A Touch of Sin

Name: A Touch of Sin
Genre: Drama
Released: October 4, 2013
Duration: 133 min
Rating: 77

2013

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Ratings

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7.9

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7.9	Your Score
7.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Koch Lorber Films | Release Date: October 4, 2013 | Not Rated

Summary: 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 goesAn 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. [Kino Lorber]… Expand

Director: Zhang Ke Jia

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 133 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Manohla Dargis

Oct 3, 2013

A blistering fictionalized tale straight out of China, A Touch of Sin is at once monumental and human scale. Read full review

Mark Jenkins

Oct 4, 2013

A Touch of Sin is the most dramatic and even lurid of writer-director Jia Zhangke's movies. The film-festival star hasn't quite become a Chinese Tarantino, however. Read full review

Bill Stamets

Nov 21, 2013

A Touch of Sin is humanist critique of the country’s turn to capitalism. Read full review

The Telegraph Robbie Collin

May 27, 2013

[A] stately and ambitious ensemble drama. Read full review

Scott Tobias

Oct 2, 2013

A Touch Of Sin stumbles in the coda, which makes the themes embedded in its title too explicit, but it’s a bold, invigorating statement from a director who keeps reinventing himself. Read full review

Walter Addiego

Jan 4, 2014

Jia is passionate about his characters, but that never compromises his considerable artistic control. Read full review

Time Out London Guy Lodge

May 27, 2013

If the final effect is somewhat less nuanced than his previous work, it's a good deal more vigorous. Read full review

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User Reviews

katezoe

Apr 17, 2014

Must see film. After seeing it a week ago streaming on NetFlix I am still haunted by it. The director pulled the four stories that make up the film from the headlines of Chinese newspapers.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

reellm

Dec 16, 2014

4/5★ There is an undercurrent of something shifting in China as the country moves forward into a sometimes fighting future. Four very different tales of people experiencing and reacting to the vast changes happening around them, to them and with little control over any of it.
The violence4/5★ There is an undercurrent of something shifting in China as the country moves forward into a sometimes fighting future. Four very different tales of people experiencing and reacting to the vast changes happening around them, to them and with little control over any of it.
The violence is shocking and graphic, with little to soften the blow. Zhang Ke Jia is making a statement and he isn't sugarcoating it.
Verdict: Watch.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Nov 9, 2017

I admit that it's very possible that many won't find its social criticism acceptable considering the level of brutality and violence that exposes but they must value the film for its quality, which is huge and they must also recognize that sometimes in order to be heard, something like thisI admit that it's very possible that many won't find its social criticism acceptable considering the level of brutality and violence that exposes but they must value the film for its quality, which is huge and they must also recognize that sometimes in order to be heard, something like this it's necessary.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

DawdlingPoet

Nov 27, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a bleak film - a film that may be thought provoking, its relatively long and perhaps a bit drawn out but its not a bad film, just a somewhat sobering film. It isn't constantly full of bloody violence but there is a fair bit of it, so I wouldn't recommend it to the especially squeamish. I thought it was interesting to see a female character as one of the lead characters, after revenge. There is some good camerawork and its a decent enough film but it's not really a film I'd want to watch again and I'm not sure I'd actively recommend it as such, apart from perhaps fans of Chinese/world cinema films that know what its about.… Expand

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