The Secret Life of Words

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.

I understand the commentary about the revelation of pain but the most significant 'lesson' for me was the insidious horror of war - in a film without bloodshed - and obviously the lingering effects of man's inhumanity to man. The slow reveal of the characters' backgrounds crept up on me and to my surprise left me absolutely gutted at the film's conclusion -and for some time after. I was left with a feeling of emotional and physical grief that i have not felt since my father died - the uncontrollable tide of internal pain. While a completely different genre, it reminded me of Sophie's Choice but in comparison made Streep's horror look like a walk in the park. Polley is amazing. What human's do to each other is tragic beyond description. And yet, we continue to torture our fellow humans and apparently fail to learn from our mistakes.

What a remarkable film! "The Secret Life of Words" grows on you little by little, at a steady and constant relaxed pace, throwing at you intriguing images and sounds from the very beginning that will get you hooked wondering until the very end.

Isabel has done it again, an emotional "rollercoaster" that gets to you in a devastating way. We needed this movie!

This movie could have been called "The Forgotten". Why we prejudice people we don't know simply because they behave differently, in ways we do not understand? How come we pretend to understand certain things that we cannot even imagine to be happening in the world?

The story of Hannah is the story of the millions that have been forgotten, but that walk with us every day.

Subtle and brilliant. Fine and devastating.

My admiration to Isabel for her bravery and talent. A terrific next film after "My Life Without Me".

The cast is wonderful! Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins are absolutely fantastic. What a performance! Julie Christie is great too (she sure got the great lines!). Thank you, thank you all.

Entertaining in a meaningful way.

Absolutely recommendable!

All the best to your film Isabel!!

Nico