© Focus Features.
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David Cronenberg's most recent film,
Eastern Promises showcases London's Russian
vory v zakone, or "thieves in law," - a shady underworld of criminals who are bound by an 18-point code of conduct, and etch their histories and deeds in their flesh with elaborate tattoos that cover their entire bodies.
Creating those tattoos for the film's stars - especially for actor Viggo Mortensen, whose character Nikolai has to engage in a violent bathhouse brawl while completely nude - was a challenge for Oscar winning makeup artist, Stéphan Dupuis.
Giving Dupuis a leg up on the research was Mortensen, who traveled to Russia prior to principal photography to perfect the accent, polish his Ukrainian and gather materials on appropriate tattoos for his character.
"Viggo went and did his research in Russia for awhile, he met with former gangsters in Los Angeles and we watched the Russian prison documentary
The Mark of Cain, a very graphic film, and he also had two books full of Russian prison tattoos, these books were quite something to look at too," shared Dupuis. "Viggo picked the most significant designs he wanted his character to have."
"I had a selection that was appropriate for the character, and Stephan and I worked on the placements, and then he had stencils made for the film. Then, after screen tests, we fine tuned the tattoos, figured out the ones that we liked," said Viggo Mortensen. "They are really old school hardcore Russian prison tattoos that represented Nikolai's life story, they are Nikolai's calling card," Mortensen added.
In Russian prisons, tattoos emerged as a visual mode of communication, linked with social division. The images of churches, Christs, cats, Madonnas, dolphins and bears, to name just a few, became part of a secret, political language that allowed for clandestine communication both in and out of the system.
Dupuis explained further. "The trio of cupolas on his back signifies three prison terms for Nikolai; the crucifix on his chest marks his rank in the thief hierarchy. The Russian Cathedral tattoos on Viggo's back were the most difficult ones for me, the spires and curves combined with dealing with the structure of his back, that particular set of tattoos took a long time."
Dupuis was referred to Bill Stoneman, an English stencil maker, to take the tattoo designs he and Mortensen had chosen and manufactured the stencils used for the labor-intensive applications. Dupuis used two assistants to apply the stencils and help with the freehand work daily.
"The tattoo ink was alcohol-based, it didn't come off easily, and many times Viggo would just go home with them on," said Stephan. "After the shower scene, with all the blood stuff and water, everything had to be redone, and then there was a lot of work after that on covering the bruises all over Viggo."
"That was nerve wracking, we were cutting is close to the wire on some shoot days, because Stoneman was hard to reach, the stencils would arrive sometimes at the last possible minute," said Dupuis.
Mortensen had to be shaved during the days his tattoo applications were applied to his chest, but noted it wasn't a big deal for him. "When I was in Russia, I noticed a lot of the guys I saw sort of looked like me, the Caucasian Russian, many if not most don't have any body hair."
The same was not true for actor Vincent Cassel, whose tattoos were applied through his chest hair.
"Viggo and I together figured out where to place the tattoos, even it out, he is not overly buff wither which helped, he is fit, wiry and healthy, just perfect for the application...Vincent Cassel did not shave, and making the tattoo appear on his hairy chest was not easy, shared Dupuis, laughing that Kirill's character was harder at times because the Cassel kept unbuttoning his shirt in his drunken scenes, and the tattoos had to be right despite the hair issue. "I finally had it down to doing his tattoo in 8-10 minutes each time."
