The tattoo
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The tattoo |
| Original title | 刺青 |
| Country of production | Japan |
| original language | Japanese |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 85 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Yasuzo Masumura |
| script | Kaneto Shindo |
| production |
Hiroaki Fujii , Shiro Kaga |
| music | Hajime Kaburagi |
| camera | Kazuo Miyagawa |
| cut | Kanji Suganuma |
| occupation | |
| |
The tattoo ( Jap. 刺青 , Irezumi ) is a Japanese movie of Daiei studios by director Yasuzo Masumura from 1966. The screenplay was written by Kaneto Shindo and is based - in the historical context of the late Edo period - on the story by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki , a well-known author of Japanese aestheticism .
The production is about an independence-loving woman who escapes a predetermined life, is forcibly forced into prostitution and ultimately vindictively takes the men out. As a visible sign of a geisha , she is provided with the eponymous tattoo - an oversized spider on her back; the act brings about a personality transformation.
action
In order to avoid a marriage arranged by her parents, the self-confident Tsuya, who comes from a good family, persuades her fearful lover Shinsuke, a virtuous servant of the family, to flee together. The brave beauty sees no other way out, as her shy lover, a member of a lower social class , is by no means a potential candidate for marriage. The lovers finally find accommodation at a floating inn owned by the seedy Gonji, a supposed friend of the family. Gonji grants them a safe place to stay, but only appears to be helpful. He pursues his own interests. To do this, he secretly contacted Tsuya's family to ask for money for an alleged search. In doing so, he learns that Tsuya's father has disowned his undisciplined daughter.
When the couple gradually ran out of money and Shinsuke was forced to leave their home to pawn something, Gonji tried to rape Tsuya , but Tsuya was resolutely repulsed . The humiliated Gonji chooses a ruthless approach. In the presence of his involved wife, he sells Tsuya to the aging girl trafficker Tokubei, whose henchmen kidnap the defenseless woman into a geisha house. At the same time, Gonji tries to lure Shinsuke into an ambush and kill him. But the planned murder fails, Shinsuke kills his assassin in self-defense and flees. As an underprivileged, he now leads a deplorable life; besides, he looks for the whereabouts of his great love.
Meanwhile, at the insistence of her patron Tokubei, Tsuya, who has been sedated with drugs, receives a huge male-eating Joro spider tattooed on her back from the gifted skin-sculptor Seikichi as a visible sign of male dominance. With the tattoo, Tokubei also wants to increase the attractiveness of his newcomer, which he succeeds. Forced to work in a geisha house, the woman chooses a new name, Somekichi, and continues to use her beauty to avenge her tormentors. She becomes a coveted geisha who, like the oversized spider, spins a web of vengeance on her back, in which enemies are trapped. Tsuya soon takes pleasure in her imposed life as a geisha and financially "bleeds" all men who use her services for months.
At a different time, the tattoo artist Seikichi, who previously worked his soul into the masterpiece, recognizes his personal failure and ends his career as a skin artist. In this way he becomes Somekichi's first victim; henceforth he observes her career.
As a free geisha, Somekichi pretends to want to marry Gonji, the man who once sold her and forced her into prostitution if he got rid of his wife beforehand. At this very moment she meets the completely impoverished Shinsuke. Somekichi willingly accepts him. The cold-feeling woman connected with a love-hate relationship with her spider opens up to her complex-laden lover, who has been inspired by his manslaughter , to face justice. Tsuya asks him to stop and instead stay with her; Shinsuke agrees with a heavy heart. After Somekichi takes revenge on Gonji - the present Shinsuke kills the angry attacker in the scuffle - Shinsuke's compulsive urge to report himself intensifies. The attack is observed by the tattoo artist Seikichi, as is another act that Shinsuke carries out after a failed intrigue of Tsuya and kills Tokubei in the process. At least now it's happened to the three-time murderer Shinsuke. He falls into a depressive phase, complains and whines terribly. The life-hungry Somekichi becomes so estranged from her lover. She finally falls in love with a customer of the sword nobility, the samurai Serizawa, who avails himself of her services.
The jealous and longing for death Shinsuke becomes a tragic figure. After being mistreated and further argued, Shinsuke tries to kill his former lover. However, the victim knows how to manipulate the naive man and ultimately kill him in cold blood. The tattoo artist again observes a bloody killing in which his work of art is present. He decides to intervene to regulate and put an end to the hustle and bustle. Seikichi murders his Joro spider and thus Somekichi as well. Then he chooses suicide.
publication
The film was first released in Japan on January 15, 1966. The German premiere took place on May 24, 2007 on the German / French cultural channel ARTE in the original language with German subtitles. Since the German DVD release on November 16, 2007, the film has also been sold under the title Irezumi - Spider Tattoo .
Reviews
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was an " erotically charged revenge story staged in strong primary colors ." Furthermore, the film could be interpreted as a " battle between the sexes " and also offers some erotic " show values ."
Web links
- The tattoo in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The tattoo in the online film database
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The tattoo in the lexicon of international films