A Touch of Sin (2014) Review

A Touch of Sin

Director: Jia Zhangke

Stars: Wu Jiang, Tao Zhao, Lanshan Luo

Jia Zhangke’s latest film has finally seen a UK release roughly a year after its Cannes victory for best screenplay. After a long wait fuelling anticipation furthered by the buzz surrounding the Chinese director, it is fair to say that the payoff is more than satisfactory.

A Touch of Sin presents four separate narrative strands set in various provinces of modern day China, each unified by dealing with a violent struggle of sorts. Wu Jiang gives a fantastic performance as ‘Dahai’ the angry miner who feels forced to confront the corruption in his village. Lanshan Luo is equally intriguing as the downtrodden migrant worker struggling to make ends meet amongst China’s cutthroat world of neo-capitalism. But it is regular Jia collaborator Tao Zhao whose performance as the abused receptionist is particularly powerful, creating scenes of bloody retribution that wouldn’t be out of place in a Tarantino film. Jia Zhangke’s script and shooting perfectly uses violence as a cunning narrative tool, keeping audiences interested through an overbearing atmosphere of hatred and anxiety, culminating in visceral scenes of violence. We are given a vivid yet unflinching image of the lives of everyday Chinese citizens who are swallowed up by the country’s rapidly expanding economy. Jia Zhangke’s camera captures fantastic landscapes that emphasise the fear and isolation each character experiences, despite China’s staggering population density.

The fact that the film’s characters are derived from real news stories in recent Chinese history emphasises Jia’s message - scrutinising a nation supposedly experiencing a period of prosperity. The director has put a mirror in front of his own country, giving global audiences an image of China that many would have never considered.

It could be argued that such a message gets a little muddled at times through the film’s division of narratives. But the subtlety of its national statement and use of compelling performances ensure that those who watch A Touch of Sin will stand up and listen to what Jia Zhangke has to say. This is a director that promises an exciting future for Chinese cinema. So despite a somewhat unfamiliar setting, the film resonates with many of us that can relate to exploited individuals driven to extremes. 

RATING: 4/5

By Tom Boucher

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) Review

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) Review

Director – Doug Liman

Stars – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt

As soon as we heard that Tom Cruise was making another action movie it wasn’t a huge surprise. After all Mr Hollywood has managed to be cast in a variant of ‘photogenic hero’ since the 80’s and he isn’t showing signs of slowing down. However this isn’t a criticism, Cruise has been ‘ahem’ cruising (sorry) through a major blockbuster pretty much every year, each one a standing testament to what he does best. This time round he is joined by Doug Liman who is also an action veteran (The bourne Identity, Mr and Mrs Smith) Thus far so good. Based on the critically acclaimed Japanese novel ‘All You Need is Kill’ by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, the film has a great foundation to work off of and also has high expectations from the original fans.

Within 10 minutes of the film we get a huge chunk of the plot; most of the earth has been taken over by ‘mimics’ jelly fish type robots (think ‘The Matrix’ sentinels with superior CGI) and the cowardly Major Cage (Cruise) has been sent to the front line for an imminent battle across the English channel. Within this battle lies a majority of the action and film. After Cage kills an Alfa Mimic, in the process killing him, he gains the Alfa’s ability to‘re-set’ the day thus giving a ‘Groundhog Day’ effect. This enables Cage to live (and die) the same day over and over again, as this progresses we meet the infamous Rita AKA The full metal Bitch (Blunt). Blunt gives the film a different dynamic as she is the dominant solider, being the first time cruise has played catch up we see a nice element of comedy in the otherwise dramatic battle fields. Liman provides plenty of these action sequences which are able to grip and entertain us, whilst giving them a subtle edge of grit which suits both Cruise and Blunt well. The movie places most of its emphasis on these two leads who share great chemistry, and although we aren’t given a huge amount about Rita’s back story we can grasp a basic idea of her motivation within the war. It’s also refreshing to see a headstrong woman making Cruise feel slightly inferior, her hard exterior makes us attached to their story and the difficulties they face. This said it would have been great to have seen more of both of Cage and Rita’s past and also their future as the film does decide to end with a semi-teaserish feel.

All in all this is defiantly not a standard blockbuster, it has a great script, cast and heart that make it more notable than most of this summer’s offerings. It’s only flaws can be forgiven and although it spoon feeds most of the story it’s hard to judge with its leading man and lady giving it everything on screen. If only more big budget productions based their ideas on well written books rather than Hasbro toys (that’s right Optimus Prime) we would have a higher calibre of cinema.

RATING 4/5

By Joshua Tanner