Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur has recently been toying with several projects involving people against nature. Whether it’s The Deep, Everest, Adrift, or Beast, there has been a theme in his filmography over the past decade where people put themselves through extreme situations with survival being uncertain. For his latest film, Touch, Kormákur explores another aspect of human nature. It’s one that is not as extreme or intense in scenario, but it does deal with something to which we can all relate. That is the idea of aging, realizing your time on Earth could come at any moment, and – for some – uncovering a long-lost flame from your past.
Buy Touch (2024) Blu-rayThe film’s modern-day setting drops viewers right into the early stages of the COVID pandemic, when lockdowns were starting to take effect, and most everything would soon come to a grinding halt. Kristófer (Egill Ólafsson) is an aging widower whose memory and motor skills are slowly starting to slip away. Constant calls from his worried daughter and his doctor who keeps reminding him it’s time to make any last amends while there is still time. But Kristófer has something more important to handle – finding the one that got away from his college years.
From here, Touch travels between different decades and destinations, as the film goes back to 1960s London – where a young Kristófer (Palmi Kormákur) drops out of college and decides to take a job at a local Japanese restaurant run by Takahashi-san (Mashiro Motoki). There, he meets the owner’s daughter, Miko (Yôko Narahashi). The two fall for each other but must keep their relationship a secret. One day, young Kristofer walks to his work and realizes it’s suddenly closed and Takahashi-san and Miko have relocated without any notification.
Touch takes on a difficult task of alternating between numerous languages, such as Icelandic, Japanese, and English. Kormákur doesn’t just brush up against the different places to which Kristófer travels either; he embeds the viewer into the location and into the culture surrounding it. It’s expertly lensed by Bergsteinn Björgúlfsson, who captures each scene of the past and current settings exquisitely. One will become enveloped in the surrounding areas, the nightlife, the food, and the people that are shown along the way.
Kormákur isn’t one to easily make you feel a certain way about how the movie is going to resolve. There are several moments where Touch feels like it’s going one way but then pivots in a different direction, and for the better. And it takes its time to reach its destination, allowing the viewer to soak in everything about the movie. The chemistry between the characters is rich and endearing, and some of the social commentary – while a little too heavy-handed at times – is impactful.
The Blu-ray release for Touch is presented with an excellent audio and picture transfer that captures all the beautiful colors and imagery, and the fantastic score comes through crystal clear. The special features consist of just a few deleted scenes. But those seeking an old-fashioned romantic journey will want to snatch this one up when possible. It’s a delightful journey.
