Tattoo

I had the pleasure of seeing the directorial debut of Robert Schwentke, TATTOO, over the weekend at the American Film Market in Santa Monica. And what a pleasure it was. Imagine the most gruesome horror film you can, conceived and shot with the eye and soul of an artist, and you begin to get the picture of this twisted tale of two cops investigating the trade in tattoo-adorned human skins. While the script occasionally slips into standard genre territory (it is, after all, essentially a "two cops after a killer movie"), the film itself is so riveting, shocking, and massively entertaining that any small flaws can be easily overlooked. I understand it comes out in Europe this spring - let's hope a North American release isn't far behind, because Schwentke is a director to watch, and if his debut is any indication, he is well on his way to becoming a world-class filmmaker.

"Tattoo" is a first class macabre psychological horror movie / thriller from director Robert Schwentke. From the start, its cold colour palette and distanced camera-work create a dark and sinister atmosphere. Nightclub life in the world of "Tattoo" appears depressing and emotionless. This is a world where there is little laughter, only pain.

Schwentke manages to create an on-screen world where the fantastic events of this tale seem believable. Inspired by the German expressionist movement, it's a fantastic achievement and although comparisons will always be made with Fincher's "Se7en", I think "Tattoo" is the superior film.

The cast are excellent. August Diehl plays the young cop who is blackmailed into joining Christian Redl on the grittier side of police work. Diehl's first case is the murder of a young woman who was into self-mutilation and who died shortly after biting off a man's finger...and swallowing it. The beautiful Nadeshda Brennicke plays Maya Kroner whose secrets take the story in an exciting and unpredictable direction.

While the subject of people being murdered for their tattoos is not new (Roald Dahl's short-story "Skin" covers the same ground), the film's plot is gripping and effectively told.

After viewing this film shortly after "Antikörper" and "Kontroll," it would appear that some of the best psychological horror films of the noughties are coming out of Europe. Rich on atmosphere and slightly other-worldly, these films are a delight to watch.

9 out of 10.

Lynn is a woman with a very delicate and exclusive japanese tattoo on her body. The art and class of the tattoo is so fine that a collector pays enormous amounts of money to obtain the skin art. That means ripping it of the living body in Lynn's case.

This is a German crime-movie about two cops (and not the ordinary ones) solving the mystery of the 12 missing bodies/tattoos. Who is the collector, and how can they get in touch with him?

The estethic of the movie is beautiful if you ask me. Though it is very in-your-face and raw to some people I can belive. Flames of fire and blood is the theme in contrast to stiff, clean German architecture.

I enjoyed this movie a lot and it was althrough an exiting piece of art.

/Maria

As being fond of thrillers with a dark atmosphere, I was really looking forward to seeing "Tattoo". And indeed - I was not disappointed. Although the film contains some minor flaws, the unique idea of collecting tattoos as works of art is very appealing. August Diehl is brilliant as usual, Christian Redl as the depressive detective Minks is absolutely convincing. The plot leaves some things unanswered, which is quite irritating, but not to consider as an actual flaw. Some characters remind me of some of Lynch's disturbing, mysterious figures. Schwentke tries to give the film an extra layer via images, with which he mostly succeeds. The film quotes "Silence of the Lambs" and "Se7en" but this does not subtract from it's originality. An important genre film able to change the German market.

8 out of 10.

German made thriller about a killer with connections to Tattoos. When a body turns up burned and mutilated, with a chunk of skin missing, a senior cop blackmails a younger cop into helping him try and find the killer, as well as another missing girl gone two years. The investigation leads to several other bodies all with missing tattoos. Dark thriller that was explained to me as in the vein of Seven. I don't think so. It is a dark and disturbing little thriller that isn't particularly happy. Very well made and well acted the film is a bit too much form over substance at times, with its dark brooding passages and very deliberate set design. Its not bad but it kind of lessons the thrills since the film seems at times more intent on looking good. It also doesn't help that the who of the who done it is a bit too clear. Still its worth a look for those who like gritty, good looking thrillers that are a bit on the squishy side.