An acrylic painting on wood panel, titled 'A Touch of Sin', showing a young woman from the side as she rides a moped equipped with winter hand warmers. Blood runs down her face as she firmly raises a roman candle that is firing off.

A Touch of Sin

(2013, Jia Zhangke)

I desperately wish everyone could have a chance to view this film, I feel so privileged that I got to see it in theaters. Viewing it from a Western bias could easily conflict with your perceptions of the narrative yet I saw it not as a critique of contemporary China or the government, and not as a glorification of the lives these stories are based on, but instead a stress reliever for people who are dealing with shit on a daily basis and constantly reading about tragedy in the news that quickly gets covered up. Finally there is a 2-hour block of time where we can experience some sort of "solutions" that these characters resort to. A blessy mess.


A screenshot from the film 'A Touch of Sin' of Xiaoyu (played by Zhao Tao) holding a bloody knife while staring intently at the camera. An animated gif of a scene from the film 'A Touch of Sin' of a middle-aged man, Dahai, as he blows dirt of an orange. Suddenly there's an explosion behind that startles him. A screenshot of San'er, a young man wearing a Chicago Bulls beanie, riding a moped in snowfall. From the movie 'A Touch of Sin'.

© 2013 - Kino Lorber