The Sleeping Dictionary:
Forbidden fruit
Ruwini JAYAWARDANA
Writer-director Guy Jenkin does nothing to revolutionize a familiar
tale in The Sleeping Dictionary. The story is the stereotyped tale of
forbidden love between two individuals from diverse backgrounds. It is
about John Trescott, a young, uptight British officer, who is sent to
Sarawak from Britain. He is interested in native customs and vies to
teach the locals how to excel in knowledge. However to communicate with
them he has to know their language. He is introduced to the custom of
the sleeping dictionary where a native woman becomes his guide to
learning the language as well as his personal concubine.
John embodies strong conservative values. Therefore instead of taking
advantage of the situation he rejects the idea. As a result of this
there is plenty of tension and bad blood between him and Selima, the
beautiful native woman who had been assigned to live with him. However
as time passes they become slowly accustomed to each other and fall in
love.
Marriage is off limits with the natives though Englishmen are allowed
to bed their women. Even though John tries to legalize their
relationship duty send him abroad to be married to a British girl. He
returns after a year with Cecilia, his wife. Selima and he set eyes on
each other again but both have different partners. They are able to
rekindle their love in these circumstances and John makes the shocking
discovery that he has a son by her. Just when he is about to start a new
life again, the tables turn. Cecilia too is pregnant. John is faced with
two choices: to continued with his marriage or to lead a life of exile
with Selima.
Hugh Dancy as John Trescott |
Though you might expect a lot of adult-only shots to be a part of
this movie, it is a surprisingly decent romantic drama. There are a
couple of nude shots but these are not ones which you can categorize as
porn.
An important theme of the story is the expansion and exploitation of
the British in the lands that they have conquered. Not only are they
able to make use of the country’s natural resources but they also
exploit them socially and sexually. They teach them English to make use
of their manpower and use women as means of gaining sexual satisfaction.
Later they are able to cast them aside for a ‘chaste’ and ‘sacred’ bond:
marriage with a woman from their own country.
An unrealistic aura runs throughout the story. You cannot expect a
youth who was so passionately opposed to going against his beliefs to
merely bend down and take off to his country away from his ladylove so
meekly. Likewise you cannot see the same individual creating havoc among
the natives and the British group in the country just because he had
decided he had made a mistake and wants to return back to his first
love. Rather than creating an admirable portrait of John for defining
his own kind for love, we get a picture of a naïve school boy carried
away by emotions.
Selima and Cecilia |
The movie needs thorough editing as it is evident that Alba had used
a double for her nude scenes. There are instances when a scene is
suppose to project her in nude but viewers are able to catch a glimpse
of a cloth covering her body.
Jenkin has tried to apply the epic style for the movie but it does
not quite work for him. Some lines and incidents look really cheesy
against the serious theme that he had tackled. It is yet another
hackneyed storyline of forbidden love with slight alterations to the
scenes. It has nothing new to offer other than the dazzling sight of
Jessica Alba.
This is clearly Alba’s film because she is probably the only one who
stands out among the cast. She is an enchanting sight as Selima and
portrays her aggressive emotions well. However other than that she too
has nothing much to present in The Sleeping Dictionary other than
looking pretty. One almost wonders how John could have remained so long
with her under the same roof without making any contact. Though Hugh
Dancy stars as the protagonist, his character does not leave much impact
on the viewers. Other supporting characters, with the exception of a
well built English speaking native, are like mere shadows which fade
into the scenes.
The scenery, especially the jungle scenes are breath taking. The
costumes too are done well and the movie is good for light
entertainment. |