Ahasverus, king of Persia and Media, puts aside Vashti and makes Esther his queen, choosing her among maidens in a kingdom stretching from India to Ethiopia. Esther, using information from Mordecai, her uncle and patron, saves the king from assassination. Haman, the king's favorite, is miffed when Mordecai won't bow to him, so he orders death to all Jews in the kingdom, under the seal of the king. Esther pleads for her people, and Mordecai is in turn given license to make his own edict under the king's seal. Mordecai loses sight of his original intention, and bloody murder ensues. Purim annually celebrates the story. At the end of the film, the actors comment.
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Cast
18 people
Simone Benyamini
Esther
No other roles listed
Juliano Mer-Khamis
Haman
Also in
Night Terrors
Rage and Glory
Zare Vartanian
Ahasverus
David Cohen
Hagai
Also in
Magnum, P.I.
Shmuel Wolf
Narrator
Also in
An American Hippie in Israel
Sallah
Sara Cohen
Singer in Hebrew
Also in
Jewish Blind Date
Rim Bani
Singer in Arabic
No other roles listed
Mohammad Bakri
Mordecai
Known for
The Night Of
Cairo Conspiracy
Yasmin Alush
Fuad Awad
Sigal Azrad
Nahoom Berkovitch
Amos Gitai Director · Stephan Levine Writer Henri Alekan Cinematographer
First release January 1, 1986 · Produced in Austria, Israel, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France · Languages Arabic, Hebrew
Production
ORF
Production
AGAV Films
Production
Interkerkelijke Omroep Nederland (IKON)
Production
United Studios
Production
Channel Four Films
Production
Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)
Production
Austria · Israel · United Kingdom · Netherlands · France
Produced in
Languages
Original title
אסתר
Original language
Hebrew
Spoken on screen
Arabic · Hebrew
Release dates
France · January 1, 1986
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
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Some details come from TheTVDB.