The Silent Touch

Raw humor fuses with melodrama in this tale of a once-famous genius composer named Henry Kesdi, (brilliantly played by Max Von Sydow) who has not produced music since the Holocaust, and a gifted musicology student from Poland named Stefan, (Lothaire Bluteau) who heals and inspires him. Sarah Miles plays Henry's wife Helena with subdued flair, and Sofie Grabol shines as Henry's blooming starry-eyed secretary Annette. As Henry begins once again to put notes on paper--creating a final tear-producing masterpiece--a dramatic love triangle emerges between Henry, Stefan, and Annette. Krzysztof Zanussi, who also directed The Year of the Quiet Sun, does a fine job of highlighting the tension inherent in both human relationships and the creative process, and while the story crescendos rather predictably, this introspective drama is still a strong optional purchase for larger foreign video collections. (A. Glover)