Hermes
Hermes is a feature film that belongs to the superhero genre. Although there are no super powers involved, it tells the story of certain people that rose above the rules of their society and donned masks and costumes in order to achieve their own individual purposes, all of which are of social, economical and political nature, making Hermes belong to the political genre, as well.
The film follows the lives of 3 members of a particular family. The year is 1932 and the country is bankrupt. In a quiet village lives a family man who is in deep with the sharks and has no money to feed his family. His endless love for his wife and newborn son drives him to wear a mask and a costume in order to take advantage of people's superstitions and rob them, hoping to get enough money to feed his loved ones. He is able to do it for about a year before he is caught and hanged. During that time he writes a letter explaining the situation and his double life to his wife, so that she can understand and forgive him.
We move on to 1989. The country is in turmoil. There is no steady government and the authorities are too busy dealing with with protests and rallies to protect the people in the streets. Crime is hitting a new high. The great grandson of the 1930s bandit finds the letter of his ancestor and, aching to do something to help the people around him, he decides to come up with a second identity in order to make a change to society. He creates Hermes, from the ancient God of the same name (aka Mercury). He doesn't want to strike crime (and he knows he can't do it), but to change the lives of certain criminals that are open to turning the page and start anew. He will use those to save others (criminals or ordinary citizens) and to create a network that will spread throughout the country, a network that will be comprised of people who see that helping each other can make a difference. A network that will be called, The Lycaons. Hermes knows no martial arts and isn't rich, so he resorts to stealth attacks and wired gadgets that he modifies to work without cables, as well as other gadgets that he creates himself. Some examples of the above are voice changers, speakers, remote controlled sounds and lights, and liquid stun guns. He also makes 3 masks for each mission of his, in order to make people think he's not just one man.
The fact that in 1989 the news were much more controlled without media like the Internet makes him modestly successful until 1996, where he decides to come up with more dynamic ways to achieve his goals. He approaches an ex-US marine-turned-drug mule, gets him out of his life of crime and persuades him to become his sidekick, Daemon, which comes from the Greek verb "to distribute". Daemon has had extended martial arts training and together they manage to do what Hermes had wanted to achieve since 1989. Every action brings reaction, however, and soon the 2 heroes will have to face enemies, both internal and external, both obvious and unexpected.
The Vision
A favorite theme of ours is legacy. One saga that talks about legacy in a very powerful fashion is the Godfather trilogy. That, combined with our love for comic books, generated the idea of a film that felt comic-booky and talked about legacy. Add to that our need to address what is happening in the world's economy and how it's changing us and our lives, and you get Hermes.
Our goal is to create heroes and, consequently, a film that strikes the perfect balance of old-school entertainment and realism, mostly in terms of how the people in it act, react, feel and talk to each other. There is humor, action, but also a whole story that spans over 80 years. The heroes are flawed, they make wrong choices, they bleed, they hurt. We also think that Hermes himself is a new breed of superhero, one that has not been seen before. He is not tormented by a personal tragedy and he is a normal guy, he doesn't feel the need to hide behind a mask in order to release personality traits of his true self. That doesn't mean that the mask doesn't impose consequences on the heroes, however.
Our influences are the Batman comics along with the Nolan Bat-films (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight), the Watchmen graphic novel and the old The Shadow stories.
The Team
Our team has been studying cinema and shooting movies for more than 5 years. Together we have shot 3 feature films, 1 of which I have written and directed, and 6 short ones, 2 of which I have written and directed. The team has participated in festivals all over the world, and has won several awards for many of them.
We have been doing our movies having minimum to zero money and the results have been more than satisfying. The lack of budget has boosted our creativity, but some ideas need a better balance/creativity balance, and Hermes is one of those ideas.
You can also watch my films here:
In His Own Likeness (feature film): http://vimeo.com/17059142
Shadow Beyond Time (short film): http://vimeo.com/23128333
John Tzouvelekis
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