A Touch of Sin

Please note: This screening takes place at the James Bridges Theater on the UCLA campus.

One of China’s top filmmakers and among global cinema’s most consistent and urgent voices, Jia Zhangke has created one stunning portrait after another of a people and Chinese society in flux. The power of his stories is matched by a visual richness recognized at Cannes, Venice and film festivals the world over. The China Onscreen Biennial is delighted to offer a retrospective of Jia’s work, culminating in the West Coast Premiere of his latest opus and Cannes selection Ash is Purest White.

Film as Social Justice

Revive (2017)

A Chinese couple in the historic town of Pingyao attempts to breathe new life into their old love as they ponder having a second child. Jia plays with a very recent dilemma – the second child policy dates from only 2013 – in an ancient setting.

DCP, color, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 18 min. Director: Jia Zhangke.

A Touch of Sin (China/Japan/France, 2013)

Premiering in competition at Cannes, A Touch of Sin is a contemporary Chinese parable depicting systemic corruption’s tight connection to sudden eruptions of violence. From a remote coal-mining town to new high-tech factories, from a woman struggling within the sex industry to a callous thief repudiated by

family, the film’s stunning cinematography shows four unique responses to human indignity – while enigmatically nodding to the figure of the female warrior in the oeuvre of martial arts master King Hu.

DCP, color, in Mandarin with English subtitles, 133 min. Director/Screenwriter: Jia Zhangke. Cast: Jiang Wu, Zhao Tao, Wang Baoqiang.