The Secret Life of Words (2005)

Director:

Isabel Coixet

Writer:

Isabel Coixet (writer)

Release Date:

21 October 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Female Nudity | Accident | Burn | Oil Rig

Awards:

21 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Sarah Polley	...	Hanna
Tim Robbins	...	Josef
Sverre Anker Ousdal	...	Dimitri (as Sverre Ousdal)
Javier Cámara	...	Simon
Danny Cunningham	...	Scott
Dean Lennox Kelly	...	Liam (as Dedan Lenox Kelly)
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
Joshua Miligan	...	Child

Also Known As:

The Secret Life of Words (International: English title) (UK) (USA)
Vida secreta de las palabras, La (Spain)
Vida secreta de les paraules, La (Spain: Catalan title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Hungary:16 | Germany:6 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Sweden:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:MG6 | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Argentina:13 | Spain:13 | South Africa:13L

Filming Locations:

Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Company:

El Deseo S.A.

Trivia:

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

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In order to fly out to the rig, Hanna would have had to do a three-day off-shore survival course. There seems to be no indication that she does this in the film.

Quotes:

Josef: I thought um, you and I, maybe we could go away somewhere. Together. One of these days. Today. Right now. Come with me.
Hanna: No, I don't think that's going to be possible.
Josef: Why not?
Hanna: Um, because I think that if we go away to someplace together, I'm afraid that, ah, one day, maybe not today, maybe, maybe not tomorrow either, but one day suddenly, I may begin to cry and cry so very much that nothing or nobody can stop me and the tears will fill the room and I won't be able to breath and I will pull you down with me and we'll both drown.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964)

Soundtrack:

Coming Back Down to Earth

Outstanding! Isabel has done it again!

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