People obviously went to a lot of trouble to make this movie. Shot on location, it has an authentic look. It went straight to video, and although there is much to like, I can see why it didn't make a bigger impression. To paraphrase a classic line, "It could have been a contender".
In 1936, a new British colonial officer, John Truscott (Hugh Dancy), begins duty as an administrator of the Iban people of Sarawak. His superior, Henry Bullard (Bob Hoskins), the Governor of the district, initiates him into the ways of his office, which includes sleeping with an Iban woman, Selima (Jessica Alba), who will teach him the language – she is his Sleeping Dictionary.
Truscott begins to fall in love with her at about the same time that he meets the governor's daughter, Cecelia (Emily Mortimer), a kind-natured woman who falls in love with him. With class and racial barriers against marrying Selima, Truscott makes a decision that causes unhappiness for nearly everyone, but all is resolved before the end.
Writer/director Guy Jenkins journeys into Somerset Maugham territory with this story, which is often witty and captivating, but he doesn't have Maugham's radar for human frailty. Where Maugham or even George Orwell in the not dissimilar "Burmese Days" invariably opt for tougher outcomes, towards the end of "The Sleeping Dictionary", Jenkins takes his foot off the gas, and instead of a finale born out of the conflict he has created, he settles for consensus by all concerned – it's too neat – he lets our emotions off the hook. A harsher approach may have elevated this from the safely romantic to a searing drama you would be unlikely to forget.
Bob Hoskins and Hugh Dancy, deliver believable performances and Emily Mortimer's is a poignant one as she realises her husband doesn't really love her. Although Jessica Alba said she didn't like her performance, she is perfect. Well, she is a bit of a perfect person after all, so beautiful it's ridiculous. Her performance is quite understated, which seems right for the part. Noah Taylor as Neville Shipperly is wasted as a strictly by-the-numbers villain.
Simon Boswell's score is an odd amalgam. I suspect that in part the movie was temp-tracked with Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant music for "Under Fire", and it influenced about half the final score. The other half is a syrupy love theme, which tends to bring the film into the realm of a Hallmark romance. I can't help feeling that an opportunity was missed to create a unique work incorporating more of the traditional instruments of Sarawak.
"The Sleeping Dictionary" captures a feeling for the period, and is enjoyable on a number of levels, especially the cast. It's just a pity that the film's second half doesn't deliver on the brilliance of the first half.
In 1936, a new British colonial officer, John Truscott (Hugh Dancy), begins duty as an administrator of the Iban people of Sarawak. His superior, Henry Bullard (Bob Hoskins), the Governor of the district, initiates him into the ways of his office, which includes sleeping with an Iban woman, Selima (Jessica Alba), who will teach him the language – she is his Sleeping Dictionary.
Truscott begins to fall in love with her at about the same time that he meets the governor's daughter, Cecelia (Emily Mortimer), a kind-natured woman who falls in love with him. With class and racial barriers against marrying Selima, Truscott makes a decision that causes unhappiness for nearly everyone, but all is resolved before the end.
Writer/director Guy Jenkins journeys into Somerset Maugham territory with this story, which is often witty and captivating, but he doesn't have Maugham's radar for human frailty. Where Maugham or even George Orwell in the not dissimilar "Burmese Days" invariably opt for tougher outcomes, towards the end of "The Sleeping Dictionary", Jenkins takes his foot off the gas, and instead of a finale born out of the conflict he has created, he settles for consensus by all concerned – it's too neat – he lets our emotions off the hook. A harsher approach may have elevated this from the safely romantic to a searing drama you would be unlikely to forget.
Bob Hoskins and Hugh Dancy, deliver believable performances and Emily Mortimer's is a poignant one as she realises her husband doesn't really love her. Although Jessica Alba said she didn't like her performance, she is perfect. Well, she is a bit of a perfect person after all, so beautiful it's ridiculous. Her performance is quite understated, which seems right for the part. Noah Taylor as Neville Shipperly is wasted as a strictly by-the-numbers villain.
Simon Boswell's score is an odd amalgam. I suspect that in part the movie was temp-tracked with Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant music for "Under Fire", and it influenced about half the final score. The other half is a syrupy love theme, which tends to bring the film into the realm of a Hallmark romance. I can't help feeling that an opportunity was missed to create a unique work incorporating more of the traditional instruments of Sarawak.
"The Sleeping Dictionary" captures a feeling for the period, and is enjoyable on a number of levels, especially the cast. It's just a pity that the film's second half doesn't deliver on the brilliance of the first half.