The sword of Persia

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Movie
German title The sword of Persia
Original title Ester e il re
Esther and the King
Country of production Italy , USA
original language English
Publishing year 1960
length 99 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Raoul Walsh ,
Mario Bava (Italian version)
script Raoul Walsh,
Michael Elkins
production Raoul Walsh
music Angelo Francesco Lavagnino ,
Roberto Nicolosi
camera Mario Bava
cut Jerry Webb
occupation
synchronization

The Sword of Persia (Italian original title: Ester e il re ; English original title: Esther and the King ) is an Italian - American monumental film by Raoul Walsh from 1960, based on the book Ester from the Old Testament . Mario Bava directed the Italian version of the film .

action

2500 years ago Xerxes I , the king of the Medes and Persians , returned victorious to Susa from a long campaign in Egypt . Two days' walk from the city, one of his loyal followers, the Judean Simon, who, like many others of his people, lives in the Persian diaspora , seeks him out . He had saved the king's life, for which he was accepted into the royal guard of honor in the palace at Susa. Before that, however, he should ride home, where Simon finally plans to marry his bride Esther .

Arriving in Susa, Xerxes learns that his wife Queen Vashti had cheated on him with several lovers during his long absence, so he orders her exile. The highest dignitary Prince Haman , who had ruled the empire for Xerxes, has Vashti murdered so that she does not betray him as one of her admirers. In addition, he who has found pleasure in the rule and embezzles gold from the royal treasury conspires with General Klydrathes, who wants to eliminate the king due to the planned campaign against the Greeks in order to overthrow Xerxes.

Since Xerxes needs a new wife to procreate an heir to the throne, General Klydrathes is assigned by Haman to have women stolen from all over the realm for the election of the new queen. When Esther is also abducted, Simon attacks General Klydrathes, which leads to the looting of all Judean settlements and the mistreatment and displacement of their inhabitants. Not knowing that Esther is a Judean and that she was actually promised to Simon, Xerxes chooses her as his new wife. Due to the request of her uncle, the Judean prince Mardochai , to stand up for her people with the king and because she falls in love with Xerxes, Esther decides to marry. Simon's subsequent attempt to secretly free his beloved from the palace fails due to Esther's resistance, so he decides to slay Xerxes one day.

After the wedding, Haman makes a proposal to Xerxes, through which he tries to cover up the lack of the misappropriated gold and at the same time to eliminate his hated adversary, Mardochai, who is loyal to the king. He advises Xerxes to increase the gold treasure by implementing an old law from Cyrus' time, according to which all subjects who worship a god other than Mithras are doomed to die and their goods should fall to the king. Esther appeals to Xerxes sense of justice, whereby she can avert disaster. But Haman is initiating another plan to achieve his goals. He has forged documents placed in the temple of the Judeans, which allegedly were written by Mardochai and are supposed to prove that the Judean wanted to sell Xerxes' secret war plan against the Greeks to them. When Xerxes announces that she will throw Mardochai in prison and want to exterminate the Judeans if they do not renounce their faith, Esther stands up again for her people. She reveals herself to be a Judean and asks Xerxes to inspect the royal treasury in Persepolis to verify Haman's allegiance.

Following a murder order issued by Haman, General Klydrathes and his men lie in wait for Xerxes, who is traveling to Persepolis, and his troops in a city of the dead. After the royal troops were victorious, Xerxes meets Simon, who was hiding there. In the following duel between the two companions, Xerxes learns that Esther was Simon's promised bride, so he declares that he will renounce his wife. Then Simon Xerxes leads to Klydrathes, whom he had recently stabbed in revenge for the kidnapping of his bride. Severely wounded, the general reports to the two of Haman's deeds, for which he receives the coup de grace from his king.

While Xerxes is gathering his troops, Simon is instructed to ride ahead to Susa, where he is to arm the Judeans with the help of the royal seal. Haman had in the meantime given orders to have all Judeans murdered, but those armed in time manage to defend themselves successfully. At the same time, Haman learns of General Klydrathes' failure. On the run from the city, however, he comes across the king and his troops, which brings the traitor's death. Simon succumbs to a battle injury. The Judeans instituted the festival of Purim to commemorate their salvation . Shortly afterwards King Xerxes goes to war against the Greeks, who are led by a Macedonian named Alexander , and returns defeated to his wife Esther.

background

The Sword of Persia was made at Titanus Appla Studios in Rome and premiered on November 18, 1960 in New York City . The film was shown in Italian cinemas on February 17, 1961. In the cinema of the Federal Republic of Germany he came on March 3 1,961th

synchronization

The German editing was done by elite film Franz Schröder.

actor role German speaker
Joan Collins Esther Marion Degler
Richard Egan King Xerxes I. Horst Niendorf
Denis O'Dea Prince Mardochai Konrad Wagner
Sergio Fantoni Prince Haman Arnold Marquis
Rik Battaglia Simon Rainer Brandt
Renato Baldini General Klydrathes Benno Hoffmann
Gabriele Tinti Samual Dieter Klein

criticism

For the lexicon of international film , The Sword of Persia was "colorful and superficial staged" and "neither interested in historical accuracy nor in religious questions".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Italian movie poster on benitomovieposter.com. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  2. ^ Italian Sword and Sandal Films, 1908-1990, p. 52 in the Google book search
  3. ↑ The Sword of Persia . zelluloid.de. Archived from the original on March 30, 2018. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
  4. ↑ The Sword of Persia - Release Info . imdb.com. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
  5. ↑ a b The sword of Persia. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 29, 2018 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  6. ↑ The Sword of Persia. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on March 29, 2018 .