Touch Review: The Year's Best Film So Far Is a Spellbinding Tale of Lost Love
Summary
Touch
is a tale of lost love that spans five decades, revealing a man's powerful journey to rediscover happiness and profound truths.- Director Baltasar Kormákur masterfully weaves a story that encapsulates the human experience with poetic honesty and emotional depth.
- Kristófer's indomitable will leads to a breathtaking climax that explores the enduring power of friendship, passion, and devotion.
Icelandic auteur Baltasar Kormákur crafts an achingly beautiful tale of lost love and the profound journey taken to rediscover happiness. Time, in this case a stunning five decades, can never dull the pain of heartbreak. Touch follows a sweet and gentle soul as he pursues the most personal of mysteries at the pandemic's dawn. Why did a magnetic attraction born by chance slip away for seemingly no reason? The answer will floor you with its devastating truth. Touch encapsulates the human experience with poetic honesty. Those we cherish can be cruelly torn away, but friendship, passion, and devotion is a fire not easily extinguished.
51 Years Ago, They Locked Eyes in the Rain
Touch (2024)
A romantic and thrilling story that spans several decades and continents; Touch follows one man's emotional journey to find his first love who disappeared 50 years ago, before his time runs out.
- Release Date
- July 12, 2024
- Studio(s)
- RVK Studios , Good Chaos
- Distributor(s)
- Focus Features , Universal Pictures
- Cast
- Egill Ólafsson , Kōki , Pálmi Kormákur Baltasarsson , Masahiro Motoki , Sigurður Ingvarsson , Yoko Narahashi , Masatoshi Nakamura , Meg Kubota
Pros
- A beautifully romantic study of time and love.
- Subtle performances and emotional surprises throughout.
- A breathtaking climax ends this poetic masterpiece.
Kristófer (Egill Ólafsson) sings with the choir at his Icelandic church in front of a barren landscape. He returns home, but tosses and turns in bed with troubled thoughts. The next morning, Kristófer recites a Japanese haiku and a series of numbers before making an important decision. He takes a long look around his restaurant before closing it down, sadly pausing at a picture of his deceased wife (Maria Ellingsen) before leaving for the airport.
51 years earlier in London, a young Kristófer (Palmi Kormakur) forcefully protests at the gates of his university. A staunch socialist, he's angered by the treatment of teachers who dare to speak out against the British government. His friends playfully mock him inaccurately as a communist over drinks, but Kristófer doesn't see the humor. He boldly announces that he plans to drop out of school. The laughter turns incredulous. What's he going to do, return to Iceland and fish?
A troubled Kristófer leaves the pub in the pouring rain. He passes a nearby Japanese restaurant with a sign looking for a dishwasher. Kristófer bumps into Miko (Kōki) as she's exiting the door. The tall student and petite, ravishingly beautiful young woman lock eyes for a smoldering second. Her father and the restaurant's owner, Takahashi-san (Masahiro Motoki), tells Kristófer the dishwasher job isn't part-time. He wants a hard worker who's willing to learn.
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A Breathtaking Romance
Kormákur (A Little Trip to Heaven, 2 Guns, Everest) teaches a masterclass in editing and pacing. He juggles both timelines like a skilled acrobat building to greater reveals. The elder Kristófer initially befuddles everyone he encounters and alarms his stepdaughter back home, who we only hear through worried voice messages. The London concierge (Kieran Buckeridge) can't fathom why an aged Icelander, the hotel's only guest, is traveling while the pandemic explodes. But his earnest desire to find Miko and weary eyes thaws every icy response. The supporting characters understand that his time is fleeting. Kristófer must become a detective of sorts.
In the past, Kormákur stages a breathtaking slow-burn romance. The restaurant's staff, who each have prominent roles, can't help but admire Kristófer's dedication. He was spiritually isolated from academia and its 'all theory and no practice' existence. His immersion in Japanese culture frees a butterfly from its cocoon. Miko witnesses this transformation with sincere affection.
But they're not tripping to fall in each other's arms. Takahashi-san's rules and severe etiquette are uncompromising. The reason why is damn tragic, but it places a formidable obstacle for the burgeoning couple. What begins as simple cigarette breaks together grows into intense longing. Hearts will flutter once physical boundaries are finally crossed. The intimate scenes aren't graphically sexual but light the screen ablaze.
1:48
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Kristófer's Indomitable Will
Touch's second act makes an already compelling narrative more intriguing. The elder Kristófer's Homeric odyssey doesn't shield his pain. Kormákur plays out his search realistically. There are no cheap aha moments. Miko could literally be anywhere. The thought of never finding her haunts Kristófer as much as the unexplained reason why she suddenly disappeared. Everyone who's been dumped or left in the lurch knows this agony. Was it me? Did I do something to force her away? Ólafsson, a famed actor and singer in Iceland, delivers a truly remarkable performance. He's the embodiment of conflicted emotions but an indomitable will. Kristófer cannot let Miko go. Nothing else matters but her.
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Touch's climactic turn hits like a knockout blow. The end of Kristófer's extraordinary path is a powerfully emotional experience. Kormákur is again sublime in his delivery. What would you do when finally learning the truth? This is the other question that's subtly placed in the plot. Kristófer has no idea what to expect after so many years and a lifetime lived in between. Will the Miko (Yoko Narahashi) he's found be the same woman from his youth? Their astonishing reunion is fascinating to behold and shatters even the highest expectations.
Kormákur's deserved praise continues with his artistic juxtaposition of Kristófer and Miko's romance with the pandemic's cold separation. Scenes of Kristófer being told to wear a mask, keep his distance, and use sanitizer feel alien to the tactile warmth shared between tragic young lovers. Kormákur lingers as they hold each other throughout the film, their precious contact visualizing a bond of unspoken tenderness. Touch is a wonderful and moving experience in every regard.
Touch, originally titled Snerting, has Icelandic, Japanese, and English dialogue. It will be released theatrically on July 12th from Focus Features.
