The Sleeping Dictionary

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The Sleeping Dictionary
IMDB 6.4/10 (1,157 votes)
Written by	Guy Jenkin
Starring	Jessica Alba- Selima Brenda Blethyn - Aggie Hugh Dancy - John Truscott Bob Hoskins - Henry Christopher Ling Lee Ian - Jasmine Junix Nocian - Famous Michael Jessing Langgi - Melaka Emily Mortimer - Cecil
Release date(s)	2003
Running time	109 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Sleeping Dictionary is a 2003 film by Guy Jenkin. It was filmed in Sarawak, and is set during the British colonial rule in the 1930's.

[edit] Synopsis

A young and naive Englishman, John Truscott (Hugh Dancy), goes to the British colony Sarawak,Malaysia to try and apply his father's work to the Iban society. He tries to civilize them, building schools and providing education for the Iban people. He is met with unfamiliar local customs. Selima (Jessica Alba) becomes his "sleeping dictionary", who sleeps with him and teaches him the language and the habits of the locals. Despite their intents, the two find themselves falling into a forbidden love.

This movie was filmed in and around Kuching, the capital of Sarawak and the largest urban area in Borneo. A major portion was filmed in Batang Ai, about a 30 minute drive from the Hilton Resort where the cast and crew stayed for over 3 weeks in 2000. A typical longhouse was purposely built at a cost of RM160,000 for the movie; it was subsequently torn down.

This movie had some sexual content which does include nudity and three sexual scenes. (Showing of a body double for Jessica Alba). However, Emily Mortimer who also appeared nude did not.

Three notable actors were Bob Hoskins (who won Best Actor for Mona Lisa at Cannes) and Brenda Blethyn (who had been nominated for both Oscar and Golden Globe) and Emily Mortimer (who was nominated for a Golden Globe.)

This movie contains some historical inaccuracies and doesn't show the Iban in the true light, although admittedly some historical "factions" (half-fact part fiction) did exist. It is a well known fact that the Ibans did actually practise the art of "ngayap" which meant male youths were encouraged to court Iban maidens openly and with the permission of the elders in the longhouse.

It was also true that Iban maidens as "sleeping dictionaries" did exist and to this day, there are in fact many prominent Eurasians in local Malaysian society who are living proof of that practice.

Although the film cost USD12million to produce, it was never released widely, only having been screened in countries like Canada,Thailand,Philippines and Japan. It received an acclaimed release on DVD in 2005 where it went on to win 3 major awards at the 1st Annual Direct-to-DVD Film Awards in 2005; for Best Actor (Bob Hoskins), Best Actress (Jessica Alba) and Best Cinemaphotography (Martin Fuhrer).

The location shoot in Kuching lasted 3 months, with 60 shooting days and the production employed over 200 extras and many local Malaysian cast and crew.

It received the approval and sanction of the Prime Minister's Office and the producers also met and obtained the blessing of the Chief Minister of Sarawak. The script was approved by the Malaysian Tourism Board and the State Tourism Board without any reservations.

The Malaysian producers responsible for the production were: Edgar Ong & Chandran Rutnam of Southeast Asia Film Locations Services,Kuching. Their credits included "Farewell to the King", "The Intended" and "The Sacred Planet". Their production company has also won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film ("Indochine" in 1991) and nominated for 2007's "Water".