Ranked #2119

Hashire Melos!

This is one of the must fascinating movies I had ever seen. With a story that immerse you on an epic journey where the trust became the motor of strength and perseverance, wrapping you on a world of legendary heros... The visuals are a beautiful recreation of the greek environment, with all their magnificent architecture and sculpture. The music really suits the flow of the scenes, making it one of the most enjoyable soundtracks you could appreciate. Although, even if a love this movie, it isn't for everyone. Most of the plot has a slow rhythm, very pleasant to enjoy de scenarios and the melodies that accompany it. But if you can stop to value this, you would find a really awesome story, that might move something inside you and remember you why to trust. read more

On my part, I won't be as laudatory as NoHeart in my assessment of "Hashire Melos !". There are simply too many negative points on its account...

Now, let's draw together a parallel. Imagine you're on your way to go to the "Starlite" nightclub. Or the "Dusk Lounge". Or Thermopylae, if you're gay. Lol. Whatever. You go there, sure your neat look will give you access to a wild night full of loud BPM...
Suddenly, before passing by the bouncer, one steals your Mobile Phone. Thankfully, a helpful soul arrest the thief and give you back your properties. Afterwards, he makes you enter in the club as he's a well regarded regular. You end up spending the whole night drinking with him.
That was nice and all... But tell me, if that guy needed one of your kidney because of his lifestyle, would you give it to him ?
I doubt you would. Don't lie. As kind as the individual could be, you're not going to sacrifice your organ, as you'd live too tediously without it.

See, that's my beef against HM! [let's call it this way from now on]. It tries to force its slander to you, even though it's demagogically put on. To quote two cues from the movie:

- Lysa: So, did you come out to the city hoping to be a stonemason, too ?
- Melos: Nah, I was just lost on the street and was invited for a drink.

That's the core of problem. The friendship between Melos and Celinunsius has no believability. Their relationship is merely a vehicle to demonstrate you how much trust is important in life. It has no chemistry, because all they previously shared in common prior to Melos' ordeal is a goatskin flask of bad wine. You want an example of fictive and yet lifellike friendship ? Read the epic of Gilgamesh. After Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed the Bull of Heaven, major Gods sentenced the latter guy to go to hell. There's no doubt the king of Uruk would have given his life to save his companion, even though he's a simple man-beast. Because they faced so many perils together.

Back to the matter, it's hard to take Melos as a role model, let alone get attached to him. Not only because HM!'s plotline is contrived, but mostly because he's so damn dull-witted. He's stupid enough to not put Celine's in charge of his sword while he pays a visit to Dionysus castle. And mostly, he couldn't tell the difference between a fake sword and an iron-made one. 358 BC is the third Iron age period. I'll spare you my knowledge about Antique technology, just sayin' when you hand over such elaborated weapon, you immediately notice it even if you're a humble shepherd.

These characterization loopholes aren't specific to the two main cast. Dionysus himself was poorly written too. To illustrate my line of argument, just pay attention to that ultimate day scene. It could have been a major highlight of the movie, mind it: the cynical point of view from Syracuse's king confronting Celine's, the idealistic stonemason artist. The whole dialogue baffled me, because it was that perfunctory. Dionysus looked like clueless from the start to the end. That just wasn't coherent with the protrayal of a tyrant, who put at odds his subjects life for the mere pleasure to prove his knowledge of human nature. I could go on and on until the supporting cast, but you copied it, I think.

If you don't watch HM! for its storyboard, then is there somethiong else worthwhile ? Art direction is competent, albeit chara-design is a tad dull. Background art, particularly statues and bas-relief are impressive on the other hand. It's too bad these details had more care than the rest. Music is... Here. It's neither haunting nor annoying. It's just sound grooming not especially memorable.

All in all, HM! had the misfortune to be adapted on a wrong format. I'm sure it could have been way better, released as an OAV series. Without competent scripts, it remains what it is, even so... I completed this entry during Akiti, the Solstice of Summer celebration. I was surrounded by dried fish delicacies and the best wheat beer. Rarely my mood is that light-hearted during the year. It's a significant hint of how the movie failed to deliver. I tried hard to like it, but I just can't ignore those heaps of flaws. To its credit, Historical field is so undercovered. I guess you ought to watch this title once at least, whether you're a History nerd as me or simply like the genre.


POSITIVE BUZZWORDS:
+ Antique setting (bloody underutilized, Fantasy genre put aside)
+ Nice premise
+ Uniting slander
+ Pleasant background art

NEGATIVE BUZZWORDS:
- Contrived plot
- Plot holes
- Lackluster characterization
- Anything but a Replay Burner
- Forgettable sound
- Wasted potential read more