Tattoos In The Movies
Russian prison tattoos from EASTERN PROMISES
Tattoo Plotlines
when the ink is part of the story
Here are movies where a tattoo becomes part of the plotline and isn’t just worn by a character for visual effect.
* City of Lost Children – As Miette and One search for One’s little brother, they must find a tattooed map of a watery mine field to reach the evil scientist’s lair.
* Eastern Promises – A mid-wife gets caught up with Russian gangsters in London, all of whom have elaborate prison tattoos that tell their life stories.
* Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – the Death Eaters all wear a tattoo of a skull and a snake. It’s a paled tattoo until Voldemort “activates it,” calling his followers to come to him. Then it’s very dark and the snake writhes subtly.
* Memento – a man who has lost the ability to make any new memories uses tattoos on himself to remember clues as he tracks his wife’s killer.
* Tattoo – 1981 – a tattoo artist develops an obsession about his favorite fashion model to the point of kidnapping her and forcibly tattooing her. Awesome early use of Temptu body paint and designs by Ed Hardy.
* Tattoo – 2002 – An older jaded cop and his rookie partner track a killer collecting tattooed skins. Tense drama and hot skin art. The film is German and is most often found with a German language track and subtitles.
* Waterworld – the kanji and coordinates tattooed on the back of a young girl gives the location of the last dry land on Earth.
* Yellowbeard – In this Pythonesque rendition of a pirate movie, the map to Yellowbeard’s treasure is tattooed on the head of his long-lost son.
