Repost: A Touch of Sin (February 27th and 28th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[A TOUCH OF SIN screens Thursday February 27th at 8:50 pm and Friday February 28th at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland ICinematheque.]

Review by Milan Paurich

Jia Zhang-ke, the foremost chronicler of modern Chinese life, makes remarkable movies that are less daunting--and far more entertaining--than casual observers might think. Certainly Jia’s A TOUCH OF SIN is the director’s most accessible, audience-friendly film to date. The omnibus, everything-is-connected structure seems indebted to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (BABEL, AMORES PERROS), yet SIN is actually closer to the fiction of American novelist/short story writer Joyce Carol Oates.

Split into four chapters, A TOUCH OF SIN may seem a tad less subtle than previous Jia films like PLATFORM and UNKNOWN PLEASURES. Of course, there’s nothing particularly subtle about violence, and SIN is riddled with terrifying scenes of extreme brutality. It’s the closest Jia has ever come to making a pure “genre” film (The influence of Martin Scorsese is strongly suggested in the movie’s first two segments). As usual, Jia’s camera remains largely impassive throughout, taking it all in like it was breathing air. 

A Touch of Sin (December 7th and 8th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[A TOUCH OF SIN screens Saturday December 7th at 7:00 pm and Sunday December 8th at 4:00 pm at the Cleveland ICinematheque.]

Review by Milan Paurich

Jia Zhang-ke, the foremost chronicler of modern Chinese life, makes remarkable movies that are less daunting--and far more entertaining--than casual observers might think. Certainly Jia’s A TOUCH OF SIN is the director’s most accessible, audience-friendly film to date. The omnibus, everything-is-connected structure seems indebted to Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (BABEL, AMORES PERROS), yet SIN is actually closer to the fiction of American novelist/short story writer Joyce Carol Oates.

Split into four chapters, A TOUCH OF SIN may seem a tad less subtle than previous Jia films like PLATFORM and UNKNOWN PLEASURES. Of course, there’s nothing particularly subtle about violence, and SIN is riddled with terrifying scenes of extreme brutality. It’s the closest Jia has ever come to making a pure “genre” film (The influence of Martin Scorsese is strongly suggested in the movie’s first two segments). As usual, Jia’s camera remains largely impassive throughout, taking it all in like it was breathing air.