The Secret Life of Words

Those of you who have seen Isabel Coixet's first film- My Life without Me- shouldn't miss this one. Like that film, this has a tragic-romantic essence at its core. A very well-written script, with a handful of themes, superbly acted, and direction/editing/score/soundtrack all good to very good (at times excellent). Dense, literate, and increasingly absorbing. By no means your mainstream action flick; yet this movie should find a large audience in those who like 'independent films' (or 'European', for Americans). Filmed in Ireland (much shot indoors), and entirely in English. A very satisfying drama- I found it even better than 'l'Enfant', which took top prize at this past Cannes Film Festival. Both are highly recommended...enjoy.

Two persons trying to cope with the past: a splendid Sarah Polley and (as always) a great Tim Robbins. This is a smart and very interesting film about the way we try to escape from the past: with love and with words (and with silences). I also enjoyed the rest of the characters: it is amazing how they are described with small details here and there, and you finish the movie wanting to know more about the rest of the cast. Isabel Coixet did a splendid work here of portrayal of the more inner parts of the human soul. Please check the music of the film, the selection is really good and all the songs fit brilliantly in the plot of the film.

I went to see this last Isabel Coixet's movie three hours ago and its beautiful and powerful story is still bouncing in my head... the sea, Tim Robbin's eyes, Hanna's beautiful voice and her intense way of holding her feelings, Simon's delightful food in the middle of nowhere..

The way it is conceived is somehow simple, a mysterious woman, in my opinion extremely well resolved by Sarah Polley, happens to arrive to a remote place where a bunch of loners have just had a deep dramatic experience. As explicitly mentioned in the movie, 'God makes them..' ('Dios los cria'.., in Spanish), and so as she gets there she expands and relaxes in this environment where no one really expects anything from anybody.

The takes are so beautiful, the thousand different feelings that the same isolated landscape in the middle of the sea projects through the movie is unbeatable. The cast of characters is solid, and the supporting characters are developed enough so as to allow the viewer to understand, in basic terms, what brought them there.

Finally, the use of Tom Waits for the final transition is sublime! but, yeah, how could it not be? Tom Waits's music is the music for these films where the very deep of the heart is at stake.

So, yes, I do recommend this movie for anyone who cares or wants to care or would like to be able to care about people who have been profoundly wounded at some point. And this, I am afraid, hopefully includes you. Thanks Isabel.

I have seen the movie and I have to say its just beautiful, no its not the slow, easy going romantic love story....it is difficult, critical and poetic. there is no action, its just about those 2 people, who are lonely, and experienced things in their lives nobody could imagine. this movie makes you think, think about your life, about your love about the world.

i can recommend it to everybody, who likes little quiet movies, which touch you go watch it, the 2 main actors are brilliant. sarah polley plays here role, with a heartbreaking truth, tim robbins (susan sarandons husband) does a great job as well.

Great performances, an original idea, good script - it's just a great movie, which nobody I know has seen.

I have no idea why this one didn't get better distribution, it certainly deserves it. The little quirks of the characters liven up the story, as does the interaction between Polley's disturbed nurse and Robbin's rough patient. Although you could see the ending coming a mile away, that was fine, as it seemed that was what was supposed to happen.

This is a good one when you're in the mood for a somewhat dark drama with romantic overtones. The romance doesn't get too much in the way of the drama, the drama doesn't go overboard into melodrama.