"The Touch" begins with a death and a woman in red and since the woman is Bibi Amdersson we know we are in Bergman territory. The dialogue may initially be in Swedish but before the credits have rolled Elliott Gould has appeared and the dialogue shifts to English. Yes, it's Bergman and Bergman as we know him but this time in English, at least for a good deal of the time. The film was largely dismissed on release but has since built up something of a reputation. Gould is miscast; it''s hard to accept him as an intellectual and you keep feeling his character would sound better in Swedish but in any language both Andersson and Max Von Sydow as her husband are superb. There is nothing new here; this is Ingmar doing what Ingmar does which is either up your alley or it's not. As one of his many scenes from a marriage it's certainly more than adequate, if hardly groundbreaking. Sven Nykvist was once again the cinematographer so it looks terrific. A masterpiece? Certainly not, but difficult to dismiss either.
Review of The Touch
