The Tattooist

The Samoan people believe tattooing is a gift from the Gods.

He who misuses this gift brings shame upon himself and his family.

In Samoan culture, to live in shame is a fate worse than death.

Jake...

I know you are down here.

Jacob...

Oh my boy...

What have you done?

It is a pentagram.

I know what it is...

...Is the Devil's mark.

No Dad.

- You shame me. - No.

Pray with me.

Our Father who are in the heaven...

Hallowed be thy name... say it!

Thy kingdom come, you will be done

On Earth as it is in Heaven give us this day our daily bread.

and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sinned against us.

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.

For thyne is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

THE TATTOOIST

I'm Edward Lim.

So where do you want to do this?

My son is this way.

Your son?

You never said anything about a kid.

The monks refused to mark him..

..so I found you.

He needs a doctor.

He needs a tattoo.

Your price.

He asks if it will work.

You tell him it will.

"Tattoos that cure you?"

Where is this from again?

Borneo.

Are you sure about that?

The Dayak tribe use it to cure arthritis.

You'll be playing guitar again before you'll know it.

So, what kind of arthritis this Dayak tribe suffers from?

Swollen joints.. I don't know.

'Cause you know if it's some kind of tropical thing and not like a western arthritis...

You want to heal your wrist or don't?

Because you were 20 minutes later than on my schedule.

Sorry, sorry.

Hi, can I get three lemon seltzer?

- Thanks. - Thank you.

- Talofa. - Hey.

This is from the south pacific, right?

Samoan.

Oh you live in Samoa..

Auckland, New Zealand.

Is this... is it supposed to have any medical value?

You know, healing, protection?

Are you that guy? You really believe in that bullshit?

People do. A man has gotta make a living.

You get the Pe'a to honor the spirits of your Tupuanga who wore it before you.

You get it to honor your father. Well then, I guess it's not for everyone.

And they pay enough not to tell?

It changes you. You breath into it. You accept it. And you learn from it.

You don't know what I am talking about, do you?

He knows.

Actually I mistook him for some stores to do. Step other stores sometimes.

Your tattoo failed!

Look, I am sorry man.

You told me it had power! You lied to me! You lied!

You took my son!

Ain't you ashamed of what you have done?

Fuck!

Shame on you!

Go, before I kill you!

You took my son.

WELCOME TO NEW ZEALAND.

Clawford.

It's Kure, some of us were born, really.

You know this place?

Yep.

Fuck me! Look what the cat dragged in!

You've got some balls, I give you that.

Come' on, Crash, forgive and forget.

Crash...

My first studio.

At Lamai-I he was.Then he steals a design off my wall, tattooes on some dickhead in south central.

Next thing I know they wankin' each other off over my designs on page 17 of Tattooist magazine.

Then, he trashes my Porsche, fucks my dog, steals my credit card and he spends it up large at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Lingerie departments,

my mum's size.

Come here!

- How you doing? - Fucking good, sunshine. Look at you eh?

Samoan? That narrows it down a bit.

Not that there's a lot of them.

No, they are all here. They are all into tattooing. And this is the fucking heartland, isn't it?

Is the wellspring.

You know the word "tattoo" was invented by the Samoans?

Or Figi, or some.. one of their lot. Anyway. Someone at the expo I know there.

l couldn't find them on the net.

Listen, if it's just the design you want..

There was a girl with them.

- It is just a girl you want! - No, I need to give her something back.

That would be a first.

Tell you what. You can work for me in the studio,

but none of that bullshit healing crap. You can stay in the apartment above.

I'll ask around. And I'll find your Samoans. All right?

- Not blocking your light, am I? - No, it's cool, we're doing cool.

- I am doing this for you. Hi pumpkin. - That's my good boy.

- Io non sono buono, io sono il tuo cucciolo cattivo. - Zitto bimbo cattivo, guarda che la gente capisce...

- Stop it! No! Ah, ah, no! - Come here, come here.

- No, stop it. No, no! No, stop it! No! - Come here, come here.. right.

Sorry, carry on when you are ready, mate.

Carry on, mate.

- McFadden. - Excuse me?

McFadden, Lazlo, 3 o'clock.

Right, saw you, check.

I'll be your tattooer this afternoon.

Just as long as I can find some room in there.

Well if you can't... just ask a couple of the others to move over, eh?

All right.

I am Victoria.

So, Crash says you could be the next victim.

Actually, I was last year's next victim.

So which one of you guys?

Luke, my cousin.

Be gentle, he's only 20.

21, on Saturday.

So, is this gonna hurt?

Yes, it's supposed to.

The pain changes you.

You breath it in, you breath it out.

Think of it as losing your virginity.

Don't touch that.

It belongs to someone.

Sit back.

Use moisturiser every day, keep it out of the sun and try not to get it wet.

Cool, thanks.

Now me.

Okay.

So what you want?

Well, I am a Capricorn.

A goat?

Use moisturiser every day..

Yeah, yeah I know, I know.

Luke's having a pool party Saturday night.

I guess I can get it wet by then.

Oi, Vic, fuck off.

I found your blokes.

Hey mister, do you see him?

Following you around?

Who?

Just 'cause you see no one, doesn't mean no one's there.

Osane!

Come on, you'll be late!

- Fa. - Fa.

Hey.

- I guess probably you don't remember me, but... - Sure we do.

Every expo some white stranger he wants to get down with the brown.

I am working here.

At Bedlam.

You're stealing his stuff too?

I was looking for your sister.

She's not my sister.

She is his cousin.

She is a church girl. And she doesn't take foreigners.

She is not for you, brother.

So this is what you do when you're not giving scalp massages.

There's 40 years of South Auckland's stories in this room.

My uncle is trying to make sure that they don't get lost.

So, I was just wondering if you wanted to grab some coffee.

Oh, actually the timing isn't great.

I have got a ceremony to go to and...

...photos to collect.

I just need to talk to you.

You could give me a lift.

Someone lives here?

The Peraneces, they live in shame.

Shame?

Malo?

Mr. Peranece? it's Sina.

And who is him?

This is a visitor from America.

Jack, how you doing?

I was looking for the photos.

Get a good look, boy?!

Sorry, I was just...

Sina.

Sorry... I didn't mean it.

Sorry.

Who said you could touch that stuff?!

It fell over...

"Why you brought this stranger to my house?"

I am sure that was an accident. Look, I'll help.

Take your photos and go.

Hey!

He keeps his Pe'a covered out of shame. He lost a son.

You see, once you get a Pe'a you are honour-bound to complete it.

Loumi couldn't face the pain so he ran away and hasn't been heard of since.

It was this big shame on his family.

I liked him, he was about my age.

He's probably running a hair saloon in Greenwich Village and perfectly happy with life.