Awarded Best Screenplay at Cannes Last Year

Master director Jia Zhangke has won awards at all three of the world's major film festivals: Berlin, Venice, and Cannes. He made a brilliant international debut with his Beijing Film Academy graduation film, 'Platform' (1998), which won the Best Newcomer award at the Berlin International Film Festival. 'Still Life' (2006) received the Golden Lion, the Grand Prize at the Venice Film Festival, and this film, 'A Touch of Sin,' earned the Best Screenplay award at last year's Cannes Film Festival.

'A Touch of Sin' is based on real incidents that occurred in China's rapidly changing modern society, with director Jia crafting the screenplay from these events. The protagonists are four seemingly ordinary men and women living in provincial China. Though they live their lives earnestly, they are driven to commit crimes by certain circumstances.

The role of these everyday men and women is played by Zhao Tao, known as Jia Zhangke's muse. Additionally, Zhang Wu and Wang Baoqiang, stars of popular entertainment films, deliver remarkable performances that are a departure from their usual roles.

Why Did These Earnest Individuals Cross the Line into Crime?

There's Dahai, a man from Shanxi Province who, angered by the appropriation of profits from the village's collectively owned coal mine by an entrepreneur, seeks retribution. There's Zhou, a man from Chongqing who commits robberies while telling his wife and child he is working away from home. There's Xiaoyu, who wields a knife, stained with blood, in a half-resigned pursuit of a forbidden love with a married man. And there's Xiaohui, a man from Guangdong Province, tormented by his love for an older dancer at a nightclub.

Why did these people, living earnestly in the corners of China, touch upon sin? And why do we find ourselves empathizing with them, the criminals?

This film marks a new frontier for director Jia Zhangke, who has consistently depicted the lives of people in the present day from their own perspective since his debut. While delicately portraying contemporary China, it expresses inner conflicts and the explosion of beliefs through shocking violence, vividly capturing the essence of restless souls.

'A Touch of Sin'
Opening Saturday, May 31st, at Bunkamura Le Cinema and other theaters nationwide.
Director & Screenplay | Jia Zhangke
Starring | Zhao Tao, Zhang Wu, Wang Baoqiang, Luo Lanshan
Distributed by | Bitters End, Office Kitano
2013 | China, Japan | 129 min
http://www.bitters.co.jp/tumi/

© 2013 BANDAI VISUAL, BITTERS END, OFFICE KITANO