Disgusted by corrupt local leaders, an angry miner picks up a shotgun. A migrant worker returning home looks to armed robbery to escape a life of relentless bleakness. A pretty receptionist at a sauna is driven to the limit when a gangster tries to rape her. And a young man drifts nightmarishly from job to job to try to make ends meet.<\/p>\n
These tableaux would not be out of place in a gritty European art-house movie, but at the Cannes Film Festival, they feature in one of the boldest works to emerge from China in years.<\/strong><\/p>\n The only Chinese contestant in the running for this year’s Palme d’Or, “A Touch of Sin” (Tian Zhu Ding) reaped enthusiastic applause at a press screening on Thursday.<\/strong><\/p>\n It portrays China in the throes of brutal change — a damaged society where corrupt officials, petty criminals and greedy bosses from Hong Kong and Taiwan hold sway.<\/p>\n