Human Touch (2004) : Synopsis

SHORT SYNOPSIS
The relationship between Anna and David is tested when a wealthy gentleman, Edward, enters Anna's life. His worldliness and seductive charm awakens in Anna a consciousness that has a dramatic impact on her relationship with David. She embarks on an intimate journey of self-discovery and physical fulfilment to finally arrive at a deeper, more profound understanding of her inner needs… and the necessity for human touch and need for love.

LONG SYNOPSIS
Anna is in her early thirties - she has a burgeoning music career as a singer, and has a committed, loving relationship with her boyfriend David, a painter.

Anna sings in a choir, her friend Lucy is the conductor. Her remarkable voice and luminous presence command attention and, when the choir holds a concert to raise money for a tour of China, she is noticed by Edward, a wealthy, cultured man in his 60s.

Edward approaches Anna after the concert and asks her to call him. Although reluctant, Anna is encouraged by Lucy who hopes Edward may be able to help with the China trip.

Anna’s first visit to his imposing mansion is intoxicating. The dense artistic and erotic environment intrigues her. Edward talks openly about his passion for photography, music and the arts, his devotion to his ailing mother and his wife Desiree, who takes lovers to fulfil a sexual need he can no longer satisfy. When Edward asks Anna to pose for a series of nude photographs, she sees no reason to refuse him.

David is miffed by Edward’s attention to Anna, and when he sees the results of the photographic shoot, he becomes jealous and unnerved. Edward has captured an unseen side of Anna, a languid sensuality, and has started her on an intimate journey of self-discovery that can’t be halted. A new world of sensuality and eroticism is unfolding for Anna, when Desiree also becomes infatuated by her.

At home, Anna and David’s life is strained. Her erotic awakening has made it impossible for Anna to relate to David sexually. They both seek help to try and understand what’s come between them. Anna visits her mother to find clues hidden in her past and David confides in a friend whose advice encourages him to seek out his own erotic pleasures.

Desiree offers David and Anna the use of her run-down farmhouse in the south of France to help them sort their relationship out. On arrival, it’s the power and beauty of nature, as opposed to the beauty of man-made objects that has an influence on their relationship. When Anna reveals all to David about her relationship to Edward, David is thrown into such turmoil, their relationship seems doomed. Anna’s despair turns from grief to fear as Desiree’s French lover assumes too much of her.

Anna can only turn to David who responds and starts to understand what is required of him.