Highlighting scores of diverse folks flaunting outrageous body decoration--from garden variety piercings to a graphic glimpse of New Guinea rites of passage--Body Art explores the roots and reasoning behind cosmetic alterations such as tattoos, scarification, piercing, and plastic surgery. Viewers will trace the historical path from 18th century explorer James Cook's island-hopping crewmen, who got tattoos as souvenirs, to the widespread adoption of tattoos by WWII sailors and, later, '60s-era bikers. Stories of scarring traditions (the Crocodile Man ritual is especially wild), skull extensions (created by binding the heads of infants), and the Burmese tradition of elongating the neck (using brass coils) are enough to make sensitive types (such as myself) cringe and peek through fingers in (fascinated) horror. Also included are looks at makeup (the conversion of a modern day geisha girl in particular) and religiously inspired body art. Enjoyable, but also enlightening in its examination of the motives and rationales behind why people choose various modifications, Body Art avoids any particular ethnocentric viewpoint, celebrating the variety and beauty of both eastern and western customs. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Williams)
Body Art
(2000) 50 min. VHS: $14.98, DVD: $19.98. Wellspring Media (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. ISBN: 1-58350-164-9 (vhs). Volume 17, Issue 3
Body Art
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: