the touch

Director: ingmar bergman

Actor: elliott gould,bibi andersson,max von sydow,sheila reid

Data Published: Wed Jul 14 1971

Genres: Drama

Key Words: affair,one word title,female nudity,infidelity,nudity

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066826/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Touch_(1971_film)

Description: The Touch is a movie starring Elliott Gould, Bibi Andersson, and Max von Sydow. A Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with a foreign archaeologist. But he is an emotionally scarred man, a Jewish survivor from a...

Plot: In a village, Karin Vergerus, married to a man named Andreas with children, visits a hospital where her mother has died. She reacts with sorrow, and is seen by David Kovac, an archaeologist from a foreign country. David visits the couple, and tells them about his work, including the discovery of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. The fact that the statue was brought to the remote village and hidden in a church from the Middle Ages in considered puzzling. He also tells Karin that he fell in love with her the day he saw her at the hospital. Karin visits David in his home, and after drinking sherry, she agrees to have sex with him. She tells him this is her first affair and that she is uncertain if she is in love with him, but it is significant for her. As the affair continues, David becomes overbearing and angry. When she shows up to his home under the influence of alcohol, and having failed to quit smoking as they agreed, he slaps her. He shares his family history with her, telling her many of his relatives were murdered in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Eventually, Andreas visits David, revealing he has been receiving anonymous poison pen letters telling him David is having an affair with Karin. David dismisses the visit as absurd, and argues when Andreas reminds him that David had attempted suicide. In a church, David shows Karin the statue of Mary, telling her it has recently been discovered that a previously unknown species of insect had infested the inside of the statue for 500 years and that the insects are eating it. David leaves for London, and Karin tells Andreas she feels she must go to find out why he left her. Andreas sternly tells her that if she leaves, she cannot return to their marriage, but she goes anyway. In London, Karin meets a woman named Sara and is surprised to hear Sara say she is David's sister, though he had told Karin he had no family. Sara guesses Karin is pregnant, though Karin refuses to say if the fetus is Andreas or David's. Sara also declares she and David will never separate. Karin leaves, saying she does not think she will return. Later, David and Karin meet in a greenhouse. David tells her he has found life without her intolerable, and that their relationship has changed him, and that he now cares about what happens to him. He says he has accepted a position at a university and asks Karin to come with him, with her children. Karin rejects the offer, citing her "duty" to remain. He accuses her of lying and cowardice as they separate.