Touch Me Not

I am such a fan an supporter of contemporary Romanian cinema but this is below any expectation. I felt almost asleep countess times during this film and wondered why doctors don't prescribe this movie instead of sleeping pills. It's an artsy, indie wanna be movie, full of long abstract framing and too thought out scenery; feels like everything is not genuine and bad acting is ominous; far-fetched emotions and relations between characters; the story lacks any truthfulness and is not intriguing at all I would put in the bucket of contemporary cinema that implies that shocking issues and nudity would automatically make a movie artsy and festival-ready...

Movie that shocks for the love of shocking. Disappointing and at best few ideeas to keep in mind. Or i don t get contemporany cinema wich is really plausible.

Touch Me Not is (for me,) one of those types of films that grows on you after viewing it, be that good or bad. In my case it was a good thing. It's not a perfect film, there are parts (the over-use of white for one thing) that smacks a bit of pretentiousness (again to me), but this is a beautifully filmed movie, and the central character, I found interesting, and I wanted to journey with her as she lived out her quest to come to terms with demons from her past (I will say no more), and find peace within herself and move forward... her comment about being fifty and understanding her limited time of full health, and her need to live those dwindling totally healthy years, truly healthy (body and mind), really rang true. As a new director, I am interested to see where she can go next. In the year of #metoo and #timesup, it's win at Berlin could be construed as an homage to that, but I feel in many ways it did deserve its wins for showcasing these ideas in a very intelligent manner. There are moments in the film (the "therapists" sessions and one part of the sex club scene...again, no more as to spoil anything), that left me with mixed emotions, but I think it was my own thoughts, comfort levels and preferences that were influencing and projecting onto the scenes. It was these types of instances that drew me to like this film, for a movie that can make me question my ideas and perceptions is all right by me.

I'm not the kind to leave the cinema or to quit watching a movie. On the contrary, I'm probably the only one who wants to see absolutely all films ever been made, in full, some of them, which I love terribly, many times. That's what I've done all my life. Also, I'm no bashful, inhibited, prude or easy to be scandalized by nakedness, nudity, sex, etc., on the contrary, I prefer bold, non-conformist films, just like in real life, the unsimulated life. That's what Mrs Pintilie is trying to do with this production, but she does not succeed, the film is a shouting platitude to the sky. The only success is that, not knowing the actors (I had to check on IMDb who is really actor, I first thought they are non-professionals because they all look so real... I still don't know if some are actors or not... anyway, this is not the problem, even the great Fellini used to prefer non-professionals, Pasolini too, and others...). Being a Romanian like Pintilie, I enjoyed enormously when I found out that she won the big prize in Berlin, I asked for her Facebook friendship (she didn't accepted me - I'm OK with that), I was hoping to meet her in London at the Romanian Cultural Center (but she didn't come), just to tell her that I want to work together, all this before I've seen the movie. Now that I've seen it, I know clearly that I do not want to work with Adina Pintilie. She only has to do many other series with the same actors or non-actors from her debut. I'm also very disappointed by the decision makers of the Berlin Festival to award the Golden Bear to this production. But I have the same feelings for Cannes and Oscars for many years: we live in a very sick world.

A brave film that puts things, people, dimensions and perspectives on the table of truth, things that we do not look at easily, we do not look at at all or look with too much judgment and prejudice.

I loved Laura from start to end, she kept the film in her hand in an extremely difficult role, an excellent actress that I would love to see in other productions.

I also liked the music and cinematography, as well as the director's passion for innovation and experiment, her overall curiosity for life and courage to jump in the unknown.

"Touch me not" is not a movie to fall in love with and not for people who live life at its surface, but it is a necessary, human and useful film, a movie that stays with you and raises new questions if you leave yourself open and allow it, if you accept the journey the director proposes to you.

My opinion is that the film deserves its Golden Bear award, and because it's also a debut film for the director, the performance is even more impressive. I expect Adina Pintilie to return in the coming years with surprising productions as there's a lot of potential in her.