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What's After the Movie?
Romantic drama

The Touch (1971): Cast, Box Office & Plot

The Touch (1971) movie poster

The Touch is a 1971 romantic drama directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Bibi Andersson as Karin Vergerus, Max von Sydow and Margaretha Byström. It runs 1 hour 52 minutes and earned $6,446 worldwide.

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The Touch (1971) movie poster
Released
Runtime
1h 52m (112 min)
Director
Ingmar Bergman
Genres
Romance , Drama
Original language
Swedish
After the credits
No No extra scene
The story

What Is The Touch About?

The premise of The Touch without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.

A Swedish housewife embarks on an illicit affair with a foreign archaeologist who is haunted by his past as a Jewish survivor of a concentration camp. Their bond is strained by deep emotional wounds, cultural distance and guilt, making the relationship painfully fragile and complex.

The Touch Themes & Keywords

· 32 tags
  • hospital
  • wedding ring
  • crying woman
  • archaeologist
  • slide show
  • physician
  • breakfast
  • family breakfast
  • church
  • virgin mary statue
  • sweden
  • poetry reading
+20 more
  • extramarital affair
  • affair
  • female nudity
  • infidelity
  • nudity
  • eastern europe
  • religious song
  • letter correspondence
  • reference to a suicide attempt
  • airport
  • london england
  • pregnancy
  • chess
  • cheating wife
  • husband wife relationship
  • wife having an affair
  • adulterous wife
  • marital infidelity
  • one word title
  • independent film
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Cast & crew

The Touch Cast & Characters

Bibi Andersson leads the cast as Karin Vergerus, with Max von Sydow as Andreas Vergerus and Margaretha Byström as Secretary to Andreas Vergerus. Directed by Ingmar Bergman; 19 actors are credited in all.

From the director

More from Ingmar Bergman

More films directed by Ingmar Bergman, best-rated first: The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Persona and The Magician.

Full filmography
Plot

The Touch Plot Summary

What happens in The Touch from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 13 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 3-minute read.

Spoilers ahead

In a quiet Swedish town, Karin Vergerus is a housewife, married to the hospital physician Andreas Vergerus and raising two children. During a visit to the clinic where her mother, Aino Taube, is ill, she learns that her mother has died. David Kovac, an American archaeologist, witnesses her grief and is drawn into the moment with a quiet, unsettling intensity. The couple invite him to dinner at their house, and he recounts his work at a medieval church, where a 500-year-old wooden statue of the Virgin Mary has been uncovered. He also reveals that he fell in love with Karin the day he first saw her at the clinic, a statement that hangs over their gathering with a strange, almost clinical honesty.

Full summary

The whole story of The Touch, scene by scene

Read the full summary
Box office

The Touch Box Office

The Touch grossed $6,446 worldwide.

1971 box office

Worldwide gross

$6.4K

International
$6.4K
Videos

The Touch Trailers & Videos

2 videos: 2 trailers.

Ingmar Bergman's The Touch I BFI Trailer
  • Trailer The Touch (1971)_clip
Quiz

How Well Do You Know The Touch?

9 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.

Question 1 of 9

  1. Question 1: not answered
  2. Question 2: not answered
  3. Question 3: not answered
  4. Question 4: not answered
  5. Question 5: not answered
  6. Question 6: not answered
  7. Question 7: not answered
  8. Question 8: not answered
  9. Question 9: not answered

What is the profession of Karin Vergerus's husband, Andreas?

Details

The Touch Also Known As

16 alternative titles, including “Le lien” and “Die Berührung”.

Also known as
  • Le lien
  • Die Berührung
  • L'adultera
  • La carcoma
  • Berührungen
  • Прикосновение
  • Érintés
  • Kosketus
  • 接触
  • 접촉
  • Dotyk
  • Η Επαφή
+4 more
  • A Hora do Amor
  • El toc
  • El toque
  • 接觸

Seen The Touch?

FAQ

The Touch FAQ: Cast, Box Office & Runtime

Runtime, release date, director, cast, box office, post-credit scenes and language of The Touch, each answered in a sentence.

How long is The Touch?

The Touch runs 1 hour 52 minutes (112 minutes).

When was The Touch released?

The Touch was released on July 14, 1971.

Who directed The Touch?

The Touch was directed by Ingmar Bergman.

More films by Ingmar Bergman

Who is in the cast of The Touch?

The Touch stars Bibi Andersson as Karin Vergerus, Max von Sydow as Andreas Vergerus and Margaretha Byström as Secretary to Andreas Vergerus, among 19 credited actors.

How much did The Touch make at the box office?

The Touch grossed $6,446 worldwide.

Does The Touch have a post-credit scene?

No. The Touch has no extra scene during or after the credits.

What language is The Touch in?

The original language of The Touch is Swedish.

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