Thank you to Karen Lovelien for her well-written March 10 letter to the Herald regarding the Durango Film Festival’s selection of films, and particularly the Chinese feature “A Touch of Sin.” This happens to have been my favorite film, and I appreciate learning how differently it impacted another person. As indicated in Lovelien’s letter, “A Touch of Sin” contains violence and portrayal of subjugated women – and men. While oppression of female and male laborers was depicted in a realistic light, the retribution they took was surreal. As such, the violence was dreamlike and, to me, represented the torment in their minds. I felt enriched by both the realistic and the artistic, psychological aspects of the film.
For film-goers who want to avoid films with darker elements, the festival program contains content-descriptors for each film; the descriptors for “A Touch of Sin” were “mature content, violence, sexual content.” Balancing “A Touch of Sin,” many films in the festival were heart-warming and uplifting. Additionally, a number of films provided gripping looks at Colorado from the perspectives of ranchers and miners.
It is the range of films that makes the festival vibrant. I hope the festival continues to offer a broad range of films, providing necessary descriptors to guide viewers; and I hope film-goers continue to enjoy and be expanded by the films, leading to positive discussion, as that initiated by Lovelien.
Victoria Schmitt
Durango
