Esther, also known as The Bible: Esther, is a 1999 American television movie directed by Raffaele Mertes starring Louise Lombard as Queen Esther, F. Murray Abraham as Mordecai, Jürgen Prochnow as Haman, Thomas Kretschmann as King Ahasuerus and Ornella Muti as Queen Vasthi.
It aired in the United States on November 5, 2000.
Hadassah (Louise Lombard), a beautiful Jewish girl, lives with her cousin Mordecai (F. Murray Abraham) in Susa, the capital of Persia. After King Ahasuerus (Thomas Kretschmann) deposed Queen Vashti (Ornella Muti) of her throne, because of her refusal to attend a feast and for ridiculing her guards. He decrees an order to choose a new queen. Hadassah changes her name to Esther, meaning "hidden". Guards go to the surrounding places of the castle and capture virgins. Mordecai attempt to hide Hadassah but she is captured by the guards. The guards allow her to say farewell to her kinsmen. Mordecai tells her not to tell anyone she is a Jew and introduce herself as Esther, he also tells her to forget her name but not to forget that she was a Jew. They are taken to the first harem, where they are placed under the custody of Hegai (Phil Davies), he explains to them that
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