TOUCH ME NOT

Romania, 2018, 125 minutes, Colour.
Laura Benson, Thomas Lemarquis.
Directed by Adina Pintilie.

Touch Me Not won the Golden Bear prize at the 2018 Berlinale.

The director is a documentary maker who also appears in the film herself, seen behind the camera, seen reflected, doing interviews with the central character played by Englishwoman, Laura Benson, and giving her opinions on the making of the film as well is its subject.

This is a film about the human body. It is the major concern for Laura Benson, a British actress in her 50s, often rather inhibited, feeling a great deal of internal anger. This is one of those performances usually called courageous where Laura Benson exposes her complete self, her inner psyche, mind and emotions, sexual concerns and energies, her body.

For audiences there are two aspects for the film. Firstly, there is a certain amount of prurience about the subject, about sexual behaviour, about watching sexual behaviour on screen. Secondly, there is the therapeutic aspect of spending over two hours considering the subject, listening to points of view, agreeing and disagreeing with the points of view, about the behaviour, of observing the naked body, in watching Laura discuss the situation with psychologists, acting out some of her angers, as well as the audience testing their own attitudes towards their own bodies.

While the attention is on Laura and herself and her body, there are some of the women, especially involved in sexual therapy, where there is a great deal of the female gaze, director and actor, on male bodies, beginning with a call boy and masturbation, followed by an Icelandic man, Tudor, who has a particular condition where, at a young age, he shed all his hair who is in group work with a dwarf sized man, full body, ordinary sized head (and distracting large protruding teeth) who is particularly frank about his own urges and his sexual activity.

Audiences can remain rather calm during the therapy interviews with psychologists – although the man, is rather forward in his approach, wanting to touch Laura, to get a reaction from her – which he certainly does, her talking about her comfort zone, feeling uncomfortable, letting out screams.

At one stage, there is a group of naked men and women, a great deal of groping. At another stage, there is a look at some sadomasochistic behaviour.

Ultimately, Laura achieve some kind of self-knowledge and self-awareness, understanding herself better, becoming more comfortable – culminating in her being able to dance naked for herself and in front of the camera.

As has been said, a blend of the prurient and the therapeutic.