Views are bound to models. Since views render models, they have to have intimate knowledge of the model, there's simply no way around it. Some views are generic, and these have "generic" models. Here, you may try and conform your actual model to the generic one so that the "generic" view can use your data. But even with these generic models, the views are still tightly bound to them.
Models manage data, the state. While a view has intimate knowledge of the model, the model is view agnostic. It simply doesn't care. This way you can have several views for the same model.
However, a model must inform others of changes to the model. Typically in java you use PropertyChangeListener's. This mechanism lets the model just shout out changes wholesale, and anyone interested can listen for these changes and act on them, for example your view.
A simple example is that you game object can take damage from a bullet, and it's reduced to below 50% health. The view can see that health has been reduced and change the image of the model (say adding smoke, or whatever).
The Controller typically is bound tightly to the view and the model. It knows the capabilities of the view (like it's size, and other areas of interest), and it knows how to change the model. Such as when mouse is clicked, the controller converts the mouse point in to a coordinate relative to the view, and from that determines what object was clicked. Once it determines the object that was clicked, it can set the model for the object to, say, "selected".
The model then broadcasts out that it's "selected" property has changed. The view sees this, finds the bounding rect for the model that changed, and invalidates that rectangle on its display.
Finally, Java comes around and tells the view "Hey, Rect 10,10,100,100 needs to be painted". And the view find the models in that rect, paints the new view of the object with a "selected" border, or whatever.
Thats how the whole cycle works.
