I found this to be Jia's strongest film to date. The four short films that make up this movie are very much related in that they are based on real events, which makes the unfolding scenes seem surreal, but at the same time evoking great pathos for the protagonists.

Going in there are some things to keep in mind. The title and events pay a bit of homage to A Touch of Zen, an older wuxia films, which also featured Buddhism as a key theme. In a Touch of Sin, any kind of faith in anyone just falls apart. There is no love, no happiness, and no success. Dreams are not achieved and even when the protagonists achieve their goals of revenge or justice, they are left bitter and empty.

By using real events Jia is sending out a not so subtle message about how many people in China have lost themselves to greed, have suffered and worked hard to no avail. Living standards do not increase due to corruption, one character has lost his connection with his own family, a mistress begs a man to leave his wife, to be beaten up herself while it is implied that the husband is unscathed, and yet another will do anything to feed her child, including selling her body.

Anyone who has been to China for long periods of time will have seen these events, or something similar, over and over again and it is the ending of the film that drives this message home. You have only yourself to blame repeated while the camera focuses on a group of blank faces, watching and enjoying a show. Jia is talking to all Chinese who just observe, and he seems passionate here to drive the message home, that they are to blame for how their lives have become. And they need to act if they want things to change.