The Secret Life of Words (2005)

one of my absolute favorites!

Lack of good storyline.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is what Cassavedes thinks of as simple and direct theater, a pipeline to emotions.The idea is to simplify, presumably to purify. We have a remote oil rig with two full characters and a handful of surrounding beings. Our man (played by Tim Robbins) is temporarily blind, burned literally and figuratively: he was burned unsuccessfully trying to save a man he cuckolded from committing suicide. He is nursed by a character played by Sarah Polley, who has a tortured past.She knows how to work with the purpose of a film, and when that purpose it to turn things over to the actors, she really turns it on. This actually works as intended for the first two thirds, where the narrative doesn't exist and we just settle between these two. The situations and container are extreme, but we tie into the universal emotions that are raised here.Unfortunately, towards the end, narrative takes over and we leave the world of connected emotions and enter the world of a story that must find its end. He, now sighted tracks her down, and appeals to a future in love regardless of the certain pain. This may make for a happy, even acceptable ending, but it is not the experience we invested in.As if to assert that story trumps connectedness, the filmmaker goes the extraordinary distance to tell us how the story ends for every single character we met on that oilrig. Sometimes the filmmaker doesn't have a clue.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

As Jane Campion, Susanne Bier, Lynne Ramsay and Sally Potter, Spanish screenwriter and director Isabel Coixet who made quite an impression with "My Life Without Me" (2003) has a subtle, lyrical and ravishingly beautiful way of depicting human relations and emotions, which shines through in this heartfelt and universally appealing story about Hanna, a lonely factory worker in Northern Ireland who after being instructed to take a holiday by her boss returns to her lonely life at the coast where she realizes that a holiday is the last thing she wants and ends up taking a job as a nurse at an oil rig.Spanish filmmaker Isabel Coixet's fifth feature film is mostly set on a distant oil rig and centres on the main character's evolving relationship with her patient named Josef and her meeting with seven men who share her need for solitude and privacy. The role of Hanna is portrayed by Sarah Polley, a Canadian actress with a great gift for interpreting internal and low-keyed characters with great conviction, "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997) being one of them, and here she practically conveys the soul of the film through her intuitive and quiet though expressive performance, which transcends in the scene where she confides to her patient, gracefully acted by American actor and director Tim Robbins."The Secret Life of Words" is a well-paced study of character with fragments of poetry that has lively visuals, atmospheric music and many colorful characters, and which is observantly written and gently filmed by Isabel Coixet. It is a memorable movie experience which through it's depiction of people who turn to their loneliness in order to regain their security succeeds to affirm new perspectives on life.

Second time around collaboration with writer-director Isabel Coixet (previously in "My Life Without Me" 2003), Sarah Polley again gave us a stunning subdued performance portraying 'Hanna' (wears a hearing aid) with possible tough turmoil lodged within, seems rather be alone by herself. Tim Robbins matched with equal subtlety in his performance as 'Josef,' wounded both physically (burns and temporarily blind) and within, possible tenderness to share? The chemistry between the two talented actors made Coixet's emotional challenging script complete. I smiled when Polley's Hanna started to let go a little, giving herself a chance to taste Simon the cook's Epicurean food. Robbin's Josef being confined to bed and unable to see, conveyed volumes through his 'listening' facial expressions, movement of his head, and tone of his voice, cracking jokes even in pain. The pace is almost in real-time (may require some viewers to be patient and take in stride the events as they occur). Nothing is rushed - we are given time to ponder with Hanna and Josef, appreciating the growing relationship, closing the gap, trusting each other.The story setting includes life on an oil rig (off the coast of Northern Ireland at the time.) We get a sense of how each member of the team past their time after the alleged accident rendering the rig operation to shut down. The supporting cast, including the goose, complement the sketches of the story. Javier Cámara (Pedro Almodóvar's "Talk to Her" 2002) is Simon the ship's Spanish cook who befriends Hanna; Julie Christie (whom Polley directed in her directorial debut "Away from Her" 2006) is Inge the Danish therapist friend to Hanna. Sverre Anker Ousdal (I remember him from "Kitchen Stories" 2003) is the Norwegian ship's in-charge Dimitri who imparted his wisdom to Hanna: "Deep down, everything is an accident." Yes, the words (and the silence in between) to the dialog and scenes are well-thought out. Sample of a few are: "Maybe you are not. But I am." Hanna to Scott when he tried to explain that he's "not prejudiced." "How does one live with what happened?" "How does one live with the dead?" Josef asking Hanna. "I will learn to swim, Hanna, I swear. I will learn to swim." Josef to Hanna.The insertion of music and selected songs & lyrics*, juxtaposed with complete silence are aptly choreographed. And when you reached the end of the film, you may want to go back to the beginning credit roll and try to catch the 'secret words' that transiently appears with the display of each name and title. Some of the words are: silence, friend, sound, cut, pain, affection, scream, hope, child, ever, love, minutes, time, rain, believe, hope - ends with Coixet's name: always - hope. I rated THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS at 9 out of 10: excellent script, thoughtful drama, superb acting, cinematography, production, editing both sound and visuals, music & songs and silence & dialog considerations, cultural diversity and the tough subject at heart, raising awareness and hope for the future. Kudos to the producers, Focus Features, Spanish and French production companies - especially to filmmaker Isabel Coixet. *song & lyrics of note: David Byrne's "Tiny Apocalypse"; Tom Waits "All the World is Green"

Sophie's Choice meets the English Patient w/ a Hollywood endingThe acting and dialog in this movie are first rate. But is there a "there there"? Hanna is the emotionally damaged survivor of War atrocity. She avoids any emotional and social life working only for survival in a Scottish factory. When her employer forces her to take a vacation she is forced to think about more than survival. At the last second she tries to avoid leisure time and the possibility of introspection and resurfacing emotion by volunteering to nurse for badly burned oil rig worker, Josef (Tim Robbins). Isolated on the Oil Rig with a skeleton crew she is touched by the guilt ridden and emotionally extroverted Josef. In return she confesses her own horrors. Having exposed herself she escapes from this impromptu group therapy and returns to her previous work life. Josef tracks her down with the help of Hanna's psychiatrist, Inge (Julie Christie). Julie Christie is excellent in this cameo role. Inga violates the most basic ethics of her profession to help Josef find Hanna. Hanna attempts to reject Josef because she is afraid her emotional problems will overwhelm them both. Based only on Josef's assertion that he will learn to deal with her emotional problems she relents, embrace, kiss fade out. I love the way this film is made. I love the acting. I love the dialog. In the end the resolution does not hold up. It isn't that the plot is improbable, it is simply that there is no explanation of how the events lead to the resolution.