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Urban Stories: Power, Poverty and Conflict

A Touch of Sin is a 2013 Chinese drama film directed by Jia Zhangke. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, with Jia winning the award for Best Screenplay. Stars of the film include Zhao Tao, Jia's wife and long-time collaborator. This film is one of Zhangke Jia’s first full movies that was allowed to be published after his 2004 release The World was refused to be published in mainland China because of government censors. Until December 2013 censors had still not cleared a touch of sin and a leaked directive from the central propaganda department instructed media not to conduct interviews, report or comment on the film.

This film has four independent story lines set in China about random acts of violence, however each storyline exploits the Chinese government and continues to rebel against the set cultural routines in China.

A Touch Of Sin

Jia Zhangke

Jia Zhangke is a Chinese director and screenwriter, considered to be part of the “sixth generation” of Chinese film makers, challenging modern day Chinese society and government and a return to more amateur-ish film making. It is a movement that grew out of China’s censors being slightly loosened in conjunction with the iconic Tiananmen Square protests, though overlying issues of censorship and corruption are still rife throughout the country.

Before ‘A Touch of Sin’, Jia Zhangke had directed many of films commentating on Chinese society and the problems faced by many ordinary people in China. He made his directorial debut in 1997 with ‘Xiao Wu (The Pickpocket)’, a film about a pickpocket who tries to get away from the problems he faces on the streets and think about his future of him and the people around him. This sets the themes for many of his future films, challenging urban stories that criticize various aspects of Chinese society and showing that China is not completely the industrial powerhouse often seen in Western media.

‘A Touch of Sin’ is arguably his most challenging piece of work yet. While he and the production crew were allowed by the country to make the film, ‘A Touch of Sin’ was denied a theatrical release in China and there is still no legal way to watch the film within the country. The censors also banned the media from talking about the film. An official order reads “Do not conduct interviews, report, or comment on Jia's film A Touch of Sin", banning all exposure of the film within Chinese media. This is because the film highlights many of the issues of modern day society and explores problems of corruption, crime, poor human rights and the widening gap between the rich and the poor within China.

One of the main reasons for these censors is that the film is loosely based upon real events that happened in China. For example, one scene in the film sees a stressed worker committing suicide. This is heavily linked to the Foxconn suicides that happened in 2010, which caused uproar across the world towards corporations who exploit many of the workers in China such as Apple.

However, Jai Zhangke is a widely respected filmmaker within the “Sixth Generation” film movement and amongst film critics in the west. NPR critic has called him the “Most important filmmaker working in the world today.” ‘A Touch of Sin’ was also a critical success, winning many awards including ‘Best Screenplay’ at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, the film was also nominated for the Palme d’Or at the same festival.

Inequality

Big wage gap between factory workers and factory owners Difference in living standards between miners and mine owners. The 2010 Credit Suisse Global Wealth Report tells us that China has a median

wealth of $6,227, which is substantially less than the highest urban disposable income. Which shows the gap between workers and owners.

Gini-coeffecient – a measure of seeing how wealth is distributed. China’s G.O.E stood at 0.47 at the beginning of 2000. The figure 0 means there is total equality, the figure 1 means there is total inequality. China’s figure is interesting because when the figure reaches around 0.4 there is a warning that the economy is going into a tremendous level of inequality.

The richest 10% of China were 35 times wealthier than the poorest 10% (Income Inequality)

The G.O.E is predicted to keep on rising, which would create further tension in china between the rich, and the poor.

Tension

This income inequality for workers created social unrest and was the catalyst for many protests.

The G.O.E is predicted to keep on rising, which would create further tension in china between the rich, and the poor.

The G.O.E of 0.4 is seen as a threshold for social unrest. Representation of Inequality – A Touch of Sin

Dahai (Mine manager) tries to fight economic injustices. For example, he confronts the mine owner about the failing economy of his village and wants answers about whether or not he will invest and give back to the workers. (There is also a mention about a previous promise that was made to the workers about sharing the profits of the mine)

The miners in the film and the rich in the film have clear distinctions for example, the way they dress and their hygiene are polar because the director is trying to display the inequality in a small mining village.

The young man who had a peaceful factory job in his own village accidentally injures his friend in a machine accident, which eventually gets him in trouble. He is told that he would not get paid any amount until the injured worker is back, and he would also work on behalf of the injured worker. This frustration leads him to running away to the city to find another job. He finds that this new job does not allow him freedom and he feels as if he has lost his livelihood. Continued pressure from his family and his financial crisis of becoming broke, he commits suicide. The main reason he does this is the pressures of society and how he always used to mess up the opportunities that were given to him. (Victim of society)

The second story on show is about a man who seems to be very quiet, but is a cold-blooded killer. He comes from a small village, which means his wealth may not be the best. This means he needs to travel to find work (migrant worker) and this work may not always come to him because of the social and economic pressures. We then see how he acquires money (through mugging) and this is probably the path he chose because he has no other way to do it.

Examples of Dissidents in China

Qin Yongmin- China Democracy party co-funder

Just days after completing a 12-year jail term for subversion, Qin Yongmin vowed to advance human rights and democracy in China.

Mr Qin was sentenced to prison in 1998 after he and other activists tried to officially register the China Democracy Party.

Previously, Mr Qin was jailed from 1981-1989 as a "counter-revolutionary" following China's "democracy wall" period of political openness.

In 1993, he was sentenced to two years in a labour camp for drafting the "Peace Charter," a manifesto that called for a re-evaluation of the 1989 Tiananmen protests and the release of political prisoners.

"As a democrat, this is my life. One day, the China Democracy Party will be legal in China, but this will take time," he said in a phone interview with AFP from his home in Wuhan.

Bao Tong- Former official, under house arrestIn the late 1980s, Bao Tong was one of the most powerful men in China, as adviser to the then Communist Party chief Zhao Ziyang.

Both men opposed the brutal crackdown on students during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, and both suffered for their stance.

Within weeks, Mr Zhao was ousted and Mr Bao jailed for seven years.

He has been under house arrest since his release in 1997, but still managed to sign the Charter 08 manifesto and reportedly smuggle out audiotapes made byMr Zhao to Hong Kong, where they formed the basis of a memoir published after his death.

A Touch Of SinThe first sequence is about a man called Dahai who is unhappy with the village chief and the boss

of the company he works for, the boss and him where old friends at school and he seeks justice for the inequality and criminal acts such as covering up accidents and cutting deals and bribing workers done by the boss and village chief. After he is put in his place by being beaten, he feels

the justice system doesn’t work, so he takes up arms and seeks out justice for himself after speaking to an old school friend.

The camera work in the sequence consists always of still shots and steady long takes, this highlights the quiet and boring life of a worker where nothing much usually takes place that

would be considered exciting such as action. That elevates the action in this sequence when it does take place. This is also due to the sound work where most sound used in the scenes is

diegetic to make the feel of the scene realistic and feel less bombastic. The colour correction of the film is a greyish colour that fits the mood of the sequence.  The director uses pathetic fallacy technique to effect the mood of the scene using weather, for example when its snowing it shows

how cold the surrounding society is in the village.

The first story revolves around the lack of justice and the corruption of the hierarchy. The protagonist, Dahal, is unsatisfied with the level of bribery and corruption; he takes matters into

his own hands. There are certain aspects of the film, which, subtly, relates to the situation unfolding. There is a particular scene, involving a man whipping his horse to work; this links to the same problems in the village. The workers are made to work under the unlawful actions of

the people in charge. (There is a high level of immigration in the first segment; it shows this when the mineworkers’ ids and visas are being checked) After taking down the corrupted, powerful

beings, Dahal shoots down the horse’s master; this symbolises how the injustice and mistreatment reign over his village is ending.