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Tattoo
Directed by Robert Schwentke
Starring: August Diehl, Christian Redl, Nadeshda Brennicke, Ilknur Bahadir
Original Title: Tattoo
Running Time: 1:48
Country: Germany
Year: 2002
Web: Official Site
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For his directional debut, German TV author Robert Schwentke transposes the sub-genres of serial-killer and femme fatale in a gloomy underground world where tattoos are considered as pieces of art and coveted by unscrupulous collectors.
Caught with some pills at a rave party, Marc (August Diehl), a young cop is enrolled by cynical detective Minks (Christain Redl) to investigate a sordid murder linked to the club scene. He then discovers a path of tattoo-related killings and gets involved with Maya (Nadeshda Brennicke), the girlfriend of one of the victims.
A genre film bathed in a gritty atmosphere, Tattoo is a stylish work where the visual echoes the oppressive storyline. Shot in grainy desaturated tones, the film's representation of the world is so bleak that you hardly notice it takes place in Germany; an approach reminiscent of Se7en where Los Angeles was disfigured, camouflaged to the extreme. The film heavily borrows the visual and narrative of David Fincher's emblematic piece and Michael Mann's Manhunter. Tattoo is closer to American cinema than to its own culture and even though it works to some extent as a homage, it is not surprising given that Schwentke studied at the American Film Institute in Hollywood.
The film makes us enter a disturbing but intriguing world through the eyes of strong characters, building an enveloping atmosphere with gothic and erotic undertones. Tattoo will undoubtedly appeal to the post-generation X niche as well as to fans of the genre; Schwentke has a real talent for creepiness as the scene in the "gallery" attests.
While Tattoo functions perfectly as a visual work, its cinematic legitimacy is challenged by its lack of originality and personality, especially in the American market. In a genre where carbon copies have been so prolific that they're now condemned to straight-to-video purgatory, this new entry doesn't bring anything new. It never leaves the shadow of Se7en, just like Brett Ratner's Red Dragon got caught in its small copycat shoes next to Silence of the Lambs and Manhunter.
With an interesting premise; the assimilation of tattoos as concrete pieces of art, the film would have gained exploring further the theme of Man and his body becoming art, beyond the simple trading and hangings of the pieces. Japanese cinema offers more resonant variations on that theme as seen in Eiji Okuda's Shoujyo.
While Tattoo could certainly work in Europe as the German Se7en, it loses its purpose here and could only have challenged its American counterparts if it had managed to reinvent itself, following the example of spaghetti westerns. When we think about German cinema, we expect Werner Herzog, Volker Schlöndorff, not some American ersatz. And that's what will definitely affect this decent but uninspired work.
Fred Thom
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Tattoo review
