⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2 (out of 5)
Modern filmmaking is becoming less defined by borders as co-productions occur across international waters to make some of the best films in contemporary cinema. Acclaimed Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur (Everest, Adrift) takes the Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson novel of one man’s last attempt at finding a lost love. His journey takes him across time and continents to find the woman he lost but never forgot.
Kormákur’s cinematic tale is a poignant journey of two people falling in love at different seasons of life. Kristófer (Egill Ólafsson), a widower living in Iceland, is moving into a state of dementia and is encouraged by his doctor to resolve any of his life’s unfinished business. This leads him on an emotional adventure into his past as he seeks out the one love of his past that he never forgot. Miko (Kōki) left him behind suddenly after a love affair that occurred while Kristófer (Palmi Kormakur) was a student in London during the late 1960s. The pair unexpectedly fell for one another as they began to share more of their past and hoped for their future together. Decades later, the Icelandic man desperately searches for his long-lost love during the inception of the COVID pandemic as he races against time, his own physical limitations and potential lockdowns to discover if Miko is alive or even remembers him.
There is a profound beauty to this love affair that is cut short and hopefully rediscovered decades later. The combination of the Icelandic and Japanese cultures swirled together through London’s tumultuous 1960s era makes for splashes of unexpected drama and reticent romance. As the timelines are masterfully intertwined throughout the film, enough is exposed at the right time to make this a satisfying and alluring tale of cross-cultural passion that will captivate those who yearn for their reconnection to occur. Kormákur proves that he has a knack for releasing just enough of each story element to tantalise the viewer to grasp for themselves the truth behind the mystery and unexplained connection of this couple. As he adds in the elements that define the various decades, this writer/director reveals a wonderful story that transcends culture and time.
Egill Ólafsson captures the harrowing and driven nature of a man who yearns for answers despite his failing memory. He embodies the muted nature of his background that masks a driven passion for life and love. A performance that is complemented by the believable romance between the unexpected lovers played by Kōki and Palmi Kormakur. Then to have this fascinating relationship to be cast against the backdrop of the history making decades makes for one of the most compelling and engaging stories in cinema. Touch will gently draw the viewer in as it proves to be one of the most compelling, elegant and confronting romances of the past decade.
Reel Dialogue: Is life only meant for dying or is it meant for living?
After seeing Touch, it begins to bring out the emotion that occurs in the lives of those who watch their loved ones age. Listen into this God in 60 Seconds segment that asks the question…. Is life only meant for dying or is it meant for living?
