The Touch

Bergman apparently chose Bibi and Max as his Swedish stars because they were comfortable in English. Maybe he should have hired a script writer who was equally comfortable. The dialogue is often painful ("I was merely gay!"), Andersson and Gould have zero chemistry, the plot keeps forgetting itself, and then there's the ending or rather lack of it... the film just ends up blinking in confusion at its own existence.

(Swedish Restored Version) This film is generally unlikeable. The tone shifts violently, like a child throwing a tantrum. It's angry. It's frustrating. It has no focus, no structure, and no ending. It's probably like a real adulterous affair. Thing is, the film monumentally fails at specific moments, undercutting any kind of legitimate intimacy - which a film with this subject needs to survive. The result leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Lacking a little attention from her busy husband, a woman gets involved with a complicated guy but never shows any real intention of ending her marriage. The back and forth of motives and perspectives is kind of interesting, but the characterisation, the dialogue and the performances all have significant problems and the film has to be considered a failure. Gould seems uncomfortable, but Andersson, too, is only adequate: perhaps Ullmann would have helped things a little, but the flaws run deep.

Why would anyone leave Max von Sydow for Elliott Gould?!

Bergman hated this film, and it's not hard to see why. A bland, empty melodrama with only a few signs of the master's touch. Gould is clearly in way over his head. It's not all his fault; the script is stiff and lifeless, and seems to struggle with the language. I thought the symbolism of the Virgin Mary statue was WAY too blunt, but perhaps I missed some element of subtlety. The cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable. A generally unpleasant and mindless film, although not unbearable.