At middle age and older, it is natural for a person to reflect on and reminisce about the life he or she has lived. An awareness of aging and changes in health circumstances imbue life with urgency and compel people to get their affairs in order and tie up loose ends. The intersection of these elements prompts questions about “what might have been” and “why did life happen this way?” The newly released movie Touch explores these questions as its widowed protagonist, KristĂłfer, earnestly races against time to search for his first love, Miko, who disappeared without an explanation 51 years earlier. I had seen trailers for Touch while seeing other movies recently, and it looked like a story that I would enjoy, so I eagerly went to see it when it opened Friday night at Broadway Centre Cinemas. I found it to be heartwarming and beautiful with some deeper story developments than I had anticipated.
The movie begins in Iceland in March of 2020 on the cusp of the world shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. KristĂłfer (Egill Ă“lafsson) has had some medical exams and an MRI prompted by concerning symptoms: memory loss, morning stiffness, and difficulty with motor skills. He brushes aside the urgency of returning to the doctor to learn the exact results of his MRI, although the implication is that he has dementia, but he does take to heart his doctor’s advice to take care of any unfinished business. He looks through a box of personal memorabilia from the 1960’s when he lived in London. This reignites his lifelong desire to find his first love, Miko (KĹŤki) a young woman whom he met in London when he applied for a job at her family’s Japanese restaurant. The story progresses through scenes set in March of 2020 and flashbacks to London in the late 1960s.
As a young man, KristĂłfer (Palmi Kormákur) was in London on a student visa, but caught up in anti-establishment student protests and a desire to refashion socialist politics, he became disillusioned with school and dropped out. To prove to his college friends that he could get a job and become a worker instead, he applied at the first business with a “help wanted” sign, which happened to be the Japanese restaurant. He and Miko awkwardly bumped into each other at the door and shyly exchanged glances. Miko’s father, Takahashi-san (Masahiro Motoki), interviewed KristĂłfer the following day, seemed impressed with his knowledge of fish, and hired him to be a dishwasher. KristĂłfer embraced Japanese culture, learning some of the language and trying his hand at cooking techniques. Miko already had a boyfriend, but her father cut him out of the picture, leaving her and KristĂłfer free to explore a blossoming attraction to and affection for each other. The two gradually fell in love, most frequently communicating through sustained looks and gentle caresses. When they did talk, Miko shared her father’s gut-wrenching reasons for moving from Japan to England. Miko always insisted that she and KristĂłfer keep their relationship a secret from her father because she feared the consequences if he found out. Rather abruptly, she visited KristĂłfer after hours at the restaurant one night and insinuated that it would be the last time. When KristĂłfer returned to work, he discovered that Takahashi-san and Miko were gone, and the restaurant had been sold.
Travel in 2020 is strongly discouraged due to the emerging pandemic, but KristĂłfer ignores the warnings and travels to London to revisit his old stomping grounds, hoping to uncover any information that would tell him where Miko went. He goes to the building where the restaurant was. It is a tattoo shop now. He boldly gets the Japanese character for courage tattooed on his shoulder. With the reluctant help of the desk clerk at his hotel — the clerk really just wishes KristĂłfer would leave since he is the last guest, and the hotel is shutting down — KristĂłfer learns the address of Hitomi (Meg Kubota), his former co-worker. He visits her at the assisted living facility where she now resides, and she shares Miko’s last-known return address in Japan, even though it is a few years old. KristĂłfer travels from London to Tokyo. On his first night, he befriends a similarly aged Japanese man at a bar with whom he exchanges stories about life. The two go on to “live it up” at a karaoke bar, suggesting a carefree, enjoy-the-moment approach to life in spite of what difficulties might be occurring. KristĂłfer then takes a train to the area of Japan where Miko supposedly lives. He buys a lush bouquet of pink roses and locates what he thinks is Miko’s apartment building. He hesitates pushing the button on the intercom for her apartment and waits for a neighbor to help him instead. He and Miko (YĂ´ko Narahashi) finally reconnect after 51 years, and she provides a long-awaited explanation for her sudden disappearance from London.
Gliding between the present and past, Touch unfolds at a gentle pace. It isn’t exactly a slow burn as it maintains a measured flow throughout, never lagging or getting buried under heavy-handed storytelling or characterization. This is a perfect approach to portraying a tender young adult love story and a mature longing to make peace with the past. I thoroughly enjoyed and empathized with each actor’s character. I loved that the communication between characters occurs through images, glances, caresses, and minimal conversation. This creates quiet suspense about how the story will develop, and it allows the spoken communication to have greater impact. The ending of the movie is delightful as KristĂłfer receives answers to his questions, perhaps more than he bargained for. The movie as a whole holds up a mirror to the audience and asks us how and when it might be necessary to revisit the past and seek closure in the present. Not every such endeavor has a happy ending, but might it be worth the risk? I recommend seeing Touch if you can. It is a movie that I might see a second time.
Touch is in English, Icelandic, and Japanese with subtitles as needed. It is rated R, primarily for a couple of sex scenes. Descriptions of the movie online indicate that it has profanity; however, I think that may have been lost in translation and subtitles because profanity does not stand out as being a significant issue with this movie. The movie does address some potentially controversial topics such as the aftermath of World War II, cultural stigmas, and human sterilization. Touch is currently playing at Broadway Centre Cinemas. Click here for information and tickets. Finally, avid readers may be interested to know that Touch is based on a novel with the same name by Olaf Olafsson. Check your local bookseller for more information.
The Good Life 
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