The Secret Life of Words

Synopsis: 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.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director(s): Isabel Coixet
Production: Strand Releasing
  25 wins & 14 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.5
Metacritic:
68
Rotten Tomatoes:
69%
NOT RATED
Year:
2005
115 min
Website
395 Views


There is so little deep down.

Millions of millions of tons

of water, rocks and gas.

Affection.

Blood.

A hundred minutes, a thousand years.

Ashes. Light. Now.

This now.

A while ago ...

Fire!

No!

I told you before, didn't l?

There are very few things ...

Silence and words.

The Secret Life of Words

Hanna Amiran, p lease come to the main office.

Hanna Amiran, right?

Yes.

- And you've been with us for four years?

Yes, that's right.

We're happy with you.

You don't have to worry,

as far as the company is concerned.

Very satisfied, l can assure you.

- Good.

The problem here is the others.

Your colleagues, your workmates,

the people you work with.

There's been ...

complaints, reports ...

The trade union committee, you know.

No, l don't.

Am l being fired?

Should l go now?

- Hanna,

l have just told you,

we are happy with you.

How could l sack you?

ln your four years with us, you've never

taken a holiday, never been sick or late.

How can l possible give you the sack?

Take a month holiday, for Christ's sake.

A whole month?

Yeah, l've got some brochures, here.

Just in case l decide to go myself,

one of these days.

You know, there's some beautiful,

heavenly places to go in the world.

Places that ...

Places with palm trees,

and lounges on the beach.

And waiters serving pina colada,

and that drink with the smoke in it.

And aerobics in the pool.

Here, look.

Take the ones you want.

l'll get more.

l've got plenty more.

What's the matter, don't you like palm trees?

Palm trees are okay, but ...

- But what?

Do they ...

Do they make you do aerobics in the pool?

What happens if you don't want to?

She has never seen my face,

but l'm her only company.

She sees me dressed

in red corduroy dungarees.

A light blue polo jersey.

The dungarees are always red.

The jersey's always blue.

Why?

She doesn't know why.

The hair is never the same.

Sometimes shoulder length,

and sometimes this way ...

Let me tell you,

a horrible pudding bowl cut.

l like cold milk.

When it's hot, makes me feel sick.

lnge speaking.

Hello?

Hello?

ls that you, Hanna?

We l l, if there,s no heavy breathing

or groaning, l, l l know it,s you.

Did you answer my last letter?

Do you ever read them?

l wouldn't ask you to answer them.

Oh, Hanna. Hanna ...

She told me stories tonight.

They were a bit scary.

And then, she lied down by my side

until l closed my eyes.

She's stroking my hair.

lt's too long.

l'll have to get it cut soon.

Sure, Claude Van Damme,s got more muscle,

but Vin Diesel,s a better actor.

There's not much difference

as far as muscle's concerned.

But there's no doubt about it,

Vin Diesel acts better.

Want a biscuit?

l didn't bring any chocolate ones,

because l know you're not a chocolate person.

Oh ...

- lt's nice to get out of there ...

Stretch your legs ...

Okay.

Look, we're not talking about over night,

are we?

Let me do things right, for once?

Or is this an emergency?

Tell me we're talking about a real emergency.

Yeah. Could l have a little more

sweet and sour sauce, and some hot sauce?

Sorry, just trying to eat, as if you didn't

know. lt's my lunch hour.

l know you're sorry about it.

Where do l find a nurse

to look after him till we get him off?

Or a male nurse

who wants to spend a few days ...

l'll call you. l'll call.

Okay, bye.

l'm a nurse.

Sorry about the mess.

There's 3 of them, you know what it's like.

There's nothing else on the seat, is there?

You're luck the youngest wasn't sick today.

Smell takes ages to go away.

lt's awful. l mean, even if

it's your own kids, it's awful.

This'll only take a few weeks at the most,

until he's well enough for us to get him off.

After the death taking place

the company can't run any more risks.

l'm not speaking too fast, am l?

- No, l understand you.

The problem is the noise.

Boom, boom, the noise of the pumping.

There are places where you hardly notice it.

lt's no where to go on holiday, although ...

When the oil runs out, and it will soon,

our grandkids will

be using propane or chow sh*t, you'll see.

And when it runs out you'll see them turn

these places into hotels and theme parks.

l'm gonna stop off at the chemist

and get what Dr. Sulitzer wants.

Here's the list. Do you want to see it?

- lf the doctor said this, it'll be fine.

Of course.

There's levels, isn't there?

lf it comes from higher up ...

lt's a power pyramid, isn't it, eh?

Where is it going?

Does it really matter?

Do you think she really minds

floating above 50,000 tons of steel,

which are hit by 28,000 waves every day?

Sometimes more?

ls that all?

Killing time before time kills you.

ls that all?

Waves and more waves.

Never two the same.

This is Hanna, the nurse who's

looking after the casualty. What's his name?

Josef. The doctor's with him.

You'll find the way? Down there.

We've got to load the ...

- Should l take your stuff?

Okay?

- Come this way.

You alright, there?

Martin! Martin!

Martin, Martin!

Give us a hand, mate.

l don't know if it's further up.

l'm usually in the refinery, you know.

Only been here 4 or 5 times.

Make sure they give you the grand tour,

otherwise you'll keep getting lost.

l'll ask Dimitri,

he's the man in charge here.

You don't smoke, do you?

l forgot to tell you there's no smoking here.

Or you can imagine why.

- No.

Good. l'm trying to give up, myself.

Hello. You must be the nurse

that Victor managed to find.

Hanna Amiran.

Have you ever taken care of burns before?

That's what Victor said.

- Yes, l was in the burn recovery unit.

Oh, good. Good. Well, actually,

he has fractures too, to an arm and a leg.

There are burns to his body and face and ...

There's some damage to his corneas.

He won't be able to see anything

for the next two weeks.

Maybe less, but by then,

he'll be out of here.

You better come this way.

lt was Josef's room, in fact.

lt's the nearest one to the sickbay.

Sorry,

l haven't had a chance to clear up yet.

The man who hired me

said there's a constant sound.

A noise.

Well, we're almost shut down.

Since the accident the rig's ...

Well, it's shutting down since the accident.

We're just waiting to find out

what'll happen to ...

To all of us.

You know, the company.

Shall we?

l've just given him a painkiller.

The facial injuries

have been giving him some trouble.

Like l said, he'll be blind for a while.

Shall l put some of this in the fridge?

- Yeah, sure. Go ahead.

Actually, put it all in there.

lt,s because of the damp.

lt,s unbelievably damp here.

So, you worked at a hospital in this country?

- No.

ls it that important? Fracture is fracture,

burn is burn. Here and everywhere.

l take care of the temperature chart,

give painkillers, help him urinate, clean him.

l,ve done it before with people

who were much worse than he is.

lf he gets really bad,

then l call you, l suppose.

Yes, of course. Forgive me.

Yes, you can call me from Dimitri's office.

l ... You know, my wife's a foreigner, too.

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Isabel Coixet

Isabel Coixet Castillo (Catalan pronunciation: [izəˈβɛɫ kuˈʃɛt]; born 9 April 1960) is a Spanish film director. She is one of the most prolific film directors of contemporary Spain, having directed twelve feature-length films since the beginning of her film career in 1988, in addition to documentary films, shorts and commercials. Her films follow a departure from traditional national cinema of Spain, and help to “untangle films from their national context, ... clearing the path for thinking about national film from different perspectives.” The recurring themes of “emotions, feelings and existential conflict” coupled with her distinct visual style secure the “multifaceted (she directs, writes, produces and acts)” filmmaker's status as a “Catalan auteur”. more…

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