Touch Me Not

{{Other uses|Touch me not (disambiguation){{!}}Touch me not}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Touch Me Not

| image = Touch Me Not.png

| caption = Romanian film poster

| director = Adina Pintilie

| writer = Adina Pintilie

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Bianca Oana
Philippe Avril
Adina Pintilie

}}

| starring = {{Plainlist|

Laura Benson
Tómas Lemarquis

}}

| cinematography = George Chiper-Lillemark

| editing = Adina Pintilie

| music = Ivo Paunov

| production_companies = {{Plainlist|

Manekino Film
4 Proof Film
Agitprop
Les Films de l'Étranger
Pink Productions
Rohfilm

}}

| distributor = {{Plainlist|

Alamode Film (Germany)
Pilot Film (Czech Republic)
Nour Films (France)

}}

| released = {{Film date|2018|2|22|df=yes|Berlin|2018|10|31|France|2018|11|1|Germany}}

| runtime = 125 minutes

| country = {{Plainlist|

Romania
Germany{{cite web|last1=Weissberg|first1=Jay|title=Berlin Film Review: 'Touch Me Not'|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/reviews/touch-me-not-review-1202708618/|website=Variety|access-date=24 February 2018|date=23 February 2018}}
Czech Republic{{cite web|title=Czech Films at the Berlinale 2018|url=http://www.filmcenter.cz/en/news/1369-three-czech-films-at-the-berlinale-when-the-war-comes-touch-me-not-interpreter|access-date=24 February 2018|date=25 January 2018|work=Czech Film Center}}
France
Bulgaria{{cite web|last1=Blaga|first1=Iulia|title=PRODUCTION: Adina Pintilie Shoots International Coproduction Touch Me Not|url=https://www.filmneweurope.com/news/romania-news/item/111064-production-adina-pintilie-shoots-international-coproduction-touch-me-not?highlight=WyJ0b3VjaCBtZSBub3QiXQ==|website=Film New Europe Association|access-date=24 February 2018|date=17 August 2015}}

}}

| language = {{Plainlist|

English
German

}}

| budget = €1 million{{cite web |url=https://www.hotnews.ro/stiri-cultura-22307305-monde-filmul-nu-atinge-oexcursie-intimitate-pais-acordarea-ursului-aur-alegere-discutabila-mai-spune-presa-internationala-despre-pelicula-adinei-pintilie.htm |title=Le Monde: Filmul "Nu ma atinge", o excursie in intimitate / El Pais: Acordarea Ursului de aur, o alegere discutabila / Ce mai spune presa internationala despre pelicula Adinei Pintilie |work=HotNews |author=G. S. |date=25 February 2018 |language=ro}}

}}

File:MJK 16773 Adina Pintilie (Touch Me Not) crop.jpg

Touch Me Not ({{langx|ro|Nu mă atinge}}) is a 2018 drama film written and directed by Adina Pintilie, starring Laura Benson, Tómas Lemarquis, and Dirk Lange. The film was screened in the main competition section at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2018/film/global/berlin-film-festival-robert-pattinson-1202664442/ |title=Berlin Film Festival Fleshes Out Competition Lineup |website=Variety |first=Stewart |last=Clarke |date=15 January 2018 |access-date=17 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/2018/08_pressemitteilungen_2018/08_pressemitteilungen_2018detail_40852.html |title=Competition and Berlinale Special: Christian Petzold, Emily Atef, Lance Daly, Marcelo Martinessi, Cédric Kahn, Adina Pintilie, Markus Imhoof, Mani Haghighi, Måns Månsson and Axel Petersén, David and Nathan Zellner in the Competition programme / Raman Hui, Fernando Solanas, Paul Williams in the Berlinale Special|date=15 January 2018|access-date=16 January 2018|publisher=Berlin International Film Festival}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/24/tounch-me-not-fear-of-sexual-intimacy-golden-bear-berlin-film-festival |title=Romanian film about fear of sexual intimacy wins Golden Bear at Berlin film festival |date=25 February 2018 |access-date=25 February 2018 |work=The Guardian|first=Andrew|last=Pulver}} Touch Me Not is an experiment between fiction and documentary, and addresses the prejudices of people related to intimacy.{{cite web |url=https://stirileprotv.ro/stiri/actualitate/povestea-din-spatele-filmului-nu-ma-atinge-ma-al-adinei-pintilie-premiat-cu-ursul-de-aur-la-berlinala-2018.html |title=Povestea din spatele filmului "Nu mă atinge-mă". Adina Pintilie: "Este o invitație la empatie" |work=Știrile Pro TV |date=25 February 2018 |language=ro|access-date=3 July 2018}}

Cast

Laura Benson as herself
Tómas Lemarquis as himself
Dirk Lange as Radu
Hanna Hofmann as herself
Christian Bayerlein as himself
Grit Uhlemann as herself
Irmena Chichikova as Mona
Adina Pintilie as herself
Seani Love as himself

Reception

According to a list by Screen International, the film received an average rating of 1,5 of four possible stars by film critics at the Berlinale and was thereby in the third-last place of all films in the Berlinale main competition.Dalton, Ben: [https://www.screendaily.com/news/isle-of-dogs-tops-screens-final-berlin-jury-grid/5127019.article 'Isle Of Dogs' tops Screen's final Berlin Jury Grid; Golden Bear winner 'Touch Me Not' scores low]. In: screendaily.com, 26 February 2018 (retrieved 8 March 2018). It was seen as a controversial film, viewers left the cinema in rows.{{cite web|title=Zuschauer verlassen den Saal - Ist "Touch Me Not" zu versext?|periodical=|publisher=|url=https://www.bz-berlin.de/kultur/zuschauer-verlassen-den-saal-ist-touch-me-not-zu-versext|url-status=|format=|access-date=|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=23 February 2018|language=|pages=|quote=}} {{in lang |de}}{{citation|surname1=WELT|periodical=Die Welt|title="Touch me not", Berlinale: Zu heftiger Sex-Szenen – Zuschauer verlassen Kinosaal|date=23 February 2018|language=German|url=https://www.welt.de/kultur/article173888803/Touch-me-not-Berlinale-Zu-heftiger-Sex-Szenen-Zuschauer-verlassen-Kinosaal.html|access-date=14 February 2021}} The Golden Bear awarded by the Berlinale jury thus came as a surprise.

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of {{RT data|score}} based on {{RT data|count}} reviews, and an average rating of {{RT data|average}}. The site's critical consensus reads, "Touch Me Not deserves admiration for its efforts to debunk stereotypes and further a necessary dialogue, even if the execution never lives up to those lofty ambitions."{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/touch_me_not_2019|title=Touch Me Not (2018)|website=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango|access-date={{RT data|access date|df=dmy}}}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/touch-me-not |title=Touch Me Not Reviews |work=Metacritic |access-date=15 March 2018}}

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film, describing it as "an eye-opening look at human sexuality". She stated, "Though not every moment is fascinating to watch, most moments are, and adult audiences should find its frank presentation of the diversity of intimacy thought-provoking and possibly therapeutic."{{cite news|last1=Young|first1=Deborah|title='Touch Me Not': Film Review {{!}} Berlin 2018|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/touch-me-not-1087348|access-date=1 March 2018|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=22 February 2018}}

In a negative review, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian called the film "embarrassingly awful", criticising "its mediocrity, its humourless self-regard, its fatuous and shallow approach to its ostensible theme of intimacy, and the clumsy way all this was sneakily elided with Euro-hardcore cliches about BDSM, alternative sexualities, fetishism and exhibitionism." He described the film's recognition at the Berlinale as a "calamity" for the festival.{{cite news|last=Bradshaw|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Bradshaw|title=Berlin 2018: shallow, silly Golden Bear winner Touch Me Not is a calamity for the festival|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/25/berlin-film-festival-2018-golden-bear-winner-touch-me-no-calamity|access-date=26 February 2018|work=The Guardian|date=25 February 2018}}