You’ve probably always wanted to see Werner Herzog’s tattoo, am I right? Now’s your chance. Folklorist, writer, and filmmaker Alan Govenar’s documentary Tattoo Uprising features vintage footage of the mercurial auteur showing off his Ed Hardy design, as well as other footage dating from all the back to 1980 to the present day, and interviews with noted artists and tattoo aficionados including Hardy, Stoney St. Clair, Cynthia Witkin, and Anne de Hey!. It was shot, in part, by the late director/cinematographer Les Blank, who helmed the award-winning 1982 doc Burden of Dreams, about Herzog’s production of Fitzcarraldo.
There are plenty of documentaries, as well as tv shows, that are centered on either the history or the current world of tattooing. There are magazines, conventions, and multiple “Tattoo Artist of the Year” awards around the globe. If you’re well-versed in that subculture, this film might be most of interest for the footage of 70s tattooist Stoney St. Clair. CLICK TO READ THE FULL REVIEW ON AWFJ.ORG
