Irezumi

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Audience Member Rheem's synopsis of the film - - Irezumi (Spirit of Tattoo), from 1982 Theme and summary - - A soft spoken and exceptionally attractive young woman agrees to have a large brightly colored tattoo instilled onto her back in order to satisfy her lover. Her lover verbally expresses that his attraction is to her snow like skin, but never for her as a person. She already recognizes the temporal nature of feelings and physical beauty in addition to the changing of man-woman relationships, but moves ahead with the tattoo process anyway. A significant overarching proverb is clearly expressed at the beginning by the master tattoo artist: 'As a human being you'll loose more than you gain'. How that specifically plays out becomes apparent by the film's end. The Nihonjin word translated as "Irezumi" refers to a specific painful and time consuming style of the physical tattooing process. The master tattoo artist in this film has developed 'his own technique' of Irezumi. This involves a handsome young male apprentice not so much learning the specifics of instilling ink under the skin, but offsetting the woman's pain during the tattoo process by tightly holding her steady in a loving embrace coupled with sexual intercourse. The entire tattoo process for this woman is expected to require one session per week for a duration of one to two years. The master tattoo artist secures the concurrence of both the woman and the apprentice in their acceptance of this long process. And they begin. The young woman not only endures the pain, but seems to fully embrace it as liberating. The tattooing process brings about her own reflective evolving thoughts and feelings during the film. Her own relationship with her lover devolves to the point she leaves him standing alone by the end of the film, without any word of goodbye. Something he unknowingly brought upon himself. The master tattoo artist also has an evolving but distant relationship with the younger apprentice. The nature of their inter-relationship is made apparent in pieces connected throughout the film culminating in a shocking discovery near the end. When the tattoo is fully completed, the master tattoo artist makes a final request of the young woman. He admits his time left in this life is limited and asks if 'his soul' may be liberated after he is gone by permitting his daughter to make one final cut upon the young woman with the tattoo needle. The artist states he will not see the young woman again in this life, so this request is both a spiritual favor and a means of saying goodbye. This work integrates four repeating themes consistent throughout this film: evolving personal relationships, individual destiny, life's gains & losses, and snowflakes. The viewer cannot help but to reflect on these both during and after the film is viewed. The acting and dialogue are excellent, producing an enduring work of interest and some limited cultural insight. Filmic techniques - - Irezumi is something of a minimalist film, only a few film sets are utilized and only five actors have speaking roles. The director utilizes particularly effective camera angles throughout this film. Personal emotions are visually amplified by capturing several actors simultaneously in montages using subtle lighting and shadows. Nothing is well illuminated during the entire film, but the brightly colored tattoo becomes more and more complete and brilliantly colored as the film progresses. The photography is almost in a black and white format except for the progressing tattoo itself. Clearly this is a visual analogy for the woman's own developing feelings. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member (the flixster synopsis has just about *nothing* to do with the film...) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Irezumi

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