The Secret Life of Words

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 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.

Isabel Coixet, the most exciting name to come from Spain since Pedro Almodóvar (who produced this film, by the way), made another remarkable film after her unforgettable "My Life Without Me" (2003), also starring Sarah Polley.

"The Secret Life of Words" is the contemplative, poignant story of a young hearing impaired woman (Polley), who takes care of a man (Tim Robbins) who suffered severe burns in an accident on an oil rig. The accident made him blind for a while, and though he can't even see her, they develop an unlikely emotional bond. Polley and Robbins deliver some of their best performances; the supporting cast (Javier Cámara, Daniel Mays and Julie Christie, among others) is also top-notch. Coixet's sensitive, multi-layered script/directing, plus the excellent cinematography and soundtrack, help make the enterprise so powerful and absorbing. For those who like human stories, this one shouldn't be missed. Coixet is currently filming "Elegy", with Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz and Peter Sarsgaard - I'm looking forward to whatever comes next from her, and that one looks quite promising!

My vote: 10/10.

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.

In Ireland, the introspective deaf worker Hanna (Sarah Polley) is forced to take vacations by her boss after four years service in a factory. She travels, but when she overhears a phone conversation in a restaurant, she offers to nurse a burned worker with fractures and temporarily blind in a decommissioned oil rig. Joseph (Tim Robbins) seriously wounded after risking his life to rescue a colleague that committed suicide jumping in a fire and need to stay for a while in the platform to stabilize his health condition. Hanna is a lonely woman, with the paranoid behavior of eating white rice, chicken nuggets and apple everyday and never repeating the soap, and she slowly interacts with the few workers first, opening her heart to Joseph later and disclosing her traumatic experience in her old country.

"The Secret Life of Words" is a touching and heartbreaking romance, with an awesome screenplay and wonderful performances of Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins. The dramatic story develops perfectly the characters and in spite of the happy-end, it is never corny. The sensitive direction of Isabel Coixet, from the stunning "My Life Without Me" with the same Sarah Polley, is top-notch again. The process of re-socialization of Hanna, who was dead inside and reborn after meeting Joseph, is intense. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Vida Secreta das Palavras" ("The Secret Life of Words")