2023-09-15 20:03:53
These four sets certainly have another plot in common, but this time it’s a documentary about tattoos. THE Seam in addition to the obligatory tattoo history, it also highlights that we can respect the real superstars of the profession in Hungarian artists. Criticism.
It’s damn expensive and it even hurts
– summarizes the Seam one of its characters, sewn from head to toe, and then for more than an hour and a half, the documentary tries to walk around, dissect, dissect and shed light on why sane adults put ink on their skin.
Kempf March Anna as the subject of his first full-length documentary, he immediately chose a scene that is sufficiently exciting, extremely current, rarely discussed, and, moreover, cries out to be presented in a visual form. As it was said at the press event connected with the film’s cast screening: a Seam was realized without any kind of financial support under the auspices of Vertigo Media as the fourth part of a series of documentaries intended to present a slice of the Hungarian cultural scene. We have already talked about the Hungarian video era (Once upon a time there was a tea tree), about the domestic comics culture (Once upon a time there was a comic book) and also about the Hungarian dubbing (Hungarian voice…), this time it was the domestic tattoo culture.
A Seam without a doubt, he wants to grasp a lot: he starts very far away, almost quoting episodes of Discovery, he starts the tattoo story almost from the big bang – from the ancient Egyptians to tribal tattoos to Miklós Horthy we get to a dragon sewn on his arm. The mandatory rounds already bring a large number of speakers, primarily from scientific fields, who keep the tattoo history up-to-date. The most interesting part of this is undoubtedly how the perception of tattoos has changed: how the status symbols of ancient and tribal cultures entered Europe and became a sign that depicted its wearer in a bad light rather than a good one. What half a century ago was the signature of those in prison and those with a bad face, is now art, whimsy, fashion, a way of life: an eternal accessory for which true connoisseurs are able to cross continents without sparing money and time, and their cultivators are the Da Vincis of human skin, such artists under whose needle it is an honor to sleep. There are quite a few such tattoo rock stars in Hungary as well, and the film gives voice to most of them.
A Seam it also becomes really interesting when the iconic figures of the Hungarian tattoo generation that emerged in the nineties are placed in front of the camera. Including István “James” Gémes, Zsolt Sárközi, László “Boris” Borsos and László Galer “Indian”. they talk about how they first got their hands on a tattoo needle and then learned the ins and outs of the profession in a self-taught way. Stories abound about comrades secretly sewn in the barracks, rudimentary tools escaped at home, green-eared mistakes – it’s particularly good to hear the most sought-after Hungarian artists about the tumultuous years of the beginning, which carries a good message for aspiring tattoo artists: they too started somewhere. What’s more, the Sárközis say that it is now much easier for tattoo apprentices, because what took years thirty or forty years ago now takes a few months for a more talented aspirant. The period of regime change was far from such an environment, yet the generation grew out of it, the merits of which the film does not hesitate to praise: world-renowned Hungarian artists tell stories about the profession, for whom there is an annual waiting list, they tattoo stars such as Sylvester Stallone obsession Jason Momoaand customers fly to them from the other side of the world.
Vertigo Average
But in addition to the old people, members of the “newer” generation also speak: Csaba Müllner the fact that a Weimar Vizsla lies on his lap when he speaks is far from adding a new color to the story (although that undoubtedly adds a lot to it as well), To Róbert Borbás and the musicians of cool foreign bands are waiting in packed lines. It is therefore clear from the film that there is a very serious chance that in the capital – or even in the countryside – we will walk by a tattoo parlor without suspecting anything, in which a world-famous artist is sewing someone’s skin.
A Seam it would capture more than the domestic success stories: it flashed particularly interesting aspects in quick succession: for example, how the analysis of tattoos helps the police work, or how it has changed David Beckham the perception of tattoos. To this end, the film crams in an astonishing amount of speakers, but it does not always know what to do with the crowd. Of the large brigade, you practically only notice the tattooists Ganxsta Zolee, who, despite only getting a few minutes, provides some of the funniest parts of the documentary with his anecdotes about almost being denied entry into Canada because of his tattoo. It is incomprehensible why such a clear adjutant was not played out several times, why it proved to be a better decision to involve five other speakers, who often, unfortunately, had rather weightless things to say. It is largely thanks to them that after a while it becomes redundant Seam: sometimes it’s as if the speakers are handing out a dictionary of tattoo clichés from hand to hand, other times they are painfully repeating themselves, the otherwise exciting episodes are broken up from time to time, for example, by the way several people praise one tattoo artist for long minutes with roughly the same words.
The part of the film in which a group of civilians talk about their tattoos is a bit like this – it is understandable that there is a place for this in a film like this, but even if the idea looks good on paper, its implementation was not striking, exciting or memorable. And those scenes border on self-serving, when we watch a tattoo artist coat a naked female body with paint for an unreasonably long time, illustrating where the tattoo hurts the most. They talk about this at length before, and illustrate it with pictures, but what is certain, they also support what they say with uncovered female breasts. And speaking of women: apparently it was part of the concept to include not only male but also female tattoo artists in the film, yet it serves this topic rather awkwardly in the Seam. Although there are exciting female characters in it, unfortunately you can’t help but think that they were included in the film as an obligatory tick: for example, we hardly see their work, with the exception of two exceptions, we only hear a few sentences from them. Although if the director considered it important to focus on women’s voices as well – and she clearly had such an intention with the inclusion of female tattoo artists – then there would have been plenty more to talk about: she could have covered, among other things, what it’s like to be a woman in a profession that is basically dominated by men prevail.
Vertigo Average
A Seam it brings up more exciting aspects, it brings to mind even more about tattoos, which is why it hurts to waste valuable playing time on selfishness and forgettable evidence. What about messed up tattoos? With the extremities? With the tattooed eyeballs? With the latest trends? With the counters? The documentary tells a lot, it talks even more, but it is as if it often just rambles or repeats itself, while leaving a series of topics that you should have asked about fallow. However, there is plenty of potential in it, certain parts of it really captivate you, and then the less well-musical part lulls the viewer to sleep.
He reveals about the film that it was a true project of love for both the creators and the contributors, which is why it will be a lovable and interesting work despite its typical first-film mistakes. This also saves me from being disappointed, as Kempf’s film sometimes captivates me, and at other times repels me, but during the maneuvering of the two, we at least learn a lot about Hungarian tattoo artists – unfortunately, how much more we could have learned if it had been in a less unfocused film work on the topic.
Varat, 2023, 96 minutes. It can be seen in Hungarian cinemas from September 14.
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