The Secret Life of Words
Isabel Coixet's Goya winner is one of the most beautiful and moving films I have seen this year. Sarah Polley plays Hanna, a woman who lives in Denmark (but she is definitely not Danish) and is deaf. Hanna has a hearing aid but when she wants to shut out the world she turns it off. Hanna works hard a her job and doesn't say much. She eats the same food everyday - chicken, rice and apple. One day her employer calls her into the office and tells her that she must take a vacation. Hanna has never taken a day off from her job and reluctantly agrees to go away. While on vacation in Ireland she overhears a man talking on a cell phone. He is looking for a nurse to take care of a man who was burned in a fire on an oil rig. Hanna is a trained nurse (although she is not working as one now) and volunteers her services.
The patient is named Josef (Tim Robbins). He is severely burned and temporarily blind.
Josef is happy to have someone to take care of him and to talk to. At first Hanna barely says a word to him. But she eventually comes around. She even broadens her diet by eating the wonderful cuisine created by the rig's chef Simon (Javier Camara).
Both Hanna and Josef have secrets. We will get to know some of these secrets but there are some that are left to our imagination. I love the way Coixet builds the relationship between these two damaged people. She takes her time but in the end we have something that goes beyond the depths of most films that focus on relationships. And the film also deals with pain - the pain of those who survive wars and how it affects them for the rest of their lives.
Polley and Robbins are outstanding in the film. They give two of the best performances I have seen this year. But will they be recognized during this award season? I am afraid not. The film is having a very limited release and there is very little attention being paid to it. Which is really a shame. Camara does a nice job in his small role. Also of note is a cameo appearance by Julie Christie. She is in only two scenes - she plays Hanna's therapist Inge. But it is always a joy to see her in a film these days as she doesn't make many of them.
I cannot recommend The Secret Life of Words too highly. It is a wonderful film that will touch your heart and your soul.
The patient is named Josef (Tim Robbins). He is severely burned and temporarily blind.
Josef is happy to have someone to take care of him and to talk to. At first Hanna barely says a word to him. But she eventually comes around. She even broadens her diet by eating the wonderful cuisine created by the rig's chef Simon (Javier Camara).
Both Hanna and Josef have secrets. We will get to know some of these secrets but there are some that are left to our imagination. I love the way Coixet builds the relationship between these two damaged people. She takes her time but in the end we have something that goes beyond the depths of most films that focus on relationships. And the film also deals with pain - the pain of those who survive wars and how it affects them for the rest of their lives.
Polley and Robbins are outstanding in the film. They give two of the best performances I have seen this year. But will they be recognized during this award season? I am afraid not. The film is having a very limited release and there is very little attention being paid to it. Which is really a shame. Camara does a nice job in his small role. Also of note is a cameo appearance by Julie Christie. She is in only two scenes - she plays Hanna's therapist Inge. But it is always a joy to see her in a film these days as she doesn't make many of them.
I cannot recommend The Secret Life of Words too highly. It is a wonderful film that will touch your heart and your soul.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:22 AM
1 Comments:
I agree with you, this film is greatly developed by Isabel Coixet. She and Sarah Polley make a great team (if you haven't seen "My life without me", check it out.)
You said Hannah lives in Denmark, but I think she lives in England or Ireland, because they speak English at the factory were she works, and she only takes the bus to go on vacation next to the oil rig, which is also in England's or Ireland's coast.
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