Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Touch (1970)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Bergman's first English language movie looks more accessible than most of his work at this period, a 'love story' (as he has called it) telling how middle class Swedish housewife Anna (Andersson) meets Anglo-Jewish archaeologist David (Gould), has an intermittent and rocky affair with him, and ends up losing both lover and husband, the penalty of compromise. 'It is possible to live two lives' says Anna hopefully to David, 'and slowly combine them in one good, wise life'. But the film demonstrates conclusively that it isn't: not only does the double life involve deceit, but it is always threatened by the incalculable factors in human nature. David's love for Anna alternates with spells of motiveless violence and morose indifference; Anna's seemingly kindly and myopic husband (von Sydow) does discover the affair and does give Anna an ultimatum. Anna thus keeps finding, to her dismay, that she cannot predict how either man will act next. Conversely, David's violence and the husband's growing coldness are their reactions to Anna's unpredictability. Bergman may have temporarily shelved his metaphysical concerns - no religious questionings, no fantasy, no artist-in- society debate - but his analysis of human relationships is as complex as ever.Author: NAn
Cast & crew
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Producer: Ingmar Bergman
Cast: Elliott Gould, Bibi Andersson, Max von Sydow, Sheila Reid, Barbro Hiort af Ornäs full cast
Duration: 113 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now