At The Movies: One Night with the King

‘Uncle Mordecai, does not your own heart long to see our people restored to glory?’

Each ‘At The Movies’ selection is a movie that is both enjoyable to watch, and a good starting-place to explore important topics. High school students can expand on their analytical and writing skills by answering questions, writing plot summaries and character descriptions, and pondering upon important, far-reaching themes in discussion or essay-writing assignments.

About the movie: One Night with the King

Hadassah is a young woman who lives with her benevolent uncle in ancient Susa, capital of the Persian Empire. They are Jews, and they are aware that they are not in favour with the reigning powers. When the Queen disobeys her husband and is dethroned, King Xerxes must choose a new wife. According to tradition of the time, women are gathered together by his guards and imprisoned in the palace for a year’s preparatory beauty treatments. When the time is up, the King will choose a new Queen from among them, after they spend a single night together. Hadassah is one of those captured, but rather than dreading the trial, she continues to better herself with reading and maintaining a cheerful and sensible attitude. Circumstances evolve so that she finds herself in the King’s presence long before her ‘one night’, and they begin to forge a deep understanding. He chooses her as Queen, not knowing that she is a Jew, for she has taken the Babylonian name ‘Esther’ at her uncle’s urging. As the plot develops, an ancient feud inspires an evil Agagite to plot for the death of all Jews. Only by revealing her true identity can Hadassah hope to undo the deadly chain of events he has set in motion. She chooses courage and honesty, and along with her Uncle Mordecai, earns a place in the Persian Kingdom for both herself and her people.

Rating: PG (imbd.com) / Date of release: 2007 / Language: English / Subtitles: no / Country: U.S.A. / Purchase: watch free on Youtube (link included)