O'Dea lends able support as her wise and stalwart uncle. It would be difficult to summon up a more virile, hirsute, hunk of man than Battaglia as Collin's abandoned lover. Seeing him, one can understand the torment she had at having to turn her back on her past and move on. The location work, fancy sets, pageantry and gauzy costumes keep this from being too dull, but there is an awful lot of chatter and hand-wringing in between the action sequences. Stay awake for the scene in which Egan gifts Collins with a tiger cub and then immediately steps over to a lyre and plunks out what sounds like the opening strains of "Born Free"! As expected, considerable liberties have been taken with the original story, yet it doesn't result in that much more spectacular a film.

This is a good looking movie, too bad it is so mediocre. Joan Collins is beautiful and her acting is okay, but it can't save this movie. The other actors were okay too. This movie was hampered by the campy dialogue and a mediocre script. I was unhappy that partway through the movie, the story veers away from the traditional bible story of Queen Esther. I heard that this movie is one of Joan Collins' least favorite movies, and I understand why now. Somehow, if the writer of this movie had gone the traditional route of Queen Esther accusing Haman at the banquet, there would be the much needed drama and excitement.

However, if anyone has a hankering to see a real campy film filled with pretty people, pretty clothes and silly dialogue, this is it!

I give this movie a "D".