Touch (2002)
A boy, abducted and abused for eight years returns home to find that the experience remains an indelible part of him.
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"Touch" brings us into the world of Sadism and Masochism from both points of view. The concept of the masochism enjoying the masochism is what earns "shrinks" a living. However, the psychoanalysts of the "why's" is not my concern at this moment.What concerns me is the timing of the years that lapsed between being held captive at the age of 8 until his release and entering high school. Was he educated during those years? The film indicates not. So, how could he go into high school ready for academics with no educational background?
"Touch" is an extremely intense film. The director - or someone central to the making of this film - understand what it's like to be abused over a long period of time and how the effects of that experience persist even after the abuse has ended. It's all voice-over by a boy who goes to sleep in his own bed at the age of eight and wakes up in a bare, dark room. He lives in that room and others like it for eight years, visited from time to time by a man who beats him. (I think it's also implied that the man sexually abuses him.) When he's finally free, the film follows him, showing how (probably permanently) mangled he was by the experience. Very hard to watch. Extraordinarily well done.
Be careful, this movie is both haunting and thought provoking. It will show you another side of humanity. One could even say that it introduces you to another type of erotic. A lot of life is all about perceptions and relativity. Without being judgemental, you can see almost the opposite of what you may consider reality.
An 8 year old child is abducted and imprisoned for 8 years by a abusive child molester. Since the only human contact he has is in the form of sexual abuse by his captor, he learns to mistake the abuse he receives for affection. When he escapes he has trouble returning to a normal life and cannot "unlearn" some of the twisted lessons that this life has taught him. As moving as this story would be from any viewpoint, its first person narrative style makes it truly moving. I saw this at a film festival with over 40 other films and of everything I saw this was the best film of the lot. It was NOT an enjoyable film but the story it tells and the perspectives it imparts are worth the ordeal of viewing it.