A Touch of Sin

China

Four disparate stories which attempt to show the upset and dislocation of contemporary China.

Direction was excellent...framing, camera moves, use of light and color. The main problem with the film was that every story ended in violence...and largely cartoonish violence. The characters we follow are invariably abused until they snap and shoot, stab someone or jump from a high building.

It struck me as a strong comment on the changes in Chinese culture: the film begins and ends with a traditional traveling opera company putting on a show in a public space...perhaps a reminder, a yearning for what once was. This contrasts with constant traffic, high-rise cities, high speed trains, etc. Families are shown broken, the members separated by economics and distance.

Nice try.

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