The Touch (1971 film)
6.4 /10 1 Votes
Director Ingmar Bergman Screenplay Ingmar Bergman Country Sweden | 6.4/10 IMDb Genre Drama Duration Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 30 August 1971 (1971-08-30) Music director Carl Michael Bellman, William Byrd, Jan Johansson, Peter Covent Cast Elliott Gould (David Kovac), Bibi Andersson (Karin Vergerus), Max von Sydow (Andreas Vergerus), Sheila Reid (Sara Kovac)Similar movies The End of Summer , The Fierce Wife Final Episode , The Deep Blue Sea , Avatar , The Loft , An Education Tagline The Touch is the total expression of love. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Karin Vergerus (Bibi Andersson) is a beautiful young Swedish woman and a seemingly happy wife and mother, married to Andreas (Max von Sydow), a very reserved surgeon. When David Kovac (Elliott Gould), an archaeologist from the United States, arrives in the area, Karin becomes strongly attracted to him and his inherent sense of freedom from mundane life. As Karin and David begin an affair, the two must contend with the effects that the romance has on their lives.
Contents
The Touch (Swedish: ) is a 1971 film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Elliott Gould, and Sheila Reid.
A seemingly happy Swedish housewife and mother begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist who is working near her home.
Plot
Andreas and Karin Vergerus (von Sydow and Andersson) live in fine rapport, their personalities matching well. Both are quiet, contemplative, and very rational persons, not liable to act spontaneously. The intruder, "David Kovac", played by Elliott Gould, is in contrast an impetuous man, uncompromising, overbearing, and tormented by inner contradictions and compulsions. Karin and David become clandestine lovers, but arent appropriate for each other. Before they meet David attempted suicide and Karin was unhappy to be reduced to a wife. They flower in their new love and it destroys their lives.
Themes
Instead the question of why Karin turns away from Andreas seems intentionally perplexing. The dialogue and acting of the lovers is cerebral and cold, as if they were reciting dazedly on a stage, astounding themselves with their actions and feelings, and acting on an impulse isolated from their personalities. This impulse or drive is not eros, as especially at the beginning of their affair sex is more of a problem than a release for the lovers.
The central metaphor of the film is a medieval wooden statue of Mary, recently excavated after being buried for centuries, analogous to Goulds and Anderssons potential to be lovers or man and woman. But with the disinterment of the Mary, insect larvae come alive inside her, corroding her from within, much as David and Karins awakening causes them similar destruction.
Cast (in credits order)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically
Reception
The film earned rentals of $485,000 in North America and $650,000 in other countries. It recorded an overall loss of $1,080,000.
References
The Touch (1971 film) WikipediaThe Touch (1971 film) IMDb The Touch (1971 film) themoviedb.org