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.

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

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.

---

Goofs

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

Simon: Hanna?
Hanna: What?
Simon: Nothing.
Simon: Hanna?
Hanna: What?
Simon: Nothing.

---

Connections

References Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964)

---

Soundtracks

"Hope There's Someone"
Written by Antony Hegarty
Performed by Antony and the Johnsons

User Reviews

A great movie on survival and healing

When people go through great amounts of pain and unbearable suffering, it takes a lot of time for them to be able (if ever) to heal and go on with their lives. This movie helps us to understand that process and connect with other people's pain. It does it in a very slow way, it's true, but that's the greatness and beauty of this movie. It gives us time to understand what these people have been thru, and shows how important it is that we do not forget, or let those that have suffered to be forgotten. It's not 'showy', not fast, not overly intellectualized but small, understanding and truthful. It gives us people difficult to watch because they are block, closed and reserved but at the same time gives us time to understand why, and that in the end it is possible to survive, to heal from the most terrible things that can happen to a human being. This movie is not for people who are not sensitive enough to think about what happened 'around the corner' some years ago and what extent can the human cruelness reach. The movie could have been pathetic and sentimental but it's not (it does have its faults but the outcome is so important that you forgive that). It shows that there is a place in a world for those that have suffered, and for those that are hurt, lonely, shy, and for those to whom the mere existence is difficult. And already for that I am grateful for this movie, that shows that there is so much more in life than words, and that we all carry a rich universe in us to be explored if we love and are loved no matter who we are and what life has put us through.