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.
Josef: I'll learn how to swim, Hanna. I swear, I'll learn how to swim.
Its admirable convictions, matched only by the primitive manner in which they are expressed. Ms. Polley does flash a few moments of creative wingspan at us, but it doesn't save the picture from a certain kind of dread. The emptiness of uninspired creativity. A faithful companion to my own screenwriting process and as such, easy for me to recognize.
Given the physical limitations of their characters, Polley and Robbins give remarkably compelling performances, and though the resolution of their slowly evolving relationship is a bit too pat, it is one you won't soon forget.
Honestly, I only watched this film because it was Almodovar produced. Is it just me or does TRobbins play the same sarcastic character in all of his movies? SPolley is wonderful. A bit wandering towards the end, but a weeper nonetheless. Watch for JChristie as the therapist.
Só uma mulher como Isabel Coixet para dirigir um filme tão sensível, com uma personagem tão introspectiva quanto Hannah. Um filme tão belo sobre relações e respeito as dores humanas.
Una de mis películas favoritas. No te la puedes perder. Trata sobre el dolor y el desamor en una plataforma cerrada por culpa de un accidente. Maravillosa. 10/10
Tim Robbins had great dialog in this film (until the ending). A burn victim on an oil rig in the ocean, who falls in love with his war-refugee nurse Sarah Polley who shows him her cut up boobs. Turned out to be pretty great.
ONE of my Flixter friends has seen this. On her recommendation, I rented it. It is not perfect. But it is extraordinarily good. What happens when we speak our pain or guilt or fear? Will it kill us or free us? Will I break down in tears "that will fill the whole room and drown us both"? Good movie.
For a movie that is all about the words I have none. This is a work of great storytelling and casting and all that, but it just doesn't feel important to mention those things. It's the emotional core that matters. I was devastated during parts of it, it's one of those movies that you should see to broaden your horizon a little. Because here is a clear voice telling you a story so horrible that you just want to shut your mind of but you can't, cause you care about her and you have to listen. Her story is still out there. I'm glad someone is telling it.
A brilliant story. The performance by Sarah Polley is one of the best I've ever seen by any actress. Tim Robbins is amazing. This is the type of film that is wonderful to discuss afterwards with others who have seen it, as there is just SO much to see and hear and think about from this movie. A second watch for me brought even more to light. This movie is quite a piece of work and very near perfection. Without giving any spoilers here, The Secret Life of Words is about two people who share the meaning of suffering both in the emotional and physical sense and understand that the telling of that which has caused them to suffer (the words) can be like opening the cage of demons and the fear of not quite knowing if letting them out will cause more pain or freedom from them, as words can be saviors too; they hide them away (in secret) in fear of that toss of the dice. A thought-provoking film of absolute beauty.
Sad but still full of hope, tragic but never depressing. Both Sarah Polley (which I had never heard about before this movie) and Tim Robbins were brilliant.
honesta, increible y sorprendente, te lleva a tantos lugares y te hace pasar por tantas emociones, todo sostenido por las actuaciones de polley y robbins dentro de una habitacion.
The Secret Life of Words hits you like a train. It's dark and human. Slow and thoughtful. Brilliant and devastating... The pain, the healing (or the attempt), the alienation of the human spirit who has been through 'some' traumatic, painful experiences and the way that those people (re)connect with others. This film isn't about original, 'special' people. It's about every single human being (every war survivor, every abused person, every hurt heart) who has, in any way, suffered and struggled to keep lving, to 'move on'... That's why I applaud and cheer Isabel Coixet (for the 2nd time, after My Life Without Me), who had the audacity and vision to make a film without any smart, supernatural story in its core, but a painfully real one who will reach out to anyone who has, in any way, experienced pain... The second, but not less loud applause goes to Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins who, through some simple words (and silences) encarnated their characters in a way that not many actors can.
Again (it's getting pretty ordinary) another crime of distribution. I had the chance and privilege to watch The Secret Life of Words on the theatre, since it was produced on my neighbour country, but it's just not acceptable that work of this calibre doesn't reach to a larger audience. I don't know if Isabel Coixet's intention, when she decided to write in english and obviously to cast english-speaking actors, was to avoid this or not. Either way, it just doesn't make any sense that all of the everyday rubbish that comes from the 'Usual Suspect' keeps premiering all over the world, and this film (like all the other thousands) stay in the dark just because it happens to be a spanish production... Shame on you!
a nice little film, although i did feel kind of distanced from the characters and didn't understand the purpose of certain shots but on the whole i enjoyed it
A sensitive movie about the connection between two lonely people and the way they help each other heal, their past wounds. A bit slow but real intense and intriguing. great cast, great acting!!!
Directed by: Isabel Coixet.Starring: Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins.
I had heard prier to watching this film that the audience is split down the middle, some who say is intellectual, complex and very powerful and others say its hollow.....I don't quite agree with either of those, I'm somewhere in the middle.
The story starts with an oil rig accident in the middle of the sea, a man is badly burnt and requires a new nurse. Then we are introduced to Hannah, a very quiet, strange, solitary woman who works in a factory, she is never late and never has had a holiday in years, when the boss gives her the offer to take one, she refuses, instead she overhears about the nurse position in a bar and she takes it. Hannah tends to this man, Josef and he slowly breaks her silence. I personally felt that director/writer Isabel Coixet ruined the chance to make the film more than what it is, maybe I just found it hard to latch onto her narrative. I can't deny the movie shared a few shocking and unexpected powerful and moving moments, but I had a problem adapting to these characters for the first half of the film and with the pace moving slowly, I could never grasp on enough to really feel for the later scenes. The acting is top notch, Tim Robbins proves to be strong and quite humorous with the dialogue he is given and Sarah Polley deserves to be more recognised, she delivers a subtle and complex performance, when the moment is needed for her character, she delivers brilliantly.
Many will like this film, I'm not saying I hate it, but I never grasped onto the film in the first half due to dull characters and a slow pace and when it did pick up in the second half and the characters pack a punch, it just wasn't enough for me to love. Disappointed.
Me gusta la carga emocional de las escenas principales, porque no son emociones baratas, sino realmente profundas y complejas...aunque me hubiera gustado que los demas personajes se hubieran desarrollado mas.
Sarah Polley delivers another astounding performance as Hanna, a woman whose emotional withdrawl from the world is because of a past tragedy. When she takes a job on an oil rig nursing a burns victim with emotional baggage of his own, cracks begin to appear in her icy composure.
The result is a powerful story that is not only about two people trying to cope with their past, but also a painful reminder of peoples tendency to brush aside or forget atrocities in the world that did not directly affect them. Hanna's revelation is jawdroppingly horrific.
Dealing with issues from an incredibly painful time in this woman's life, you start off watching this movie not knowing what to think, and then find yourself totally enveloped in it. Wonderfully done!
MCT:April 10, 2008
MCT:April 8, 2008
MCT:March 21, 2008
MCT:February 25, 2008
MCT:February 4, 2008
MCT:February 3, 2008
