The Touch
1971 · Movie · 115 min · ★ 5.9 · 60% critics
A Swedish housewife, shaken by personal loss and stuck in a comfortable routine, is drawn into an affair with a visiting American scholar. As attraction turns into a complicated bond, she finds herself pulled between stability at home and a relationship shaped by deep, unresolved trauma.
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Streaming on The Criterion Channel — or rent from $2.99.
2 hours to watch.
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Details
- Original title
- Beröringen
- Years
- 1971
- Release date
- 1971-07-14
- Language
- Swedish
- Runtime
- 115 min
- Critic score
- 60/100
- TMDB rating
- 5.9/10 (58 votes)
About
You may like this if you want a serious, emotionally tense adultery drama with strong performances and a bleak mood, in the vein of Shame; Not for you if you need fast pacing, clear answers, or a consistently satisfying payoff.
Pros: strong lead performance; intense relationship drama; compelling moments | Cons: thin, clichéd story; uneven pacing; abrupt ending
Themes
- love
- love affair
Cast & crew
Elliott Gould
as David Kovac
Bibi Andersson
as Karin Vergerus
Max von Sydow
as Andreas Vergerus
Sheila Reid
as Sara Kovac
Margaretha Byström
as Secretary to Andreas Vergerus
Elsa Ebbesen-Thornblad
as Hospital Matron
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs
as Karin's Mother
Åke Lindström
as Dr. Holm
Aino Taube
- MW
Mimmo Wåhlander
as Nurse
Directed by Ingmar Bergman