Start the week with a film: ‘Touch’ is a moving drama about the search for a long-lost love

Baltasar Kormakur’s Touch (2024) begins in the early months of 2020, just as the Covid-19 pandemic is beginning to disrupt contact between countries. Kristofer, a widower from Iceland, quickly leaves home for London to track down his long-lost first love.

Kristofer (Egill Olafsson) has another reason for his quest – his health is failing. He travels from icy Iceland to warmer London, where he is retraces his years as a London School of Economics student.

It’s the late 1960s, a time of fiery protests and the belief that a liberal world is possible. News of the relationship between John Lennon and Yoko Ono is all around. A version of that cross-cultural romance is echoed in Kristofer’s passion for Miko (Koki), the daughter of a Japanese restaurateur. Five decades later, Kristofer is determined to find Miko and learn the real reason for why she left him.

Touch is available on JioHotstar. Based on Olafur Johann Olafsson’s novel of the same name, the multi-lingual movie is a subtle, moving drama about the importance of contact across time and geography.

There have been several movies on the same subject. The difference lies entirely in the treatment, as Kormakur’s beautifully made film reveals.

Kormakur doesn’t rush Kristofer’s present or the flashbacks, thereby creating immersive worlds…

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