A Touch of Sin

Deceivingly unassuming in its moral complexity, yet relentless in its graphic depiction, Zhang Ke Jia's challenging meditation on an ever-changing China had me utterly transfixed from its opening scene. While set in different corners of the country, each story eventually pushes its lead character to a vengeful breaking point, culminating in inevitable bloodshed that flirts riskily with a kind of surreal fantasy while remaining remarkably grounded in reality. A must see.

A constant air of oppression, literal and spiritual, characterizes each of the four stories in this film, which is punctuated by brief, graphic flashes of simultaneously disturbing and cathartic violence. It is a polyptych of those left behind by the surge of China's economy being washed ever further away by its slow recession, and how they react when they feel utterly cornered by their helplessness. It's heavy from the start and the weight of it all doesn't let up.

Four stories of modern China: a gadfly turns vigilante; a transient thug commits random crimes; a woman takes an unexpected stand against male exploitation; a nomadic young man finds himself alone and adrift. Jia Zhangke's meditative direction is matched by his compassionate screenplay, in which bursts of violence prove the only possible reaction to an oppressive world. Fine acting across the board, especially by Wu Jiang as the gadfly. Yu Likwai's cinematography is nothing short of phenomenal.

Jia cashes in his dignified, typical East Asian minimalism (though, he's one of the best at it) for some jarring, Gaspar Noe-esque violence. The film operates with the same kind of blunt force as the violence depicted (there's a scene where a woman, assumed to be a sex worker, is repeatedly hit with money...get it?!) The story about the sad teen is actually perfect, though. Retreading the same territory as Unknown Pleasures, but hey, that's still my favorite of his.

The realism of the rest of the film makes the outbursts of violence all the more visceral and terrible and keeps you on edge the entire time. Some parts a little slow but this is stunningly unique filmmaking.

The four stories add up into a solid portrait of modern-day China, each showing a different side of the corruption and brutality of the country at this time. I love that the stories are told on their own terms and never intertwine. This is my first time seeing one of Zhang-Ke's films, so I can't compare it to the rest of his oeuvre, but I found his approach to violence to be especially powerful.

A film that creates amusements of the best actioners to closure each one of its four depictions of everyday tension and rage in China. Zhang Ke tells stories of real-life characters in state of despair, who basically react to the very cyclical violence the system and its people impose (the lady finds a job in the province that CEO was shot, remember? that proves capitalism is here for good). Contemporary life is reduced to make money. Cinema turns boredom in style, but substance remains.

The tension...oh god, the tension. Not sure it made the point it wanted to...probably got lost on international audiences...I know that I was just watching it for the violent outbursts, and god what violent outbursts they were

"Do you understand your sin?" A big ol' "fuck you very much" to the way money is corrupting and destroying lives in China, this is indeed the serious version of The Wolf On Wall Street, right down to the last shot being pretty much identical in look and intension. Hard to follow at times, but never boring.

The more I think about it, the better it gets!

Certainly a polemic, i.e. a sledgehammer approach to the spiritual corruption of a nation. Yet the episodes are, apart from the scenic impressions, not very compelling. Sorting out one's moral point of view is more fruitful than the predetermined and didactic material itself.

First I thought it was good. Two months later it's closer to great.

Worth watching if you'd like a varied view of modern-day China, and you'd also like to watch some random violence... I guess. #1001Movies

Heavy handed exploration of violence and corruption in contemporary China, moments of A.T.O.S are almost reminiscent of Haneke in their depiction of modern alienation and despair manifesting in social aggression and/or self annihilation.Its portmanteau structure is clearly organised along these thematic lines, lending a welcome sense of continuity, but the film is more successful when the 'threats' to its characters are clearly visible, which is why nothing matches the impact of the first story.

Another great example of the talent in China being held back from flourishing by censorship practices far too conservative for the medium. "A Touch of Sin" was never formally banned by censors, but also never actually allowed to be released in its home country. It's a good movie with a well developed portrayal of societal issues in China. It has one problem, though, as a mosaic of four stories only related by common themes, none of the stories feel as fleshed out as they deserve.

Watchable slice-of-life dramas punctuated by episodes of violence. The transitions from story to story could be a little jarring if it weren't for the common thread of social commentary, which makes this film compellingly complex. It's stylishly shot, but ultimately there is perhaps a little too much bloat and discontinuity to raise this to the top level; nevertheless it's an intriguing and bold step in Jia Zhang Ke's career.

Nicely interwoven details, but the stories... meh.

Message: Rich people are corrupt, evil, and sick.

Elegantly portrays some genuinely disturbing true stories.

Stylish and violent action that tries to explain the increasing numbers of "random" acts of violence in China. Four stories, four different provinces, but still the people suffer through the same problems. When pushed to the limit, violence is their last solution.

Several mini stories about people being pushed to their limits, and what happens when they loose it. It is also a window into some of the hardships and indignities that some people face in China today. The themes are fairly universal, if you push a person too far, something bad will happen. I was not altogether satisfied with the story telling. Some of it felt unfinished. Extra points though for a few hauntingly good scenes. A thorough treatment for one of these stories would have been better.

Sort of self-conscious, and at times a little heavy-handed, but still a surprising and refreshing change of pace for Jia (granted, I haven't really been keeping up with his more recent work). Some parts work better than others, but the last segment in particular feels like sort of a nice throwback to Unknown Pleasures.

Don't let the cool movie poster fool you, this is a very depressing state of affairs. No wonder this movie had difficulty passing the Chinese state censorship. Nonetheless a very intriguing watch. Recommended.

Jia paints a bracing, prophetic portrait of oppression, violence, and melancholy in modern day China. The film's violence is always shocking and often plays on the edge of comedy and surrealism (esp. in the first vignette). However, as the film moves toward the conclusion of its final vignette, the enemy becomes diffuse, the people ever more lost and without a place to direct their anger and frustration. The epilogue brings a much needed dose of, dare I say, hope and certainly truth.

The satire is a bit too broad at times, reminding me of what leaves me so cold from the current wave of South Korean films. That was especially true with the first vignette. There's an excellent sense of place in this film. Ultimately, you are convinced of the hopelessness the characters feel.

Die Expansion Chinas verlief so schnell, dass keine Zeit blieb für menschliche Aspekte (Zhangke Jia). Für mich war bereits nach wenigen Filmminuten klar: Blut wird fliessen!(...) die ganze Rezension sowie die für uns interessantesten modernen chinesischen Arthaus Filme gibts auf der Webpage unserer Videothek/Cinethek cinegeek.de

Filmekimi 2013 & sonuna kadar bekleyemeyip yarisinda ciktigim, bana dokunamamis bir film.

12. Filmekimi - City's: Yönetmen bizi Çin'in çok farklı şehirlerinde, sosyoekonomik şartların şuça yuvarladığı bireyler arasında dolaştırırken, ilk başta çok yoğun bir şey hissedemedim. Fakat, finalde 130 dk. boyunca içimde biriktirdiklerim öyle bir tokat çarptı ki yüzüme, tüyler diken diken...

A well-made quartet of short stories that paint a compelling, if not particularly flattering, portrait of contemporary China.

I don't care for this as a film, but it does seem to have an impressive (and admirable) level of sheer vitriol towards what the "capitalist roaders" have done with the PRC.