MCLC: A Touch of Sin at Cannes

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Han Meng <hanmeng at gmail.com>
Subject: A Touch of Sin at Cannes
***********************************************************

Source: 
http://www.vlicious.org/2013/05/cannes-trailer-two-clips-for-jia.html

A TOUCH OF SIN (Tian Zhu Ding, 天注定) is an upcoming Chinese drama film
from 
Gold Lion-winning filmmaker, Jia Zhangke (贾樟柯) of Still Life (三峡好人).
It 
has been selected to compete at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and marks
the first Chinese entrant for Palme d’Or in three years.

The film follows four separate people navigating their lives across four
Chinese provinces. An angry miner revolts against the corruption of his
village leaders. A migrant worker at home for the New Year discovers the
infinite possibilities a firearm can offer. A pretty receptionist at a
sauna is pushed to the limit when a rich client assaults her. A young
factory worker goes from job to job trying to improve his lot in life.
Four people, four different provinces. A reflection on contemporary China:
an economic giant slowly being eroded by violence.

Starring Jia’s muse (and wife) Zhao Tao (赵涛), Jiang Wu (姜武), Wang
Baoqiang 
(王宝强), Zhang Jia-yi (张嘉译), Vivien Li (李梦), and Luo Lanshan (罗蓝山),
the film 
commenting on the violence, economic struggles and dissatisfaction with
everyday life through the eyes of common people.

* via Indiewire 
<http://www.indiewire.com/article/exclusive-new-trailer-for-palme-dor-compe
ting-a-touch-of-sin>, FilmosphereComVideos
<http://www.youtube.com/user/FilmosphereComVideos>


=========================================================

Source: 
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130516/at-cannes-shock-movie-te
sts-chinas-boundaries

At Cannes, shock movie tests China's boundaries

Disgusted by corrupt local leaders, an angry miner picks up a shotgun. A
migrant worker returning home looks to armed robbery to escape a life of
relentless bleakness. A pretty receptionist at a sauna is driven to the
limit when a gangster tries to rape her. And a young man drifts
nightmarishly from job to job to try to make ends meet.

These tableaux would not be out of place in a gritty European art-house
movie, but at the Cannes Film Festival, they feature in one of the boldest
works to emerge from China in years.

The only Chinese contestant in the running for this year's Palme d'Or, "A
Touch of Sin" (Tian Zhu Ding) reaped enthusiastic applause at a press
screening on Thursday.

It portrays China in the throes of brutal change -- a damaged society
where corrupt officials, petty criminals and greedy bosses from Hong Kong
and Taiwan hold sway.

Living in the cracks are the country's anonymous army of migrant workers.
Uprooted, alienated and exploited, they struggle to repair damaged
relationships with their distant families, or save up for the pilgrimage
home at the Lunar New Year.

In one shocking scene, the sauna receptionist is battered around the head
by a club of banknotes wielded by her assailant who screams: "I will kill
you with my money!"

In another, Hong Kong businessmen are bizarrely entertained by teen
prostitutes dressed in sexed-up Communist uniforms, who march around in
thigh-high boots as they chant a proletarian anthem.

All four narratives are inspired by tales that happened in real life, and
make reference to events -- including a high-speed train crash and
suicides in foreign-owned factories -- that have darkened China's
reputation around the world.

When the trailer of the film was uploaded on Wednesday to Youku -- China's
Youtube -- the message boards buzzed.

"I don't know if it will be shown in China ...," wrote a person under the
user name anqionganchouannongcun.

"It can be shown at Cannes, but certainly not in Chinese theaters,"
predicted a user posting under the name blooper on China's Twitter-like
service, Sina Weibo.

Not so, said director Jia Zhangke.

In an interview with AFP, he said the film has not only been officially
approved. It was also part-funded by a state-owned organisation, the
Shanghai Film Group Corporation. And it will be seen in China uncensored.

Asked whether "A Touch of Sin" was for foreign consumption only, he said:
"The film is going to be seen in China.

"I got the authorisation before coming to Cannes, which is good news for
me. The version that will be presented in China is the one you have just
seen."

The film stars Jiang Wu, Zhao Tao, Wang Baoqiang and newcomer Luo Lanshan,
with Jia providing the script.

"A Touch of Sin" is the seventh feature film made by the 43-year-old, who
has a record of commentary on the social cost of China's dash for
prosperity.

In 2006, he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival for "Still
Life," set in a town on the Yangtze River that is about to be drowned by
the Three Gorges Dam project.

And in 2008, he was in the running for the Golden Palm with "24 City,"
about the bulldozing of an old factory to make way for luxury high-rises,
throwing thousands out of work.

Jia says the film's English title pays tribute to "A Touch of Zen," a 1971
martial arts film by Taiwan's King Hu.

That movie is a classic in a genre known as wuxia, where the central
character has no resort other than violence to defend himself, he said.

Asked whether the timing and context of "A Touch of Sin" boosted its
chances at Cannes, Jia laughed and said he was only thinking right now of
getting the maximum number of people to see the movie "and the message it
conveys."

"Today, we are entering an era in China where one is one's own media and
there is huge discussion on Chinese twitter about things happening in
China," said Jia.

"If it sparks discussion and reactions of all kinds, that would give me
greatest happiness."