Texts examined:
- A Touch of Sin ［天注定］(2000) - Jia Zhangke
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| Zhao Tao, wife of Jia Zhangke features again in his most graphic film yet. |
Jia Zhangke’s latest film, A Touch of Sin,
features in the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. From the outset, you will
immediately recognize this film as a classic Jia Zhangke work. Recurring stylistic features, along with
beautiful screenplay and recurring themes from his previous works typify Jia
Zhangke as a widely recognized international film festival auteur.
In a recent interview, Jia explains that
‘he has always been interested in ordinary people, their individual destinies
and individual struggles” – The World
and A Touch of Sin are no exceptions.
A Touch of Sin is a film split into
four different and unrelated stories but all working towards one central idea
that is pertinent across Jia’s recent works – that is, a globalizing China that
is becoming increasingly materialistic and the consequences of it.
Though China’s economic development is
unrivalled by any other country for the last few decades, poverty amongst
ordinary Chinese people is still widespread – it’s GDP per capita is still low.
The gap between the rich and poor has widened and people are becoming restless.
Jia Zhangke captures this notion by looking at how these types of people
respond to such circumstances. Materialism and money is a ubiquitous motivator
of action throughout the film. A miner takes the law into his own hands
following the corruption of his village – a rich person who owns a private jet
is buying off the people in the village.
A receptionist working at a sauna is slapped and abused with a large
bundle of cash by a client. A migrant worker will go to any lengths to get
money and provide for his family. A factory worker searches for economic
stability as he moves from one job to another. The result is almost always violence – and
very graphic at that. After watching the film, we can understand where the
violence is coming from – the desperation of these Chinese citizens to improve
their situation – it’s certainly not random and it’s almost justified. It’s a damning indictment and condemnation of the
skyrocketing wealth in China.
I thought this was a very interesting point
which came from one of the articles below: “The China we see and hear about is
one with gleaming skyscrapers and a booming economy—a nation ready to take on
the role of superpower in the coming decades. A Touch of Sin shows
us a very different People’s Republic, one where corrupt officials are hand in
glove with sleazy businessmen who are in turn tolerated by spineless citizens.
It makes for pretty bleak viewing.”
And it is. Though it seems very extreme at
times, it feels so real. After watching the film, you get the sense that these
kinds of events occur on a day-to-day basis – political corruption and economic
instability is rife and it seems as though Chinese citizens have no choice but
to tolerate it.
The sad thing is that no one in the
mainland has seen this film. It didn’t
pass censors despite Jia’s efforts to work closely with the official censors
from the start. It’s obvious that the
Beijing government find the issues that Jia presents in his narrative a touchy
subject.
Personally, I found A Touch of Sin a very interesting and eye-opening film and I recommend
it to those who would be interested in finding out the ‘other’ side of China’s
globalization and modernization.
References:
Asian
Fortune,. (2014). Q & A: Jia Zhangke on His New Film “A Touch of Sin”.
Retrieved 5 May 2014, from http://www.asianfortunenews.com/2014/05/30023/
Hsieh, T.
(2014). A Touch of Sin | The World of Chinese. Theworldofchinese.com.
Retrieved 5 May 2014, from http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2014/05/a-touch-of-sin/
Ashok, G.
(2014). A Touch of Sin: Grim and Compelling. The Diplomat.
Retrieved 5 May 2014, from http://thediplomat.com/2014/05/a-touch-of-sin-grim-and-compelling/
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