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For Such a Time: The Story of Queen Esther DVD Review by Emma Filbrun
Jim PappasOrion’s Gate
http://orionsgate.org/
For Such a Time is a 90-minute movie, available from Orion’s Gate for $9, telling the story of Esther. It begins with Mordecai coming home and Esther, known as Hadassah at that point, asking for news about Queen Vashti. She is quite curious about the queen being deposed and the search for a new queen—but horrified at the measures her father takes to keep her, as a beautiful young woman, from being seen. Even so, she is found and taken to the palace, where she becomes queen. Then, when a plot is shaping up to destroy all of her people, she bravely goes to the king and begs him for mercy.
We enjoyed watching this movie, but were not very impressed with its quality. It is obviously older; it looked like it was converted from a video tape. The costuming was very basic, and all of the scenes were shot in the same building; props were scanty and the acting was not the best we've seen. On the other hand, the story was brought to life in a way that I believe was good for my 6-year-old who has a hard time remembering stories. Except for one short scene, the entire movie was very clean and safe for any age. That one scene starts at 1:19:11, where a servant of the king threatens one of Haman's servant girls with a knife to her throat. This part lasts for about 5 seconds.
If you can overlook the homemade appearance of the costumes and set, and the long-winded speeches at times, this is a very safe film for a family. It very accurately tells the story from the Bible; in fact, much of the dialogue is directly quoted from there. We loved some of the lines that were added. My favorite was the impatient King Ahasuerus complaining about the girls that were being brought for his consideration for a new queen: “I grow weary of beautiful idiots who are so unsure of their beauty that they cover themselves with layers of grease and powder.” As he says this, his servant makes horrified faces. Then, the king says it's like kissing a dusty floor! I told my teenage boys to think about this when they are looking for a wife.
- Product review by Emma Filbrun, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November 2018
