--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
A Touch of Sin
direction: Jia Zhangke
China, 2013

Director J.Z. takes a look at contemporary chinese society and comments on its ills. Through the stories of four persons, he focuses on urban alienation, phreneric socio-economic change, and mostly, violence.

Although violence is not often portrayed in chinese films, the director claims that it is part of reality as made widely known through social media. He regards it a problem and tries to show the environment that forms the breeding ground of the phenomenon - namely the huge income disparities, corruption and expoitation, the harsh working conditions and the personal stalemates.

Through his film he tried to expose the backgrounds of different persons - a middle-aged miner in the countryside miner, a sauna worker, a young boy working in the assembly line and a gangster. He does not delve into his characters, and this is the film's major shortcoming. The film is based more on the power and impressions of the image rather than character development. Indeed, the images of chinese landscape take central stage, both in the city and the countryside.