A Touch Of Closure: Baltasar Kormákur Explores Love, Loss and Redemption

“I called him 24 hours after my daughter gave me the book. It drew me in immediately,” says director Baltasar Kormákur of Ólafur Jóhann Ólafsson’s book Snerting. “I thought it was unexpected in a way. If you look at Icelandic films, it’s very rare that there is a journey outwards — it’s usually inwards. If there is any foreign element, it usually involves someone coming to Iceland, but I’ve never seen an Icelander really go places,” he explains.

Known for his action-packed movies, Baltasar had long been searching for a narrative featuring an unconventional “obstacle for love.” Ólafur’s book provided just that, becoming the inspiration for Baltasar’s eponymous drama Snerting (Touch), which has now been released in both Iceland and the USA.

Children, animals, and novelists

Touch follows Icelandic widower Kristófer as he travels to Japan in search of his lost love against the backdrop of the start of the global pandemic. The story skips between an elderly Kristofer in the present day, and his youth in London 50 years prior, with different actors cast in each period. As a young man, he worked as a dishwasher in a Japanese restaurant, where he met Miko — the woman who would leave an indelible mark on his life.

“When I read this, I thought it was very interesting how a simple man’s life in Iceland had been disrupted by some events,” he says. “Horrible events of WWII — that might be repeating themselves [these days] in some way.”

Baltasar explains that directors typically avoid collaborating with novelists. “There’s a saying in the film industry — don’t work with children, animals, and novelists,” he says with a smile. Yet, he found himself breaking this unwritten rule, agreeing to work on the script with Ólafur. “He was very open minded and generous from the beginning,” Baltasar recalls. “Most of the changes from the book come from me, but he brought it with me. It was a collaboration.”

Like father, like son

Baltasar Kormákur is one of the few Icelandic filmmakers truly known internationally. He also owns RVK Studios, a production company with a large, multipurpose studio space in Gufunes, just 20 minutes from downtown Reykjavík. Having worked extensively in Hollywood, there are rumours that Charlize Theron will star in his next film. Given his connections, Baltasar could have cast almost any actor in Touch. Yet, for the lead role of young Kristófer, he chose none other than his own son. While the choice might seem nepotistic, it proved to be a fitting decision.

“One thing is to fuck up a movie. Another thing is fucking up your child’s life.”

The idea to audition Baltasar’s children came from the casting director Selma Björnsdóttir. He has two sons who fit the age range for the younger Kristófer role. “She had been looking at actors in this age bracket,” he says. “She asked, ‘What about your sons?’ I said to her, ‘Stormur is a very good actor, but he’s not right for the role because he’s not this kind of gentle soul. He’s more of a dude. And Pálmi has never acted, so I don’t think he’s interested.’ But I told Selma, ‘It’s better you call him and get a no from him, rather than me doing it and then 20 years later, being accused of making a decision that I shouldn’t have made for him.’”

Selma was convincing enough that both Stormur and Pálmi agreed to audition for the role. Baltasar’s intuition about Stormur proved correct, but he was surprised by Pálmi’s performance. “I was right about Stormur, but I wasn’t right about Pálmi,” he admits. “I was very impressed by his audition.” After showing the audition tapes to his London-based co-producer and the novelist, the feedback was unanimous: Pálmi Kormákur Baltasarsson was cast as young Kristófer.

Kids on set

Baltasar admits that despite Pálmi nailing the audition, he initially had some concerns as a parent. “I didn’t want to put him in the wrong place for himself,” he says. “One thing is to fuck up a movie. Another thing is fucking up your child’s life by making a decision for them that is not correct.”

“For example, I think for Sofia Coppola, the experience of being in The Godfather was horrible because she wasn’t right for the role,” he continues. “I felt Pálmi was right for the role, but [as a parent] you always want to put your child in the best possible position for themselves.”

Baltasar enjoyed sharing the set with his son. “It was wonderful. It’s a really good test for father and son to develop the relationship,” he says. “But it’s really interesting because when you come to this place, you start dealing with your child as a grown-up individual in a different way than as a father to a son. You have to respect each other professionally.”

Despite only having acted in minor roles, Pálmi has been on sets with Baltasar since he was a kid. “He’s been working in every department,” Baltasar says. “He understands how it functions very well. So no, I didn’t think it was hard for him. But, of course, once you’re there and you’re developing a love relationship with your co-star, you have to find your way, you can’t rely on having watched other people’s experiences.”

Baltasar pauses for a moment before adding, “There was a moment during rehearsals where I thought, ‘Is this going to work?’ But then he pulled it together.”

Casting wildcards

Pálmi was not the only inexperienced actor on set. Mitsuki Kimura, known professionally as Kōki, is a Japanese model and songwriter who had primarily starred in commercials and music videos until Touch. Baltasar explains that casting a Japanese lead with an exact level of fluency in English was not easy. “We couldn’t quite find the right person, because she needed to speak English well enough,” he explains. “So you’d believe she lived in England for a while, but also spoke Japanese authentically. So, it couldn’t be someone born in England.”

He remembered a Japanese girl who had been recommended for another project, and that’s how Kōki got involved. According to Baltasar, her inexperience in acting turned out to be an advantage. “In some ways, I liked the lack of experience, because no one at this age has significant experience acting in film. If you have raw talent, you can work with it.”

Finding an actress to play an older version of Miko was another challenge, Baltasar says. The casting director in Japan was always reading Kristófer’s lines, and according to Baltasar, she was fantastic — better than the actors that were auditioning. He asked her to try out for the role, and although she was initially hesitant, Baltasar followed his instincts. “I cast a lot from intuition. It’s not from IMDb or experience or credits, it’s just what I feel at the moment,” he says.

“It’s not necessarily about a lovesick old man looking for love. It’s about a man looking for closure.”

The role of the older Kristófer went to musician and performer Egill Ólafsson. “We hadn’t worked together before, but I felt he had changed. As he was getting older, his energy was shifting to be more gentle and less of the testosterone bomb he used to be,” Baltasar explains. Despite Egill’s Parkinson’s disease, Baltasar managed to convince him to join the project, accommodating his health issues by slightly extending the shooting schedule.

Looking for closure

“London is a city that doesn’t pause for filming,” Baltasar reflects on the challenges of making Touch, beyond complex casting. “During night shoots, you’re just trying to get the drunks out of the shots when people spill onto the streets at 23:00, beers in hand.”

It was hard to secure permits for public filming in London and Tokyo. Coordinating an international cast and crew across three countries — Iceland, England, and Japan — added significant complexity to the project. “It’s one of the most complicated films I’ve made,” Baltasar reflects. “And I’ve made some very complicated films.”

Despite these challenges, Baltasar believes the film can resonate with the audience and might even allow them to reflect on their own lives. “It’s not necessarily about a lovesick old man looking for love,” he says. “It’s about a man looking for closure — something that he never closed in his life, something that affected him for a long time. I think a lot of people, especially when they get older, look for that. I’ve heard of people watching the movie and being affected in a way that makes them look at their own life. I learned it’s never too late to forgive, ask for forgiveness and connect.”

Touch is screening at Bíó Paradís and other cinemas in Iceland throughout summer