The Sleeping Dictionary

I saw this ancient film (it came out in 2003 so why not?) on cable and liked it instantly. I was pretty intrigued by the title and the fact that I never heard of it in 2003. But obviously it was a direct-to-DVD film.

Sleeping dictionaries were, well, what their name suggested. It was the 1930s and the British was making headway in colonizing Sarawak in Malaysia. For the foreigners to be able to communicate with the locals and learn their customs right away, a "sleeping dictionary" was given in to their disposal. These were local women that could speak English. I'd say it was more convenient in more ways than the reasons I gave. Because the sleeping thing? That was added into the equation to hasten the learning process of the colonizers in learning the local stuff. Selima (Jessica Alba) was the sleeping dictionary given to John Truscott (Hugh Dancy). But English gentleman that he was John refused to touch the beautiful local who he later found out was half-British, a daughter of a Briton and his sleeping dictionary.

But Selima's constant presence in John's temporary jungle home only meant that he was gonna fall in love with her sooner or later. It happened sooner and then they were spending their nights together and talking about an impossible future together. Because the British does not allow marriage between one of their own and a sleeping dictionary.

Life only only became more difficult for the couple when it became clear that John's superior, Henry Bullard(Bob Hoskins), and his wife, Aggie, had other plans for the promising young man--they want him to marry their daughter Cecil (Emily Mortimer). But John adamantly refused and was only too willing to let the world know that he loved his sleeping dictionary and that he intended to marry her instead. That was where he went wrong because Selima's life was threatened if they pushed through with it. Faced with that, John left Sarawak and eventually married Cecil in London a year later.

And here's an Addison catch: I could not hate Cecil. She was in love with John already and was only too determined to have him fall in love with her knowing that he was already in love with someone on the other side of the world. And John honestly put enough into their marriage to make it wok. Then duty came a-calling and they had to go back to Sarawak. Cecil didn't pitch fits but was rather excited to work as a teacher in the local school. Thank God for that because I didn't want to start hating her then.

But when they got back to Sarawak, John got two surprises: Selima had married a young tribe warrior and had a son. But the kid had blue eyes and too much fair skin not to be John's kid. John still loved Selima but when he started spending time with her again it was to know his son. But Selima's husband read it the wrong way and attempted to slit John's throat one night. In so doing he bagged himself an execution.

It was amidst the trial for Selima's husband's crime that John learned that Henry was really Selima's father and that she was really Cecil's half-sister. And that Aggie had stayed in Srawak all these years not out of duty to her country or to her husband but to keep him from being with his sleeping dictionary, Selima's mother.

And then Cecil told John he was letting John go. Their relationship had nowhere to go seeing how John still loved his local beauty. She admitted that she could never make him love her as much as he loved her sister. And besides she suspected she was pregnant with his child and for her, that was enough. John helped Selima's husband escape from prison and would be running away with Selima and their son. But that was after Henry--and Cecil--finally acknowledged their relationship with Selima. (See why I liked Cecil's character so much?)

The story ended with John and his family living in a tribe that was outside the British control. Or at least somewhere they could stay safe and stop looking over their shoulders--especially since Aggie was determined not give John his happy ending.

The movie made for good TV although I still think that: what if Cecil was really pregnant? What would the kid think? Why did daddy leave and went with another family? But I think with the depth of John's character would not allow any children of his to grow without knowing him. And wasn't it on Grey's Anatomy where I heard that being with someone who can't love you back is far too lonelier than being alone? Although I wanna think that Cecil was able to find her happy ever after, too.