Esther: The Film

So tonight in small group, we had a little recap of the series we've been looking at for the past couple of months. We've been going through the book of Esther, noting how God uses us to change everything. Tonight, we did a little fun activity to review. We broke into smaller teams to pretend as if we were making Esther into a film. We were asked to come up with:
- A Title
- A Tagline
- The Genre
- The Cast
- 5 Main Scenes

Here's what my team created:

Title: The Princess Queen Diaries

Tagline: (Not particularly catchy) "She thought becoming royalty was all about banquets… until she heard the cries of her nation."This tagline may have to be modified with some added humour, as we have chosen our…


Genre: Dark Comedy


Cast: This part was pretty fun, actually.

Anne Hathaway as Esther, the poor Hebrew girl turned royal Persian queen. (I think this casting decision comes mainly from our team's recollection of the makeover scene from 'The Princess Diaries'.) source

Gerard Butler as King Xerxes, the banquet-loving King of the Persian empire. source

Colin Firth as Mordecai, Esther's cousin who raised her as his own daughter when her parents died.source

Rowan Atkinson as Haman, King Xerxes' power-hungry advisor who orders the massacre of the Hebrew people. source


5 Main Scenes:


1) After King Xerxes banishes his Queen for her disobedience, he searches the land for a beautiful new queen.  Esther is brought to Susa, a poor young Hebrew orphan, raised by her cousin.  She undergoes (a montage) beauty treatment after beauty treatment preparing her skin and hair for the King. She is eventually selected from hundreds of girls (a la American Idol) to be the new queen (but she keeps her identity secret to hide her Hebrew heritage and beliefs).

2) Mordecai, Esther's cousin, overhears 2 of the King's guards plotting to kill the King. Mordecai reports what he hears, the King is saved, the guards are executed and Mordecai's good deed is recorded in the 'book of the King'. Now, all is not good for Mordecai, as it turns out. Haman, the King's advisor is elevated so highly in the court that all of the King's subjects are expected to bow to him… but Mordecai will only pay honour to his God. Haman gets so pissed off that he decides he wants to kill not only Mordecai, but his whole people, the Jews. Haman convinces the King to approve a decree that will mean a massacre of the Hebrew people. He casts lots to decide the day of the massacre. When Mordecai hears of this, he immediately tears his clothing and covers himself in ashes. He sits at the King's gate, fasting and mourning.

3)When Esther hears about Mordecai's predicament, she contacts him and learns of Haman's decree. Mordecai convinces her that 'perhaps she became Queen for such a time as this', and with some encouragement, she decides to approach the King in his throneroom, which is a crime punishable by death unless the King extends his 'golden sceptor'. She asks all of the Jews in the land to fast and pray with her as she prepares to approach the King. Finally, starving and more afraid than she's ever been in her life, she approaches the King…

… and he extends his sceptor! He says "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you." So, Esther invites the King and his advisor Haman to a banquet. So, those three sat down for a bite. Again, the King asked "What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given you." Esther invites the gentlemen to another banquet later that week.

The next day, Haman gathers with his wife and all his buddies to brag about his status and his wealth. His friends suggest that he build a huge gallows to hang Mordecai on. So, Haman has a 75-foot gallows built.

In the meantime, the King is having a hard time sleeping. So, he pulls out the ole 'book of the King' and flips to the page where Mordecai's good deed is recorded. He asks the official standing by 'What was done to honour this man who saved my life?' and discovers that the good deed went unrecognized. He asks "Who is in the courts nearby?" and he finds Haman. He asks Haman "What should be done to someone the King wants to honour?". Haman thinks that the King is talking about him, so he tells the king to seat the man on the King's horse and drape him in the King's robes and have him led around the city with a nobleman proclaiming "this is what the King does for the man he wants to honour!" It was a bit of a nasty shock when he found out that the King wanted to honour Mordecai… and that Haman was the nobleman who would lead him around the city.

And so, Haman was made to give the man he despised the honours he would have had bestowed upon himself.

4) (While Scene 3 is largely based upon the building up of events, Scene 4 presents the climax of the story) All quotes from the NLT.

Haman rushes home, hanging his head in shame, to tell his friends and his wife what events had just passed. "Surely you can't go against Mordecai now— the King loves this guy!".  Haman is soon whisked off to the palace for banquet # 2.

After King Xerxes, Haman and Esther enjoy a second delicious banquet, the King asks Esther "Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be granted."

(this is the good bit)

Esther replies (probably not looking at Haman) ""If I have found favor with you, O king, and if it pleases your majesty, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request.  For I and my people have been sold for destruction and slaughter and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king."

The King is pretty pissed! "Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?"

Esther calmly accuses Haman. The King is foaming at the mouth! He decides to cool off in the garden. At this point, Haman falls at Esther's feet, pleading with her for mercy. Now, the particular manner with which he falls probably didn't look so good from the King's perspective as he re-entered the room— he roars "Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?"

Enter Harbona, a eunuch. Harbona casually mentions that Haman has built a giant gallows in his own yard with which he has been planning to hang the King's hero, Mordecai. "Hang him on it," decides the King. And so, Haman is executed on his own gallows.

As the date of the massacre is fast approaching, and the decree of the massacre is signed by the King, Xerxes regretfully informs Esther that it's too late for him to call it off… but the Jews can defend themselves!

5) Victory! The Jews have not only defended themselves, they have defeated all of their enemies! They have a massive celebration, which they call 'Purim' (which comes from the word 'lot's, because Haman cast lots to decide the date of the massacre.)

The film ends with a big party! Yay Esther!!!

…

I hope you enjoyed that, because it was definitely entertaining for us in our small group to imagine Esther on screen!