re:mote voices

Title: Tattoo
Cast: August Diehl, Christian Redl, Nadeshda Brennicke, Johan Leysen, Fatih Cevikkollu, Monika Bleibtreu, Ilknur Bahadir, Joe Bausch
Director: Robert Schwentke

posters appeared round the city for a new film, boldly claiming comparisons to seven. with a name like tattoo and an ad campaign like that, one expects just another hollywood thriller. instead tattoo is a german film, only the second german film in the last year to get this kind of promotion in the UK. while tattoo is no goodbye lenin, it is decent enough for what it is - a thriller with some nice ideas, coming from a different background than we are used to.

there are some problems with the film, particularly in it's excesses. the opening scene is frankly moronic - apparently having a naked woman stumbling along the road to be hit by a bus wasn't enough, so there is the addition of a surplus explosion. something which is pure excess, rather like the laugh out loud gratuitousness of the scene in the rain. along with those there are parts of the plot which are pretty obvious.

the plot revolves around the woman who is killed at the start and the investigation by the police. Schrader has just graduated from the police academy, and is looking for an easy life with a desk job. however an accidental run in with chief inspector Minks sees him becoming partner to the notorious officer, taking one of the coveted positions in homicide in the process. thus he finds himself involved with what looks like a serial killing, part of a sequence where all the victims had elaborate tattoos...