The Secret Life of Words (2005)

A hearing impaired factory worker gives up her first holiday in years and instead travels out to an oil rig, where she cares for a man suffering from severe burns.

Director:

Isabel Coixet

Writer:

Isabel Coixet

Stars:

Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Sverre Anker Ousdal

22 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Polley	...	Hanna
Tim Robbins	...	Josef
Sverre Anker Ousdal	...	Dimitri (as Sverre Ousdal)
Javier Cámara	...	Simon
Danny Cunningham	...	Scott
Dean Lennox Kelly	...	Liam (as Dean Lenox Kelly)
Daniel Mays	...	Martin
Emmanuel Idowu	...	Abdul
Eddie Marsan	...	Victor
Steven Mackintosh	...	Doctor Sulitzer
Julie Christie	...	Inge
Reg Wilson	...	Factory Manager
Leonor Watling	...	Josef's friend's wife
Daphne Brown	...	Old Lady on Bus
Muriel Hobson	...	Old Lady on Bus

Storyline

Hannah, who wears a hearing aid, is forced to go on holiday. On holiday she manages to find a job: caring for Josef, a burn victim on an oil rig who temporarily lost his sight, until he's stable enough to be transferred. There is almost no one on the rig, except a cook, an oceanographer and a few others out at sea. Hannah tends to Josef and he slowly breaks her shell of silence.

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Plot Keywords:

oil rig | holiday | burn | factory | burn victim | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Mongrel Media [ca] Official site [es]

Country:

Spain

Language:

English Danish

Release Date:

21 October 2005 (Spain)

Also Known As:

La vida secreta de las palabras

Filming Locations:

Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,309 (USA) (15 December 2006)

Gross:

$20,023 (USA) (4 May 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

El Deseo S.A., Hotshot Films, Mediapro

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The oil rig used was the Borgholm Dolphin rig that was docked in Belfast at the time.

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Goofs

If an employee requires medical treatment on an off-shore installation he would immediately be evacuated off.

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Quotes

Inge: Before the holocaust, Adolf Hitler called all of his collaborators together and in order to convince them that he could get away with his plan he asked them who remembers the extermination of the Armenians? That's what he said. Thirty years later nobody remembered the million Armenians exterminated in the cruelest possible way.

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Connections

References Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)

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Soundtracks

"Coming Back Down to Earth"
Written by Steve Coates
Performed by The Real Tuesday

User Reviews

Remarkable independent film

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.