The Touch

The Touch (Chinese: 天脈傳奇) is a 2002 martial arts film directed by Peter Pau and starring Michelle Yeoh, Ben Chaplin and Richard Roxburgh. A Hong Kong-Chinese-Taiwanese co-production, the film was created by China Film Co-production Corporation, Han Entertainment, Mythical Films, Aruze, Pandasia Entertainment and Tianjan Studios. The film also features the final score composed by Basil Poledouris before his death in 2006. Apart from special effects sequences shot in sound stages, the film was shot on-location in Tibet, Nepal and China. Some of the mountain ranges in which the film was shot were not open to filmmakers earlier. More than two years before its release, it was reported that Lee Chi-Ngai had been chosen to direct the film, starring Michelle Yeoh and produced by Media Asia Group managing director Thomas Chung. Miramax also bought the rights to the film in 2001, removing 20 minutes of footage for a 83-minute version and completed the special effects CGI scenes. Miramax eventually premiered the film on United States TV channel in 2006. The film's producers and distribution company M6 in France encountered conflicts over casting and the cost of the rights. It had been passed uncut by the China's national censor, and had a 2005 theatrical release in Japan by Nikkatsu. Beside, it released from 2003 to 2005 in various European countries, including Spain and Greece. In 2023, The Touch is available for streaming in the United States on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV app. The film was chosen as the Hong Kong entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 75th Academy Awards but was disqualified for being ineligible, due to the film's language being mainly in English.