May 24 - Jia Zhangke

Happy 50th Birthday, Jia Zhangke! Born today in 1970, this Chinese screenwriter, film producer and director  is generally regarded as a leading figure of the "Sixth Generation" movement of Chinese cinema. 

  

This is group includes such figures as Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor Wang Xiaoshuai, Chinese film director, screenwriter and occasional actor Wang Quan'an, Chinese screenwriter-director Lou Ye, and Chinese film director Zhuang Yuan. 

  

Zhangke's early films, a loose trilogy based in his home province of Shanxi were made outside of China's state-run film bureaucracy, and therefore are considered "underground" films.  

  

Beginning in the early 2000s, Zhangke's status in his own country rose when he was allowed to direct his fourth feature film with state approval. This was the 2004 Chinese drama film 'Shìjiè' ('The World'). 

  

However, Zhangke is best know for his seventh feature. This is the 2013 Chinese drama/action film 'Tiān zhùdìng' ('A Touch of Sin'). 

  

The film follows four outcasts on the edges of a rapidly changing China channel their rage into a bloody rampage.  

  

It revolves around four threads set in vastly different geographical and social milieus across modern-day China, ranging from the bustling southern metropolis of Guangzhou and Dongguan to the more rural townships in Zhangke's home province of Shanxi. 

  

The film is set in present-day China, and is based on recent events in China's contemporary history. In addition, the film draws on the history of wuxia stories. 

The title of the film in Chinese is literally translated as "heavenly fate" or "fated doom". 

In English, its title is a reference to Chinese film director and actor King Hu's epic 1971 Chinese action/adventure wuxia film 'Xiá Nǚ' ('A Touch of Zen'), one of the most influential of that genre. 

The stories in 'A Touch of Sin' are loosely based on: 

1. 
   1. Hu Wenhai (2001) 

2. 2. Zhou Kehua (2004-2012) 

3. 3. Deng Yujiao incident (2009) 

4. 4. Foxconn suicides (2007-2013) 

The film premiered at the 66th Cannes Film Festival in May of that same year, It was nominated for the Palme d'Or, but did not win. 

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 94% based on reviews from eighty-three critics. 

The site's consensus states, "Its screenplay isn't as graceful as the choreography of its action sequences, but A Touch of Sin offers enough stylishly satisfying violence to muscle past its rough spots." 

The film was well-received at Cannes, with some critics calling its genre elements, including scenes of graphic violence, a stylistic departure from some of Zhangke's past works, known for quiet realism and surreal visions of contemporary China.  

Dennis Lim of the Los Angeles Times notes that although the style may be different, the disturbing themes of the film built on the social criticism in Jia's earlier work.  

Manohla Dargis of The New York Times praised the film saying "it has the urgency of a screaming headline but one inscribed with visual lyricism, emotional weight and a belief in individual rights". 

In 2017, 'A Touch of Sin' was chosen by The New York Times as one of the twenty-five best films of the 21st century. 

Zhangke has commented in the past on the influences of Japanese screenwriter and film director Yasujirō Ozu ('Tokyo Story', 'Floating Weeds', 'An Autumn Afternoon') and Taiwanese actor, screenwriter, producer and film director ('The Time to Live and the Time to Die', 'A City of Sadness', 'The Puppetmaster') on his work. 

Zhangke has been active from 1995–present.. 

#borntodirect 

@jiazhangkeofficial 

@festivaldecannes 

@TIFF 

@Kanopy
@nytimes
@latimes