Touch is a story of love and memories and to a certain extent a movie that if you watch with your wife or girlfriend will totally melt her down. Directed by Baltasar Kormakur, an Icelandic director who has previously had a great amount of success, adapted from the novel by Olafur Johann Olafsson, the film builds up an intricate plot of a man who is trying to find the path to happiness in the face of love that has left him at the age of twenty and the years that followed it. Essentially, it focuses on the protagonist Kristofer a man in his 70s recently diagnosed with dementia, who tries to learn more about the fate of the woman he was in love with, Miko, who disappeared 50 years ago. The film is divided into different time frames which is not an easy task for it to make sense and the audience don't feel like getting lost, when the past and present are interlinked, it provides a very realistic portrayal of how the past is always present in our life. Having leading actors as Egill Olafsson and Koki. The film gives the viewer a powerful and heartfelt experience of seeking someone that was lost so many years ago but never got out of Kristofer soul after 50 years he could not get her out of him.
- IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23468836/
- Platform: Theaters
- Release: July 12, 2024
Plot Overview
In the beginning, it shows how Kristofer, played by Egill Olafsson is living a simple life in Iceland after the death of his wife, after this event he is diagnosed with early stage dementia. It’s this news that acts as the trigger and sends Kristofer on a journey to finding out who was his first love, Miko, who mysteriously vanished 50 years prior.This is where the film starts dumping the past life of Kristofer, which is set between Iceland of the present and London of the 1960s. It is within these scenes that we get to see the initial stages of affection between the young man, Kristofer and Miko, as portrayed by Koki. Their love story begins in a Japanese restaurant called Nippon and the place has a significant role in the script. The movie effectively portrays the vibes of the time and its themes of student protest and the complex relationships between Japan and England after the war.
We witness their first face to face encounter, the gradual increment of affection between the couple and the intrigue connected with the shadowy vanishing of Miko. These scenes are then connected with Kristofer’s search ofr Miko, giving a complex comparison between the fire of youth and the perspective of age.
In the present timeline, Kristofer has many problems on his way, on the road he meets many challenges. He is a man who has a memory problem and therefore the task of finding out what really happened to him is quite difficult, going after clues, asking questions to people he has not met before, trying to figure out what happen to Miko after so long without considering that he might never finds her, risking of getting lost completely, mentally and physically.
Themes and Symbolism
Memory and Identity
Another major concern of the movie is the issue of memory being a key to our true personality, the story focuses on Kristofer who is suffering from dementia and therefore he has to face the instability of his memory probably loosing his own identify becoming a blank notebook. This struggle brings to mind questions about the self and how much of it is defined by our experiences that have shaped us, without memories we are basically nothing, all the knowledge we have gather through the years all of the sudden gone.
Cultural Bridges
In setting the movie in 1960s London and the present day Iceland, cultural exchange and understanding of another culture forms part of the film’s theme, the friendship between the two main characters, Kristofer and Miko, is shown as the path to overcoming cultural barriers and becoming unified. Even though the restaurant was in London, we have to consider Japanese culture is very strict in many aspects, one of the them is cooking. I have seen strict cases of following the rules and culture in Japan on other productions, the most recent one was Tokyo Vice where the protagonist has to make his way up on a local newspaper, it's probably harder for someone from London to make it out in Japan than the opposite, we in the west have way more flexible rules and cultures. Kristofer having a chance to make it out as cook at a Japanese restaurant during the 60s was a big deal, reason why Miko probably approach him initially.
Cast and Performances
The cast of Touch (2024) consists of an international group of actors which is a great choice considering the film’s global setting, the protagonist goes from London all the way to Japan. The main action of the film is based on the search of the protagonist love, the older Kristofer played by Egill Olafsson. Palmi Kormákur plays the younger version of Kristofer while Koki plays the young Miko and Yoko Narahashi plays the older Miko. This movie also has some of the Japanese actors like Masahiro Motoki who plays the role of Takahashi san and Masatoshi Nakamura who plays the role of Kutaragi san that enhance the Japanese theme in the film, this complement of having actors thad the surrounding that represent the time and era where the film is develop really add value to the fact of transporting the audience to that time and then move forward in time to a more modern stage and city.The supporting actors include Sigurdur Ingvarsson as Jonas, Maria Ellingsen as Inga, and Ruth Sheen as Mrs. Ellis. The multicultural casting continues to other characters with Meg Kubota, Eiji Mihara, and Charles Nishikawa as other actors. This well chosen vast cast, directed by Baltasar Kormakur should provide the realistic and touching qualities to this romantic drama that unfolds over time and across geography of multiple countries the protagonist travels to.
It is not just about beauty of people and their love story, but it is about awakening a thought process that makes people look into their lives, their relationships and their memories. At the same time I ask myself why he decided to do this now? why after his wife past away?, I have not read the novel but I would only assume this probably happen some time after his wife past away, but my point is that if this is his final wish to find Miko then he always had this though deep inside him. This kind of behavior will probably make the audience think again what would they do in a similar situation and what is that final wish if they could have one.
The film does what any good movie should do: it entertains, it is emotionally provocative, and it has the power to transform the viewer, if only on a microscopic level to spark the question of "What if?". It is one that leaves the viewer with something to ponder and, depending on the target audience, a film that can start multiple viewings and discussions, making it a valuable addition to the romantic drama films.
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