The Touch

Not one of Ingmar Bergman's- Sweden's greatest director and one of the greats in film history- masterpieces like The Seventh Seal, Fanny and Alexander, Wild Strawberries, Cries and Whispers and Persona. But it was better than I'd heard it was and it beats All These Women and The Serpent's Egg any day. The Touch is wonderfully shot by Sven Nykvist, no surprise as Nykvist's cinematography was always striking, complimenting the gritty yet beautiful locations just as well. There are moments where Bergman's inexperience in bilingual shows but he still directs capably and most thoughtfully with not many signs of heavy-handedness or pretensions if any at all. The music is appropriately atmospheric and takes care not to be intrusive. The story for the first two thirds is touching and mostly compelling, with themes and plot strands that are relatable to anybody going through the same thing, it didn't come across as heavy-handed to me, and have a sense of Bergman's style. Bibbi Anderssen is superb in a very nuanced portrayal, if there was a pick for the best thing about The Touch it would definitely by Anderssen's performance. Max Von Sydow is as enigmatic and stoic as ever, with facial expressions and eye contact that speaks volumes, a very sympathetic performance. The Touch is sadly hurt by mainly Elliot Gould as a rather stiff lead, and the awkward dialogue written for him(Anderssen and Von Sydow are not as badly affected though, though they have had much better material) and padding in the final third particularly that leads to literally nowhere are just as problematic. That is personal opinion though. Overall, not a bad film at all, in fact it is an interesting one especially for Anderssen and the cinematography but Bergman has done much better than this. 7/10 Bethany Cox