Review by Oliver Armknecht | Film-Rezensionen.de | September 7, 2018
Hans Puttnies‘ documentary „Palmyra“ deals with the destroyed ancient city in Syria. The film combines footage from 2008 — long before the destruction by ISIS — with essayistic voice-over reflections.
The film begins like a classical tourist film, showing the temples and desert landscapes of the ancient ruins. However, Puttnies pursues a deeper goal: he questions our understanding of history and criticizes how Palmyra was reduced to a pure historical construct, while the people who lived there were forgotten in the history books.
Puttnies explores the city’s history — such as that of the 3rd-century ruler Zenobia — yet continually questions how one-sided historiography is. Through its electronic music score and voice-over, the film feels like a dream or a trance.
The most haunting moment emerges from a personal interview: a teenager describes how he sold souvenirs to tourists — a human story that was lost after the ISIS invasion and would have faded into oblivion without the film.
„Palmyra“ combines documentation with essayistic reflection and transforms the tragedy of a destroyed historical site into a personal, human memory.