Jia Zhangke and His A Touch of Sin

Abstract

Jia Zhangke (b. 1970), is the most internation-ally famous of all Chinese Sixth Generation direc-tors, and enjoys his reputation due mainly to his (thick) descriptions of an ‘underground’ and shad-owy China, rather than the thriving official imagery of China’s radical economic transition and social reconfiguration. The covert nature of Jia’s oeuvre is found in his film’s focus and themes, which reveal a poignant, non-mainstream rendition of the social hardships encountered by Chinese people. Demo-lition, debris, laid-off workers, disadvantaged and marginalized social groups (such as migrant work-ers), and disillusioned youths are the most frequent thematic foci of Jia’s filmic creation. Due to the themes of his movies, Jia has been labelled a ‘cin-ematic migrant worker’ (dianying mingong) (Braester 2010: 301, cited in Wagner 2013: 364). Employing a bleak and candid cinematic language, Jia Zhangke’s photography and stories probe into the social unrest and the twisting mental anxiety, and perplexity that permeate Chinese society.