May 2016
post date
Directed
by Aaron Lewis
Screenplay
by Alverne Ball
Edited by
David B Freeman
Cinematography
by Joshua Lassing
Simeon
Henderson as Worm G
Jose
Santiago as Needle
Produced
by Alverne Ball, Gregory Ball, Aaron Lewis
Posted by Arion
Digital Media Group
(This blog post about the video
short Tattooed Tears contains
spoilers.)
You can watch Tattooed Tears before reading any further by clicking on this link: Vimeo. The
entire video, including credits, is six minutes and nineteen seconds (00:06:19)
long.
Tattooed Tears is a powerful neo-noir video short about a violent, self-centered
man, Worm G, visiting a tattoo artist, Needle, for another tattoo that will
proclaim his tough reputation on the street. The title comes from the tears
tattooed on Worm G’s face. Each one represents someone that he has killed, and
one of them is the tattoo artist’s brother.
On
subsequent viewings, it’s easy to see all the signs that Worm G misses about
the fate that awaits him: the newspaper clippings that line Needle’s apartment
walls, the shrine on one wall complete with a photo and candles, the questions
that the tattoo artist asks as he begins his work. And then comes a change in
the conversation; the following two lines of dialogue mark a turning point in
the story:
Needle:
“You know, uh, I lost somebody recently.”
Worm G:
“Yeah? Sorry to hear that.”
Worm G is
anything but sorry. He came to the apartment talking tough, and his arrogance
makes the tattoo artist’s plan for revenge easier: Worm G doesn’t care at all
about the artist, what he has to say, or anyone else’s feelings. But when he
realizes that the artist has poisoned his needle, he is bewildered and finally
becomes vulnerable. The last thing Worm G says as he lies on Needle’s apartment
floor is, “Whadjou
do to me, man?” It’s a question he’s probably heard from one or more of his
murder victims. His death
is so quick that it’s hard to know if he even realizes that the tables have
been turned on him and why.
The
tattoo artist, on the other hand, is more complicated. His decision about
revenge takes place in the past, before the story even starts; his actions
during the film move it forward. Before the video starts, he has seized the
upper hand by planning his revenge, but he doesn’t seem to take any joy or
satisfaction in it once his plan is realized. Once Worm G is
dead, Needle says, “Now I shed the tattooed tears,” and walks off-screen so
that viewers see the photograph of his brother in the camera’s frame.
I
did wonder about the tattoo that Needle is working on when he poisons Worm G.
At first, I couldn’t see what he was applying to Worm G’s skin just under his
right shoulder. No tattoo is visible while Worm G is checking the outline in
the bathroom mirror, but he starts to feel sharp pain in his chest at this
point. When he returns to the room where Needle works, he clutches his right
chest and a large tattoo is now visible under his right shoulder. Is this an
oversight on the part of the filmmakers? Or does a tattoo take a few minutes to
fade in when the ink is applied to the skin? From my perspective, the newly
visible tattoo seems like an oversight, but I must confess that I know little
about tattooing.
Viewers
understand Needle’s actions and motivation, but Tattooed Tears ends on an ambiguous note for me, and I consider the
ambiguity to be one of its strengths. I had many questions that the video short
leaves unanswered: What is Needle going to do with Worm G’s body? Has Needle
started a cycle of revenge killings by poisoning his brother’s murderer? How
will he support himself if people discover that he is capable of poisoning
someone through his work, his art? I think the ambiguity enhances the noir tone
and allows viewers to make up their own minds about Needle’s actions.
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