A man is riding a motorcycle through a cold, bleak landscape. He is stopped by three guys who approach him carrying axes. They demand money. The guy on the motorcycle reaches into his jacket. He pulls out a gun. He shoots two of the men point blank without warning. The third man runs for his life. The guy on the motorcycle puts the gun between his teeth and revs his bike. He chases the last bandit down a dirt road. He takes the gun out of his mouth and shoots the bandit in the back. He puts the gun back under his jacket. He rides on. As he rides the camera sails in front fixed on the the tough face of this loner outlaw. On his head sits a woolen cap. On the cap the familiar logo of the Chicago Bulls.
Randomly, the other day my boss made a comment about climate change. He said that the only way we could reverse it at this point is if we all stopped doing what we are doing now. But, he added, the Chinese will never stop. This surprised me. Was he suggesting that perhaps we (the USA) would or could “stop”, but the Chinese will not, and therefore we are doomed? Anyway, stop what? Stop buying stuff like flatware, iPads, cheap clothes, and plastic toys? Obviously we in the United States won’t (can’t) stop our demand for things that we feel are necessary. Plastic toys aside, the Chinese are producing goods we aren’t about to “stop” demanding like electronics and building materials for new buildings. Zhang Ke Jia’s new film A Touch of Sin depicts extreme violence that erupts in various scenarios. The violence is sparked by different things — frustration, retaliation from an attack, despair, and a fondess for firearms. Part of it may be from the pressures of globalization and rapid development in China. In the Film Comment review Tony Rayans describes it “Jia’s observation that expanding conglomerates, working hand-in-pocket with local government, have effectively replaced the Communist Party as controllers of individual destinies.” In this film the characters (based on people in real-life incidents) are mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore. There are many memorable scenes in this film. The initial sequence of cold blooded murder calmly sets the chilling tone. For me this opening sequence also subtly makes a connection between America and China in a globalized, violent, gun slinging world through the discreet but central placement of a American Basketball League logo on the hat of the killer.