Sleeping Dictionary

The film The Sleeping Dictionary is set in Sarawak, 1936, which bordered Dutch Borneo, now a part of modern Indonesia. The British administered the island of Sarawak as part of its empire; young men finished their formal university education by taking positions as administrators in various parts of the British Empire.

One such man is John Truscott, who lost his mother and father at an early age. He feels he has no roots. While in Sarawak, local custom and British administrative "duties" allow John to 'have' a woman (who happens to be a beautiful woman named Selime/played by Jessica Alba) to live with him, in order to teach the local language to him as well as the local customs. She is basically considered by all to be a temporary wife. The common term for this arrangement on the island defines her status as a "sleeping dictionary". She plays the part of the coquette quite well and flirts well, in the beginning. Later, the pair develop a true friendship and a close bond.

If it wasn't for the fact that the woman in the film was very willing to assist the man in learning the Iban language as well as, ahem, how to be a good administrator and husband for a woman in the future, I would not see the appeal of this film in the present era. However, the film is primarily a love story. As the plot develops, the only thing I personally wouldn't like about Sarawak would be the constant rain and heat, and possibly the leeches and snakes. In other words, I would trade places with the lead character in a second. The area is gorgeous; the cinematography is some of the best work I have ever seen.
A person would have had to have a good head on their shoulders and to be extremely diplomatic(the Iban were portrayed as being headhunters).

John Truscott is compassionate and fair in his treatment of the Iban people. He is not condescending toward them, as are the other British colonial administrators. The Iban learn to trust him. He hopes to educate them but in a manner which allows them to maintain their traditional values by letting the students choose some of the material which they will study.

I am not going to give away much of the story because there are several intriguing subplots which move the story along nicely. The theme of racial and cultural differences being negotiable through mutual understanding and human love is the thread which ties the entire story together. Unlike an old Tarzan movie, the white Englishman John Truscott prefers that the Iban woman(the "native") would become his permanent wife, as opposed the English woman, Cecilia, he is blackmailed into marrying. In other words, "Jane" enters the jungle but does not necessarily NEED to be THE permanent spouse(I can't really tell you more - it is up to you to solve this conundrum by renting the film).

Students of cultural anthropology should not find too much to gripe about. The costumes, culture, costumes were credible. Since John Truscott is truly a virgin and naive, the idea of the Iban woman Selime trying to get him to have sex with her "so he will be good at sex and not disappoint his wife when he gets married later in life" becomes more and more humorous. *I immediately recalled the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when one of the knights was literally under siege by a bevy of maidens, all eager to relieve him of his vow of chastity. The Sleeping Dictionary does not contain that type of raucous humor, but there are many,many enjoyable moments.

There is some nudity and some tasteful sensuality, so this film would not be suitable for preteens. The "f" word is used once or twice, but not necessarily in a vulgar way, since language differences and a need to understand the difference between lust and love make the use of the words helpful.

I had several strong emotional reactions to the film. The acting was convincing and I really cared about the characters, especially the Iban people. Why the British felt a need to colonize so many places seems unnecessary and even inefficient to me, in 20/20 hindsight.