Turkish filmmaker Tolga Ornek's documentary The Hittites focuses on a powerful Middle Eastern empire that flourished in Asia Minor between the 18th and 12th centuries B.C. before dissolving into smaller city-states—an empire long overshadowed in the public mind by the early Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations. Ably narrated by Jeremy Irons, the film edits together modern location footage, artwork, scholarly interviews, and dramatic recreations (primarily of rather sparse interior scenes, but also including some battle sequences, most notably the major confrontation between the Egyptians and the Hittites at Kadesh in 1274 B.C.) to fashion a clear, straightforward account of the vicissitudes of these ancient Anatolian peoples over the centuries, drawing on evidence provided by cuneiform tablets uncovered at what was the Hittite capital of Hattusha during the last century, as well as Egyptian records and other archaeological finds. The attempt to flesh out the characters of important rulers by having costumed actors recite passages from documents—which are then translated via subtitles into rather halting English—isn't terribly successful, but The Hittites does a fine job, overall, of illustrating the importance of the Anatolian peoples to the ancient culture of the Middle East, particularly in the development of diplomacy. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
The Hittites
(2004) 120 min. DVD: $24.98. Cinema Epoch (avail. from most distributors). Volume 23, Issue 3
The Hittites
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