I found this Chinese film, like many other foreign language pictures in recent years, in the pages of the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, I hoped it would be another worthy entry. Basically set in present day modern China, apparently based on real events from the recent past, the film revolves around four characters from vastly different geographical locations of the country, and of different social backgrounds and surroundings. The stories, ranging from the busy southern metropolis of Guangzho and Donggaun to the more rural areas of towns such as Shanxi, see each character committing a random act of violence, and the individual stories focus on their often bizarre reasoning behind them, and whether they can get away with it, or face the consequences. Dahai (Wu Jiang) is an angry miner, enraged by widespread corruption in his village, he decides to take justice into his own hands. Zhou San (Baoqiang Wang) is a rootless migrant who discovers the infinite possibilities of owning a firearm, and it seems that anybody could be his next target. Xiao Yu (Tao Zhao) is a young receptionist who dates a married man man and works at a local sauna, but she is pushed beyond her limits by an abusive client, so goes out of her way to make them pay. Xiao Hui (Lanshan Luo) is a young factory worker who goes from one disheartening job to another, and he only faces increasingly degrading circumstances, it is unclear what truly leads him to off the edge. The four overlapping stories of characters going to extremes for different, mostly minor or bizarre reasons, are all interesting, their violent turns are the most memorable moments, and to see how they get on following their kills or whatever, there's a good amount of bloody stuff, it also works as a satirical look at how economic transformation changes people, a great drama. Very good!
Review of A Touch of Sin
