Remember the Psych 101 study about orphan babies that didn’t get enough physical affection? Despite plenty of food and clean living conditions, many died. Not exactly the most uplifting tale. Luckily, filmmaker Minh Duc Nguyen takes a more lyrical approach to the healing power of human contact with Touch. This romantic drama follows a tall, attractive Caucasian mechanic whose marriage is failing with his inattentive wife. While getting his hands cleaned from the greasy remnants of his job, he meets an adorable, immigrant Vietnamese manicurist. Whether it’s inside the nail salon (where her jealous co-workers can’t stop gossiping) or stripped nude after hours in the tub at her apartment, the mechanic is taught that you can’t have real love if you aren’t sensual with your partner. While the manicurist comforts the white guy, there’s a shy, young Vietnamese man angling for her affections. Should racial supremacists fear the climax?
Fri., March 16, 2012
