One Night with the King

Plot

The film begins with a prologue—500 years before the main story, depicting the time when King Saul of the Israelites was sent by Prophet Samuel to wipe out the Amalekites who practiced cruel religious practices. King Agag and his queen were captured and brought before King Saul. However, Saul disobeyed God's command by sparing Agag's life and keeping the best livestock. When the prophet discovers this act of disobedience, he rebuked Saul for his arrogance and executed King Agag on the spot. Matters got worse when the Israelites realized that Agag's queen escaped and was pregnant. Carrying an unborn child of the slain king, the queen struggled through the dessert, yet the seed of vengeance grew within her. Eventually, she was rescued by a nomadic tribe, ensuring the survival of the Amalekite royal bloodline.

Generations later, this unbroken lineage leads directly to Haman the Agagite (term for 'descendant of Agag). He inherits his ancestor's bitter hatred and uses his power in the Persian Empire to plot the total annihilation of the Jewish people.

The main narrative is set in Susa, Persia (modern-day Iran). King Xerxes holds a great feast for all the people to attend. An orphaned Jewish woman, Hadassah, longs to go to Jerusalem to see the Holy Land and secretly prepares to leave with the caravan along with her friend, Jesse. They stop by the king's feast before he goes marching to war to avenge his father's death. Hadassah and Jesse witness the king summoning Queen Vashti. Queen Vashti was opposed to the war, desiring King Xerxes to enhance his kingdom instead. She holds her own feast in protest against the war.

Meanwhile—with the goal to manipulate and overthrow King Xerxes—the treacherous Prince Admatha advocates heavily for the upcoming military campaign against Greece. He aligns with Haman and pays him to speak of him to their monarch. When the king summons Queen Vashti to his feast, she refuses to come, stating, "I am queen and I will not lower my dignity. Or shame my crown by wearing it before your drunk and thinly veiled war council". Because of this, the king is advised to banish her and select a more worthy queen.

All beautiful unmarried women in the city of Susa are brought to Xerxes. Under the command of her overprotective cousin, Mordecai, Hadassah does not reveal her nationality or family and changes her name to "Esther" (after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar). Eventually she is taken in with the rest of the selected women and given cosmetics, perfumes and treatments under the care of Hegai, the king's royal eunuch. Through her quick wit, intelligence and integrity, she becomes Hegai's favorite.

Modification

The film generally adheres to the main plot of the Biblical version. However, the film adds stylistic elements not present in the Biblical story, as well as depicting several non-Biblical minor characters.

Production and sales

The movie's Premiere Night took place at Mann Bruins Theater in Los Angeles, California. The movie, filmed entirely in the state of Rajasthan, India, was released in theaters on October 13, 2006. During its opening weekend, it earned $4,120,497 in theaters. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had earned $13,395,961 domestically, and $13,728,450 worldwide.

Cast

Tiffany Dupont as Hadassah/Esther, the main protagonist. The orphaned future queen and cousin of Mordecai. Esther's parents died prior to the start of the film.

Luke Goss as King Xerxes I of Persia, Esther's husband; who is insecure in his new position as king.

John Rhys-Davies as Mordecai, Esther's overprotective cousin and father-figure. Esther's nickname for Mordecai is Uncle Mordecai. Moredcai took Esther in after her parents died.

Omar Sharif as Prince Memucan, one of the few truly loyal Princes of Persia.

Tommy Lister, Jr. as Hegai, the Royal Eunuch, the harem's bodyguard.

Jonah Lotan as Jesse/Hatach, Esther's close friend who becomes a Eunuch in the Persian palace.

John Noble as Prince Admatha, a scheming prince who plots to become king himself.

James Callis as Haman, the Agagite, the film's main antagonist, Haman tries to use his position to kill the Jewish inhabitants of Persia. Scenes including Haman and his followers in the film make use of imagery associated with Nazism, including swastika-like symbols and torchlit nighttime rallies.

Peter O'Toole as Prophet Samuel

Denzil Smith as Prince Carshena

Jyoti Dogra as Queen of Persia Vashti

Tom Alter as King Saul of Israel

Aditya Bal as Amalekite King Agag

Tarina Patel as Hannah

Production

The movie was filmed entirely in the state of Rajasthan, India.

Jeannie Tenney wrote and sang "One Night with the King", which can be heard during the final credits. She was a co-author with her husband, Tommy Tenney (also a producer of the film), of the book upon which the film is based.

Promotion

The Genius Club from writer/director Tim Chey was also released theatrically in 2006.

Reception

Box office

One Night with the King was released to theaters on October 13, 2006. During its opening weekend, it earned $4,120,497 in theaters. By the end of its theatrical run, the film had received $13,395,961 domestically, with $13,728,450 worldwide. Subsequent DVD sales were strong at $20,688,299, more than making up for production costs.

Critical response

One Night with the King received a mixed reception, garnering a 78% score with audiences (25,000+) on Rotten Tomatoes, but only 17% positive rating among critics (24 reviews). It's critical consensus reads: "Despite its epic source matierial, One Night With the King is held back by dull storytelling and a clumsy script".

Variety praised it as "Blessed with abundant production values and a minimum of campy excess, 'One Night with the King' is a surprisingly satisfying attempt to revive the Old Hollywood tradition of lavishly appointed Biblical epics aimed at mainstream auds [sic]."

Roger Moore of the Tribune New Service also praised the film, comparing the visuals as aspiring to the heights of Lord of the Rings on a fraction of the budget: "Filmed at an Indian castle, with digital vistas added to re-create the ancient capital Persepolis, this movie reaches for the scale of “Lord of the Rings” or “The Chronicles of Narnia” at a fraction of the cost. It doesn’t quite get there. But the filmmakers have done justice to a tale that is tribal history, not a supernatural myth. Esther’s triumph isn’t due to divine intervention. It’s her humanity and bravery that make her a legend, and make that “One Night” worth remembering, 2,500 years later."

V.A. Musetto of the New York Post similarly praised the visuals, but criticized the pacing of the story, "The cinematography and sets look great, but the script is a bummer. It's overlong, overwrought and overblown."

MovieGuide gave it 3 out of 4 stars, stating "One Night with the King is impressive for many reasons. The most apparent is that it has big production values with good-looking sets and crowd scenes on a moderate budget. Secondly, it is a well-told story even if it is slightly too long and has a few, very minor plot problems."

Accolades

One Night with the King was the recipient of a 2007 CAMIE award.

The film was awarded four Doves by the Dove Foundation and received the Dove Family-Approved Seal.

Classification

The British Board of Film Classification granted this motion picture a PG certificate, noting that it contained "images of moderate battle violence".

In the US, One Night with the King is rated PG by the MPAA for violence, some sensuality and thematic elements.