Two movie plugs
As I watched a couple of movies over the Easter, both had completely different messages, yet both were well done in my opinion.
The first was One Night With The King, a movie that was in the theatres last year and is based on the book of Esther in the Bible. They did an outstanding job and it was very accurate. It got lousy reviews, but I would say the story is not Oscar material to begin with. What they did do a good job of was making it suitable for families, particularly teens. There is a part in the story of Esther where she and all of the maidens in the land are to undergo "beauty treatments" of oils and cosmetics in preparation for their night with the king when he may choose them to be queen. I saw this as a potential stumbling block for both guys who could use it as an area of lust and girls who could think vanity is important. The king is portrayed as one though that is not swayed by outer beauty, he in fact turns away ladies dressed in lots of gaudy jewelry and makeup, yet falls for the simple but naturally beautiful Esther who is beautiful on the inside. For any of you out there leading Bible studies for high school/college girls, this would be an excellent movie. It also I thought did a great job on showing the internal struggle Esther was facing on whether to confront the king on a plot to kill the Jews. Several times she shies away, and even as she agrees to tell him and walks into the court uninvited (punishable by death in those days) you can see her being timid and unsure of the situation. The only downer for the movie is that it did develop pretty fast, so you have to pay attention. It was filmed in India too, which is Biblically very close to where the actual story took place, in present day Iran (Persia in those days). Overall it sends a great message of being courageous and trusting God in uncertain situations.
The other movie I saw that was outstanding is Blood Diamond which also was in the theatres last year and was just released. It was one of those movies like Hotel Rwanda or Schindler's List that just makes you want to cry on so many levels. The movie takes place in Sierra Leone during the 1999 civil war over the diamond fields in the country. It focused on the corruption in the diamond industry and how some diamond company owners knowingly accepted diamonds from conflict areas. The opening scene shows a group of rebels storming a fishing village, killing the older men and women, and kidnapping the younger men and boys. Some younger men who are deemed to not be good workers have their arms cut off with machetes. The younger men are forced into slavery to work in the diamond areas, doing something similar to gold panning. The boys are taught to be violent and to respect no one but those with guns and are then brought along to help with more slaughters. As the movie ends, and it does have a good ending, I was left silent and now I'm not even sure I ever want to buy a diamond, or at least only after lots of research.
The first was One Night With The King, a movie that was in the theatres last year and is based on the book of Esther in the Bible. They did an outstanding job and it was very accurate. It got lousy reviews, but I would say the story is not Oscar material to begin with. What they did do a good job of was making it suitable for families, particularly teens. There is a part in the story of Esther where she and all of the maidens in the land are to undergo "beauty treatments" of oils and cosmetics in preparation for their night with the king when he may choose them to be queen. I saw this as a potential stumbling block for both guys who could use it as an area of lust and girls who could think vanity is important. The king is portrayed as one though that is not swayed by outer beauty, he in fact turns away ladies dressed in lots of gaudy jewelry and makeup, yet falls for the simple but naturally beautiful Esther who is beautiful on the inside. For any of you out there leading Bible studies for high school/college girls, this would be an excellent movie. It also I thought did a great job on showing the internal struggle Esther was facing on whether to confront the king on a plot to kill the Jews. Several times she shies away, and even as she agrees to tell him and walks into the court uninvited (punishable by death in those days) you can see her being timid and unsure of the situation. The only downer for the movie is that it did develop pretty fast, so you have to pay attention. It was filmed in India too, which is Biblically very close to where the actual story took place, in present day Iran (Persia in those days). Overall it sends a great message of being courageous and trusting God in uncertain situations.
The other movie I saw that was outstanding is Blood Diamond which also was in the theatres last year and was just released. It was one of those movies like Hotel Rwanda or Schindler's List that just makes you want to cry on so many levels. The movie takes place in Sierra Leone during the 1999 civil war over the diamond fields in the country. It focused on the corruption in the diamond industry and how some diamond company owners knowingly accepted diamonds from conflict areas. The opening scene shows a group of rebels storming a fishing village, killing the older men and women, and kidnapping the younger men and boys. Some younger men who are deemed to not be good workers have their arms cut off with machetes. The younger men are forced into slavery to work in the diamond areas, doing something similar to gold panning. The boys are taught to be violent and to respect no one but those with guns and are then brought along to help with more slaughters. As the movie ends, and it does have a good ending, I was left silent and now I'm not even sure I ever want to buy a diamond, or at least only after lots of research.
posted by Jimmy Bollinger at
1:53 PM
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