| | |  | ESTONIA | Home » » The Secret Life of Words | | | | | | | Description: | | Tim Robbins stars in this compelling film from Pedro Almodovar. Powerfully acted and critically acclaimed, this film is a moving story about discovering love and hope when least expected. Sarah Polley costars. | | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Sverre Anker Ousdal, Javier Cámara, Danny Cunningham | | Director:
| Isabel Coixet | | Format:
| AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language:
| English | | Subtitle:
| English, French, Spanish | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Universal Studios | | Run Time:
| 115 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| May 08, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 29 reviews |
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| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 29 customer reviews )
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55 of 59 found the following review helpful:
(3.5 STARS) "The Secret Life of Words": Quiet and Poetic with One Very Serious ThemeApr 15, 2007
By Tsuyoshi
"The Secret Life of Words" is directed by Isabel Coixet ("My Life without Me"). In this quiet film Sarah Polley is Hanna silently working at a factory, keeping to herself in her life. One day her boss tells her to take a vacation even though Hanna doesn't seem to enjoy the idea. Still she travels to a seaside town, where she finds nothing to do. While having a lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, however, she hears about Josef (Tim Robbins), severely burnt victim of a fire at an offshore oil rig.
Hanna volunteers to nurse him and flies to the isolated site where not many things happen. There Hanna cares for Josef, who cannot see her face, wearing a bandage over his eyes because of injury. Josef keeps talking to Hanna, asking her questions while telling her a few things about him. As the film slowly goes on, Hanna, not the most sociable nurse in the world, still starts to reveal her past, which is related to the events that happened in her native country years ago.
Supporting actors include Javier Cámara, Steven Mackintosh, Eddie Marsan, Daniel Mays and Julie Christie, plus cameo of Leonor Watling. Though her screen time is short, Julie Christie is wonderful as Inge who cares for Hanna. (Inge's character is based on the real-life person Denmark-born Dr. Inge Genefke of IRCT.) But the film virtually belongs to the two leading actors, Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins.
Not many "actions" happen during the film which heavily depends on the words the characters speak. Some may think the film's pace is too slow and its story boring while others may find the understated tone essential to the spiritual changes that main characters Hanna and Josef undergo. The poetical and slightly surreal quality of the film (opening and ending voiceovers, for example) will either attract or puzzle viewers.
Sarah Polley's Hanna uses English with a strong accent. Her acting is fantastic as always, but I thought Canadian-born Sarah Polley may not be the best choice for the role of Hanna, whose nationality plays an important part in the film. And probably the character of Josef needs to be more substantial for the relations between them to develop fully to the extent the film's last chapter shows to us.
In "The Secret Life of Words" the "actions" have already happened before the film starts. You slowly come to know the nature of the actions or secrets through the words Hanna and Josef speak. Despite its overlong running time, I liked the film for its quietness and subdued approach, but some may not love the film for the very same reason.
30 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Silence as a Protection for Facing Past HorrorsMay 13, 2007
By Grady Harp
It is always a joy to find a DVD in the videostore that is completely an unknown entity, only to discover upon viewing it that it is a little masterpiece of cinematic art. Such is the case with THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS, and having seen the film now raises the question of how it went unnoticed in the theater release. Though touted on the cover as an 'Almodóvar film', in reality it's connection to the genius lies in the fact that both Pedro and his brother Agustín Almodóvar were executive producers: the film was written and directed by Spanish artist Isabel Coixet (Paris, je t'aime, Invisibles, My Life Without Me). It is a minimalist statement about the indomitable human spirit, a story that slowly unwinds to reveal some of the most terrifying aspects of trauma of war and guilt and shame ever written.
Hanna (Sarah Polley, in a phenomenal performance) is a deaf, silent reclusive young woman working as a line operator in a factory, so married to her meaningless job that her boss insists she take a vacation she deserves. Hanna does as she's told, and journeys to a seaside spot where she hears about a man on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean who is severely burned and needs a nurse. Hanna quietly takes the job, is flown by the doctor (Steven Mackintosh) to the isolated oil rig, populated with only a few men - cook Simon (Javier Cámara of 'Hable con ella', 'La Mala educación, 'Lucía y el sexo' etc), oceanographer and workers (Eddie Marsan, Daniel Mays, Dean Lennox Kelly, Danny Cunningham, Emmanuel Idowu) and a captain (Steven Mackintosh), and meets her patient Josef (Tim Robbins) who is temporarily blinded from burns to his corneas, and severely burned on his limbs.
Josef seeks to discover information from Hanna, but Hanna shares nothing about herself, spending her time dressing Josef's wounds, feeding him and tending to his needs. He slowly reveals his painful past to her (he was burned in an accident in which his best friend was burned to death, the friend whose wife had become Josef's lover!). Hanna is treated well by the few men on the isolated rig and learns to eat the exotic foods prepared by Simon, becoming friends with the crew, though at a distance, and gradually Hanna speaks with Josef about herself. In a painful confessional Hanna reveals that she is Bosnian and a survivor of the Balkan war, a hideous time when she and her close friend were captured, tortured and raped, leaving Hanna with physical as well as psychic scars and an enormous feeling of shame that her friend died and she survived. This knowledge bonds Hanna and Josef, but by this point it is time for Josef to be medevaced to a hospital onshore and the two part company. After some time has passed and Josef has recovered, he begins his search for Hanna and the journey and its finale serve as a touching end to the story.
The cast is uniformly brilliant, including a small role of Hanna's therapist played convincingly by Julie Christie. The metaphors the tale offers are many, but the most moving is an examination of how the human mind deals with survival and shame after trauma. Director Isabel Coixet draws such subtle performances from the entire cast in this very small film, proving she is one of the more important artists in film making today. Very Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, May 07
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Absolutely UnforgettableMay 23, 2007
By O. Brown
"Ms. O. Khannah-Brown"
*****
"The Secret Life of Words" is a slow-paced movie telling the story of a young woman who takes care of a burn victim. The young woman, Hanna, is a torture victim. The film show the slow development of intimacy between her and her patient. It explores themes subtley and beautifully and unconventionally.
If you are interested in being entertained, you may not enjoy this movie. If you want to be moved, and touched, and to have an unforgettable film experience, you will not be unsatisfied.
This is not a conventional movie, and those who wish for a quick pace and obvious themes will be disappointed. Those who are content to process and think while a theme is developed, and who are open for a different sort of movie will be pleased.
The acting in this movie is incredible, from Tim Robbins' leading role, to Julie Christie, and Sarah Polley. I had rented the movie, and immediately purchased it after viewing it once to keep and to view again and again.
Highly recommended for the thoughtful moviegoer.
*****
13 of 16 found the following review helpful:
UnforgettableMay 16, 2007
By O. Brown
"Ms. O. Khannah-Brown"
*****
"The Secret Life of Words" is a slow-paced movie telling the story of a young woman who takes care of a burn victim. The young woman, Hanna, is a torture victim. The film show the slow development of intimacy between her and her patient. It explores themes subtley and beautifully and unconventionally.
If you are interested in being entertained, you may not enjoy this movie. If you want to be moved, and touched, and to have an unforgettable film experience, you will not be unsatisfied.
This is not a conventional movie, and those who wish for a quick pace and obvious themes will be disappointed. Those who are content to process and think while a theme is developed, and who are open for a different sort of movie will be pleased.
The acting in this movie is incredible, from Tim Robbins' leading role, to Julie Christie, and Sarah Polley. I had rented the movie, and immediately purchased it after viewing it once to keep and to view again and again.
Highly recommended for the thoughtful moviegoer.
*****
7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Compelling Claustrophobic DramaMay 25, 2008
By prisrob
"pris,"
"Sarah Polley gives a wonderfully searching performance, as a woman in a state of extreme isolation, in "The Secret Life of Words," a compellingly claustrophobic drama set mostly aboard an oil rig. This film tackles its big theme -- silence as a defense against tragedy -- with delicacy, sympathy and originality, sans sentimentality." Jonathan Holland
This film grabbed me and cut to my core. Immediately this young woman played by Sarah Polley spoke to me. This is an actress who can display with a flick of her hair and a non expression that something has gone terribly wrong and will never be right again. Hanna as she is known, is deaf, she lives alone, she works in a factory and has not had a sick day or a day off in 4 years. We know she eats white rice, chicken nuggets and half an apple for every meal. She has a collection of almond scented soap in her bathroom, and she uses a new bar everytime she washes her hands. This is all we know. She is summoned to her supervisor's office and told she must take a 4 week vacation. Her non-speech and work ethic gives her fellow workers a case of nerves, she must at least act human.
Hanna goes to the coast of Northern Ireland and while eating dinner one evening she overhears a conversation that changes her life. An oil rig has had a fire, and there is a great need for a nurse to care for a burned man. She volunteers for the duty and is flown by helicopter to the oil rig.
Hanna meets her patient, Josef, played by Tim Robbins. He has corneal burns and cannot see, leg fractures and burns on his body and face, but he remains intelligent and self-deprecating. He obtained his burns by trying to save someone else. The fact is that what Hanna and Josef don't say is sometime's more significant than what they do say. Hanna maintains her stalwart composure and does not give anything away. Little by little their relationship develops and Hanna begins to open her heart and secrets, as does Josef. On one day, Hanna discloses her shattering past. Josef gathers her in his arms, and this scene is more exqisite than words can express.
The rest of the small crew on the rig are loners as is Hanna. They all have their stories and the chef is the most telling. Hanna discovers that food should be tasted and enjoyed. A scene with Hanna, sitting on the stairs, devouring the rest of Josef's meal will live on. There is a sharing of respect, and Hanna has a family of sorts.
The trauma of both of these characters is lessened by their meeting. Hanna helps Josef heal and Josef helps Hanna with her emotional recovery. Josef has bones that mend and Hanna has a life opened to the world. The time comes when Josef needs more expert care, and they are both helicoptered off the rig to the city. "Hanna, Hanna,' we hear Josef yell as he is lifted into the ambulance. "Hanna,Hanna".
The soundtrack to the film is exquisite. From Clem Snide to David Byrne to Tom Waits and to Paolo Conte. Each song has its place and link the narrative as needed. It is a sound track to be played over and over again.
"Instead of being a visionary film that shows us how people behave when they have been tremendously damaged, this becomes an explanatory film that tells us that its characters have been damaged, and need love to heal them. This may or may not be true, but it's definitely a truism, and it dissolves at least some of the picture's potency and mystery into cliché." Emily Taylor
We often hear without words, and we understand through facial changes what someone is thinking. This film is the ultimate in communication without words, and when words are spoken, each of them evokes a distinct memory.
Highly Recommended. prisrob 05-24-08
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