But at the height of their whirlwind affair, Miko abruptly vanished.
I want to develop as a filmmaker and a human being.
Global box office now stands at over $2.8M.
Focus Features
RVK Studios Kormakur and Agnes Johansen producedTouchalongside Good Chaos Mike Goodridge.
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The conversation below has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why was this one important for you?
Then, my Icelandic films have been family drama to black comedy to survival.
Then came the survival films, but I always wanted to make a drama.
And this is a dramatic love story.
I did musicals as well.
I didRenton the Icelandic stage as a director.
Then I did another film,The Sea.
It was a family drama, and then they called me the Icelandic Bergman.
Then I did two films with Mark Wahlberg and I became the Mark Wahlberg guy, you know?
DEADLINE: And what did your heart tell you aboutTouch?
I love (Pawe Pawlikowskis)Cold War, for example a big love story through the ages.
KORMAKUR:I think it keeps me going.
But there are some projects on the horizon that have that kind of element.
Not necessarily a love story, but more dramatic stories.
I would love not having to go home to make this.
But theres a reality.
But there is a limit to it.
Its not like Spanish or French or German where you have a huge market, right?
They support each other; I get connections and companies like Focus who supported me making this film.
So I think it doesnt necessarily exclude the other.
Why do you feel that?
KORMAKUR:Because it rarely happens in Iceland.
It is a love story that happens between and Icelandic man and a Japanese woman.
And theres more Japanese spoken in the film than Icelandic.
So this is really a rare bird in Icelandic filmography.
KORMAKUR:Im really happy with that because I love Icelandic as a language.
But I dont really want to bend to that.
I think theres much more potential, and films are not really defined by the language.
DEADLINE: You ended up co-writing theTouchscript with the author of the book.
What was that process like?
I made the third one up.
It was really seamless.
He was very generous in that process and were working on two other things together.
DEADLINE: What was your relationship to Japan before?
KORMAKUR:Not much.
I had been there before.
I was fascinated by the country, and I read the novel.
And the novelist had spent a lot of time in Japan, because he used to work for Sony.
And again, as I said, its an Icelandic perspective of a foreign country.
KORMAKUR:We tend to shout at each other today and blame each other for things.
But in this case, its not about that.
Its about the consequences.
Its about one victim who wasnt even born when it happened.
I love that; its just a very kind of quiet way.
Who is going to do it?
Is it going to be Putin or Trump, or who is going to do it?
Do we really want to repeat that mistake of history?
