A Touch Of Sin (15.)
Directed by Jia Zhangke. 2013.
Starring Wu Jiang, Vivien Li, Lanshan Luo and Tao Zhao. Mandarin with subtitles. 127 mins.
This 2013 production introduces something completely new and unexpected to his filmmaking – violence. Starting in the north in Shanxi province, it takes in four stories (loosely based on real incidents) about about four individuals, gradually making its way south to Dongguan. Each story culminate in an act of violence. The characters are all struggling to make their way in modern Chinese society: Dahai (Wu Jiang) is infuriated by the corruption of the local mine owner and village chief and is constantly threatening to complain to Beijing. Tao Zhao is the mistress of a man who can't get round to divorcing his wife, who works as the receptionist in a massage parlour. Lanshan Lao is a pretty boy shuttling between mindnumbing production line work in factories and being a waiter in a high-class knocking shop. The only exception is Baoqiang Wang, a throughly nasty gun-loving migrant worker for whom China's rootless society provides an excellent cover for his sociopathic leanings.
Possibly this is Zhangke most powerful and explicit critique of the ugly realities of the transient culture of modern capitalism. (The Chinese film board certainly felt so: having approved the script, they refused to allow it to be released domestically.) This is emphasized by setting first three stories around Chinese New Year when the whole nation seems to be on the move, trying to return to their families for the holiday. The images and the acting are very effective, the low key sense of place immaculate but it is very noticeable that when the violence erupts the style abruptly shifts to conventional Hollywood style action movie, or wuxia martial arts epic. Ordinary people, whose frustrations and disappointments we have spent half an hour becoming invested in, suddenly transform into Charles Bronson or Michelle Yeoh. I don't know if this a failure of style, or is intended as a subtle statement about Chinese traditions being corrupted by outside influences, but it feels like a cheat.
Directed by Jia Zhangke. 2013.
Starring Wu Jiang, Vivien Li, Lanshan Luo and Tao Zhao. Mandarin with subtitles. 127 mins.
This 2013 production introduces something completely new and unexpected to his filmmaking – violence. Starting in the north in Shanxi province, it takes in four stories (loosely based on real incidents) about about four individuals, gradually making its way south to Dongguan. Each story culminate in an act of violence. The characters are all struggling to make their way in modern Chinese society: Dahai (Wu Jiang) is infuriated by the corruption of the local mine owner and village chief and is constantly threatening to complain to Beijing. Tao Zhao is the mistress of a man who can't get round to divorcing his wife, who works as the receptionist in a massage parlour. Lanshan Lao is a pretty boy shuttling between mindnumbing production line work in factories and being a waiter in a high-class knocking shop. The only exception is Baoqiang Wang, a throughly nasty gun-loving migrant worker for whom China's rootless society provides an excellent cover for his sociopathic leanings.
Possibly this is Zhangke most powerful and explicit critique of the ugly realities of the transient culture of modern capitalism. (The Chinese film board certainly felt so: having approved the script, they refused to allow it to be released domestically.) This is emphasized by setting first three stories around Chinese New Year when the whole nation seems to be on the move, trying to return to their families for the holiday. The images and the acting are very effective, the low key sense of place immaculate but it is very noticeable that when the violence erupts the style abruptly shifts to conventional Hollywood style action movie, or wuxia martial arts epic. Ordinary people, whose frustrations and disappointments we have spent half an hour becoming invested in, suddenly transform into Charles Bronson or Michelle Yeoh. I don't know if this a failure of style, or is intended as a subtle statement about Chinese traditions being corrupted by outside influences, but it feels like a cheat.
