The Touch

“Bergman’s forgotten masterpiece.”—Senses of Cinema

In addition to being his first English-language film, Bergman also called The Touch his first real love story. This emotionally complex, sensitively performed film begins when a chance encounter between a seemingly contented housewife (Bibi Andersson) and an intense American archaeologist (Elliott Gould) leads to a torrid and tempestuous affair, one that threatens her marriage to a respected local surgeon (Max von Sydow). While Gould might seem an unlikely choice for a Bergman film, his turn in this rarely screened, underappreciated drama remains one of the actor’s favorite performances. (115 mins., DCP)