Sin and the art of redemptive violence

Sin and the art of redemptive violence

A Chinese director who's just had his latest work premiered at Cannes talks about portraying the once-taboo subject of social ills, film censorship and the art of the possible

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Sin and the art of redemptive violence

Sitting in the courtyard of the Carlton Hotel in Cannes, Chinese filmmaker Jia Zhangke talks about violence _ the violence in his new movie that is riding a wave of critical favour at the world's biggest film festival, and the real violence back in his home country where the unstoppable motor of progress has brought on many changes, good and otherwise.

Jia Zhangke.

"Some people do feel a sense of nostalgia for the past," says Jia,. "However, that's not necessarily a good thing. China is going through a difficult time, but I believe we're also pushing for more openness [in many things]."

Jia probably enjoys the widest international profile of any mainland Chinese director, thanks to films that ponder the public despair and confusion brought on by China's burgeoning economy _ from Platform (2000) and Unknown Pleasures (2002) to Still Life (2006). But his latest, A Touch Of Sin,, is fuelled by visible rage and a suggestion of retributive violence aimed at corrupt officials and the arrogant new-rich in his country. It weaves four stories together: a Chekovian-like character who's fed up with the moral bankruptcy of the village headman; a peripatetic peasant who enjoys the anarchic power bestowed by firearms; a receptionist at a brothel/massage parlour dealing with her lover; and a young factory worker, fleeing unjust treatment at the hands of a boss, who finds employment in a kinky escort bar.

Jia splashes an unusually copious amount of blood around in all four tales. Guns and knives and frequent eruptions of visceral anger are new elements from a director better known for his cool, meditative approach to discussing China's psychological problems.

"In recent years, violent events like these [as seen in my films] have been publicised through social media platforms and they have been widely discussed in the print media as well," he says through an interpreter, insisting that the stories in A Touch Of Sin, are based on real accounts. "But I fictionalise everything in the movie and even international audiences [who are not familiar with the actual events] will know what I'm talking about.

"In the past few days [since the film's premiere], I've heard many people compare my movie to those of Quentin Tarantino. But, no, the real inspiration for me are films by King Hu," Jia says, referring to the legendary director of martial arts flicks back in the 1960s. "Hu's movies addressed political oppression and the violent reaction of individuals. I'd always wanted to make a movie about violence, but I couldn't find a cinematic language in which to do it.

"But then I thought about martial arts movies, and about how the same things that happened in the past [social injustice] are happening again now.

"But, no, I don't think violence is the way out of the problem. I think society should work together to find a mechanism to solve the problem of violence. The film is full of anger, but both anger and pessimism are personal emotions, and what we have to do is to address and attempt to understand the reasons behind these emotions."

Right after its debut at Cannes, the main question on everybody's lips at the festival was whether A Touch Of Sin, which depicts dishonest officials and the ugly reality of economic disparity, would be passed by China's notoriously iron-fisted official censors. Ironically, most of the funding for the film came from a state-owned company (with Office Kitano in Japan supplying a portion of the capital). Despite his penetrating look at the unpleasant side of China's new order, Jia has _ so far at least _ encountered little trouble with the authorities in Beijing who are known to ban instances of artistic expression they regard as being heavily political or polemical (think Ai Wei Wei, or that Tiananmen-related film by Lou Ye). A Touch Of Sin was cleared by the Chinese censors for screening at Cannes, which is a good sign, although the film has yet to receive an official permit for general release in China.

"Some directors are unsure whether their movies will be passed by the censors and so some projects are abandoned as a result of that uncertainty. Which is a shame. I think if we want to push for openness, we have to push for creative freedom in our work," says Jia. "A film like A Touch Of Sin wouldn't have got past the censors in years past, but I went ahead and made it. The message I'm sending to the censorship board is that, in my world, everything is possible.

"[The fact that] I'm a director with an international following may have helped. But the main reason, I think, is that the authorities are beginning to understand that we can no longer avoid talking about the problems in our country.

"In the past, issues like violence and the economic gap between rich and poor couldn't possibly be included in movies. But now they're being addressed by the mainstream media and there's a heated discussion of them under way. That's why I want to do it, because it would be a terrible pity if we were only to talk about [such issues] in newspapers and not through the medium of art."

A Touch Of Sin , which stars Jiang Wu, Zhao Tao and Wang Baoqiang is one of 20 films contending for the Palme d’Or. The winner will be announced on Sunday.

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