A Touch of Sin
Panel Discussion with Professor Dudley Andrew (Film), Deborah Davis (Sociology), Dr. Mia Liu (CEAS), and Professor Jiwei Xiao (Fairfield University)
Directed by Jia Zhangke (2013). 125 minutes. Mandarin Chinese with English Subtitles
Film & stills courtesy of Kino Lorber
Screening followed by a Panel Discussion with
Professor Dudley Andrew (Film Studies)
Professor Deborah Davis (Sociology)
Dr. Mia Liu (East Asian Studies)
Professor Jiwei Xiao (Fairfield University)
SYNOPSIS from Kino Lorber
A “brilliant exploration of violence and corruption in contemporary China” (Jon Frosch, The Atlantic), A TOUCH OF SIN was inspired by four shocking (and true) events that forced the world’s fastest growing economy into a period of self-examination.
Written and directed by master filmmaker Jia Zhangke (The World, Still Life), “one of the best and most important directors in the world” (Richard Brody, The New Yorker), this daring, poetic and grand-scale film focuses on four characters, each living in different provinces, who are driven to violent ends.
An angry miner, enraged by widespread corruption in his village, decides to take justice into his own hands. A rootless migrant discovers the infinite possibilities of owning a firearm. A young receptionist, who dates a married man and works at a local sauna, is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client. And a young factory worker goes from one discouraging job to the next, only to face increasingly degrading circumstances.