A Touch of Sin

China 2013, 133 minutes
Dir. Jia Zhang-ke
In Mandarin, Cantonese with English subtitles
Rating: [R16] Graphic violence
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Suspense/Crime, Drama

Feat. Wu Jiang, Baoqiang Wang, Zhao Tao

Aroview: Another striking modern tale of urban discontent from leading Chinese auteur Jia Zhang-ke, one which remains as perceptive and thought-provoking as his previous works despite the lurid trappings of genre.

Through four stories of violence ripped from the headlines, Jia plumbs the moral and social crisis of a country experiencing rapid economic change, though his lens has sharpened to lend the film a deceptive commercial quality that's entirely fitting, inviting the sort of intellectual scrutiny crucial to Jia's films.

NZ International Film Festival 2013