Review of The Secret Life of Words (2005) by Annetta K — 18 Sep 2011

Sunday 15 July 2007.

The Secret Life of Words, 2005, Spain [English Language], Directed by Isabel Coixet, Starring Sarah Polley, Tim Robbins, Julie Christie, Javier Camara & Leonor Watling [Both from Almodovar's 2002 Hable Con Ella / Talk to Her].

Secret Life of Words features some of the same actors from Almodovar's Talk to Her and Coixet's My Life Without Me.

Sarah Polley's character is called Hannah. She doesn't connect or interact with anyone at her factory job or outside work - she keeps to herself, sleepwalking through life. She has accumulated too much leave and is forced to take a vacation, but instead of taking a holiday she gets a temp job on an oil rig.

Shortly after her arrival she finds a bunch of guys that she can relate to - they each have their reasons for choosing this isolated way of life. Hannah doesn't reveal much about herself but draws out bits of information from her colleagues. Her regular life is ritualistic but away from her normal environment she undergoes a gradual transformation - barely perceptible to the average person. For instance, at home she eats only three types of food prepared exactly the same way until she is tempted to eat the varied dishes served up by the talented chef.

Hannah has been brought to the downsized oil rig to nurse an accident victim. The man is funny, open, and asks lots of personal questions, which Hannah mostly ignores. Without a significant improvement in his condition Hannah makes arrangements for him to be transferred to a hospital. It's clear her job will soon be complete and they will go their separate ways. Shortly before the transportation arrives, Hannah finally divulges her terrible secret.

Hannah goes back to her old factory job but her life isn't exactly the way it was before she left - she's added a little variety to her meals, but that's not all that is about to change.

In the final scenes of the film the identity of the girl's voice can finally be understood or at least we can guess who she was to Hannah and on reflection of the film as a whole and what she told her former patient, connections are made and the awful truth of what happened to the little girl and why her memory occasionally haunts Hannah's life.

This repeat Polley / Coixet collaboration proves to be another touching and thoughtful production. It is really wonderful to see women's stories told by women and Coixet is tremendously talented at getting to the core of our experiences and presenting these in a visual medium. When you compare this type of film with the majority of films that are made from the male perspective, they don't begin to crack the surface - they seem trivial and disposable. Of course light entertainment has its place and I'm a great fan myself, but when you consider how much money is spent to complete a film production it's a shame that more worthy films do not get made. These films might make us cry but they also remind us to be happy and enjoy what we have while we have it. I hope that Coixet makes many more films.