Touch (2024)

An incredibly moving film from Baltasar Kormákur behind the lens and holding the pen. It's a story set in two eras, 50 years apart. The early 1970's London and present day Japan. It follows the path of Kristófer who back in the day is a student in London, having relocated from his native Iceland. He's politically active and mixed up in the communism banter kicking about at the time and we see him with a group of other students attending a rally/protest or two.

This is all soon left behind, however, as he gets fed up with his studies and decides instead to get a job, opportunistically, in a Japanese restaurant in London - as he happens to be passing and sees a Wanted sign. He heads on in, nails the job, gets on very well with the Japanese family who run it and starts off as Chief Dishwasher! As he gets his feet under the table, he moves up, learns to speak and write Japanese along with the culinary art of cooking/preparing their style of food.

Then we get introduced to Miko, the owner's daughter and it becomes clear, even though she has a boyfriend (who her dad disapproves of), that they have fallen for each other. So we enter the phase of the film which is very much a classic love story with the introduction of different cultural values, approaches to relationships, generational differences and so on, in a climate where in the West at least, young people are expecting to be more free from tradition, conservatism and to make their own decisions/choices.

Part of the film is also about foodie stuff, for sure - there's some great photography (colourful too) going on from the kitchen with sumptuous food being prepared and presented - but that's not the primary hit here. It's much more about the two in love and the modern day Kristófer heading off to Japan to find Miko. Yes, there's a tragic element to the flashback to earlier times in which Miko, her dad and everyone else, just disappear one day. Gone. There are a couple of poignant moments ahead of that, which Kristófer tries to piece together as he's left completely alone.

Distraught, but with no clues as to where to turn (particularly in the pre-internet age and easy communication opportunities), two lives are formed. Kristófer marries, but the narrative clearly demonstrates that he's never happy in that, his wife dies, they have a daughter (who hounds him in the present) and we, the viewer, don't really know what's happened to Miko until very late on.

The backdrop of the present is also the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, so the start of this decade, as masks are being worn, travel restricted and lockdowns about to be executed. Present day Kristófer finds himself in Japan however, with the goal of seeking out his long-lost love and trying to find out what happened to her and her family back in the day. I won't spoil any outcomes relating to that.

There's also a theme running through the film about Hiroshima and the impact of that on the Japanese family, Miko's mum and why they all ended up in London. There's also yet another theme going on about ageing, memory loss, dementia and the impact on humans of the passing of time. As you can see, there's fairly intricate threading going on, but not so much as to lose the audience. The seamless leaps between present day and 1970's is clear because of how the main characters look and have aged, not through any obvious captioning or other method.

The first thing that struck me about the film was the lovely music - mostly stinged orchestral, which is just delightful. It supports the emotional aspects of the story, the chemistry between the two of them and ends of being decidedly moving - though far from soppy. It's been handled beautifully. It's also acted superbly by the whole cast, none of whom I knew I'm afraid - and many seemingly fairly inexperienced. Highly recommended film.