Baltasar Kormakur’s Touch (2024) begins in the early months of 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning to disrupt contact between countries. Kristofer, a widower from Iceland, quickly leaves home for London to track down his long-lost first love.
Kristofer (Egill Olafsson) has another reason for his quest – his health is failing. He travels from icy Iceland to warmer London, where he is retraces his years as a London School of Economics student.
It’s the late 1960s, a time of fiery protests and the belief that a liberal world is possible. News of the relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono is all around. A version of that cross-cultural romance is echoed in Kristofer’s passion for Miko (Koki), the daughter of a Japanese restaurateur. Five decades later, Kristofer is determined to find Miko and learn the real reason for why she left him.
Touch is available on JioHotstar. Based on Olafur Johann Olafsson’s novel of the same name, the multi-lingual movie is a subtle, moving drama about the importance of contact across time and geography.
There have been several movies on the same subject. The difference lies entirely in the treatment, as Kormakur’s beautifully made film reveals.
Kormakur doesn’t rush Kristofer’s present or the flashbacks, thereby creating immersive worlds and a deep investment in the characters. Miko’s departure from Kristofer’s life is rooted in an important historical event. In the present, as drawbridges are threatening to come up between countries because of the coronavirus pandemic, Kristofer finds new obstacles but also fresh ways to maintain that most fundamental aspect of humanity – touch.
His journey reveals a kindness towards strangers then and now. In the London of the 1960s, Miko’s father Takahashi (Masahiro Motoki) takes in the long-haired Icelandic student (Palmir Kormakur), teaching him Japanese and the marvels of Japanese cooking. In the present, while looking for Miko in Tokyo, Kristofer bonds with a Japanese man whose domestic experiences echo Kristofer’s in uncanny ways.
Love, friendship and understanding transcend human-made barriers – Touch conveys this simple message with grace and poignancy and without resorting to sentimentality or gimmickry.
Also start the week with these films:
In ‘His Three Daughters’, rediscovering life while waiting for death
‘The Order’ is a gripping exploration of America’s white militia problem
‘The Girl with the Needle’ is a superbly crafted, haunting fable
