Hermes - Winds of Love

Original Title: (HERMES) ヘルメス 愛は風の如く
Romanized: Herumesu - Ai wa Kaze no Gotoku
Literal: Hermes - Love is like the wind

Plot Synopsis

In ancient Greece the son of a king is born--Prince Hermes. He is born into a troubled land, constantly threatened by a nearby empire, but Hermes may be the one capable of freeing his people, and indeed all Greece from tyranny. But many trials will stand in his way--captive princesses, his secret heritage as the son of a god, and the evil king Minos, who even death cannot stop.

Quick Review

Rating: 2 / 5
Reviewer: Marc
Review Date: 2005-11-24

The big budget but little-known Hermes is an odd combination of realistically re-interpreted Greek myths and a rather odd, pseudo-religion-heavy, Fantasia-esque take on other, related myths, packaged as a shoujo fairy tale. The realistic parts, though idealized, benefit from historically accurate backgrounds, political intrigue, and richly produced battles (elaborate, creative, and full of great sound effects). The mythology is conceptually interesting, but suffers from some mashed-up classical stories and a weird amalgamation of more modern theology and cheesy pastel imagery of fairies and flowers (with the notable exception of a visit to a Dante-inspired Hell). Its biggest crime, though, is that the story meanders from one scene to the next, lacking any sense of urgency, punch, or even flow in what could have been a tight, exciting yarn.

Hermes is not without strong points and may appeal to those enamored with the idyllic settings and idealized characters or fascinated by the battles and history, but on the whole I found it too weird, too weak, and too shoujo-heavy to get into.

US DVD Review

The DVD is subtitled only (with Japanese audio in both Dolby 5.1 and stereo), and it claims theatrical trailers and an outtake as special features.

Content Guide

Not all that much objectionable material, but more violent than you might expect for about a 13-up rating, 10-up for the lenient.

Violence: 3 - Aside from several relatively realistic battles there is a mildly disturbing depiction of hell.

Nudity: 2 - Brief and artistic, but some female nudity.

Sex/Mature Themes: 1 - Some physical romance.

Language: 0 - None of note in the subtitles.

Notes and Trivia

Based on a shoujo manga series by Ohkawa Takanori, "Ai wa Kaze no Gotoku - Herumesu no Shougai" ("Love is Like the Wind - The Life of Hermes"). It's not available in English as of this writing.

On a historical note for those unfamiliar with the topic, the somewhat garishly colored palaces depicted in this movie are accurate. Our image of pristine white marble columns and statues comes from the fact that paint is considerably less durable than stone, and so has not survived millennia of weather. Modern techniques have discovered, however, that almost everything in ancient Greece was quite colorful.

Availability

Available in the US from Image Entertainment on bilingual DVD. Was previously available on subtitled VHS. (Buy the DVD from Amazon: Hermes - Winds of Love, or get the VHS used: Hermes - Winds of Love)

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