Sleeping Dictionary, The
$12.88
Price: $12.88
(as of Feb 27, 2025 09:44:30 UTC – Details)
Jessica Alba speaks the language of seduction in this tantalizing story of forbidden love set against the backdrop of the steamy jungles of 1930’s Sarawak. A beautiful tribeswoman (Alba) becomes both concubine and language tutor to a young English colonial (Hugh Dancy), and in the heat of the jungle their passion grows into a forbidden love affair. But the lovers are forced to separate after they are threatened for defying duty and tradition. When the young man returns a year later with his new bride, the heat of passion reignites and intensifies as secrets surface that are as deep and dark as the jungles that those who keep them inhabit. Also starring Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer, Noah Taylor and Bob Hoskins, The Sleeping Dictionary awakens the passion for true love that extends beyond the boundaries of tradition.
Aspect Ratio : 1.33:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer : No
MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
Product Dimensions : 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 2.72 ounces
Item model number : B00X3DC8O2
Director : Guy Jenkin
Media Format : NTSC
Run time : 1 hour and 49 minutes
Release date : May 5, 2015
Actors : Hugh Dancy, Jessica Alba, Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer, Noah Taylor
Subtitles: : English
Studio : Warner Archive Collection
ASIN : B00X3DC8O2
Country of Origin : USA
Number of discs : 1
Marcy G. –
A must have for Hugh Dancy fans!
Jessica Alba is not the only reason to buy this DVD. Anyone who has seen Hugh Dancy in films/series like TNT’s “David Copperfield” (which, sadly, is not yet on video/DVD), “Black Hawk Down”, BBC’s “Daniel Deronda” and the upcoming “Ella Enchanted” will no doubt want to get their hands on this DVD.Hugh plays John Truscott, an idealistic and naive British diplomatic assigned to learn about the culture and peoples of Sarawak. There he meets and is “given” Selima (Jessica Alba) as a “guide” (his “sleeping dictionary” who teaches him a thing or two about her peoples’ ways). The two fall in love and come in conflict with his responsibilities as a diplomat, the rules and mores of British society and her ethnic/tribal customs. Will love triumph over adversity and social constraints?The cast is strong (with supporting roles by Brenda Blethyn and Bob Hoskins) and Dancy is charismatic and believable as our hero.Jessica Alba is perhaps a weaker link but the story itself is compelling and you find yourself rooting for our hero and heroine. It is a sweet love story and Hugh Dancy is so wonderful to look at, that I find it well worth the price of the DVD just to stare at him for 2 hours (superficial, I know, but the women readers will understand).If you enjoy this film, may I also recommend Hugh in “Daniel Deronda” (an excellent BBC period piece based on George Eliot’s novel) as well as “The Bounty” starring a young Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins (which follows a similar story thread to this film).All in all, I highly recommend “Sleeping Dictionary” and I dare any female viewers out there not to fall in love with Hugh once they’ve seen him in this one.
Jeff –
Great Flick
Jessica Alba sans top – what else can one ask for!
Maria del Pilar Rouco –
Good romantic movie
Showing different cultural perspectives. Naivete and sensuality. Feeling good ending.
Old Salt on the Coast –
Beautiful Love Story
I liked this movie for its portrayal of times gone by in the British Empire and the way British administrators solved problems when there were no other means but local ones to use. Thus enters the Sleeping Dictionary, in this case a very beautiful young woman whose task it is to teach a young British administrator her language by sleeping with him, and in sharing his bed and all that goes with that, shares her language. She breaks down his reluctance to sleep with her and from there a truly beautiful love story develops.The commitment of the two main characters make the movie interesting and how that commitment unfolds is truly beautiful, and make the movie worth watching. The scenery and photography plus the revelation of native customs and lives make the movie even more enjoyable.
Ryan O –
Better than you would think for a direct to DVD movie
I’m surprised that this was apparently a direct to DVD release. The production values certainly don’t seem to be reflected in that. It is a beautify shot movie, with beautiful scenery. The acting performances are as a whole really quite good. Alba is certainly serviceable; everyone else is excellent. So why then may you ask did I only give three stars? Part of the reason is while I did buy the love story at first, I really began to dislike Hugh Dancy’s character as the movie went on and how he treated Emily Mortimer’s character. Actually making Mortimer’s character too sympathetic may have been a misstep by the movie. While I don’t wish she had been a stuck up bitch, she was also too likable to completely root against. And by the end she was more likable than either of the main characters. I’m not sorry I watched the movie, but it’s probably not something I’d re-watch.*Spoiler Alert*More specifically why I became exasperated with Dancy’s character: while he was forcefully separated from Alba’s character, he was not forced to marry Mortimer’s. There was no reason marry a woman he didn’t love and take away her chance of finding love too. And yes, I can sympathize with him wanting to know his son, but he knows his son is well taken care of and has a caring father figure and yet he screws everything up and nearly gets a man killed in the process just so he can see the boy. I also might have been a little more sympathetic if he had seen the least little bit torn between leaving is pregnant wife and running away with Alba’s character and their son. When the romantic rival (and to a certain extent her father) become the most liable characters in the movie, you have a problem with you main love story.
Frank Halterman –
The quality was great
Jessica alba was great in this film
Ronald in Hawaii –
A Delightful Movie.
A confession: I bought this movie strictly because of my attraction to Jessica Alba. That said — after just watching Jessica in “Meet Bill” (which I rated with a single star) — I wasn’t expecting very much. I was delightfully surprised with The Sleeping Dictionary — good casting, a better than average story, beautiful cinematography, reasonable acting and the presence of the lovely Jessica. And Hugh Dancy was marvelous as well.A nice little love story. It will provide an evening of good entertainment.5/5.
wendy –
Not sure if it was meant to be comedy, satire, or drama
This movie made me crazy. Very campy and in my opinionâ¦dull. Characters seemed like stereotypes from a movie made in the 1930âsâ¦not a movie made âcurrentlyâ about bygone days.Appeared in many scenes much like old films depicting the white man as the âeducated heroâ and the Indonesians as childlike. I am white. I have an Indonesian friend, and I found it very âold fashionedâ in that âold schoolâ racist way of depicting âbrownâ people as people who are usually giggling and blindingly agreeable with their âwhite superiors.âThank God Jessica Alba was meant to be mixedâ¦and even so – there was no reasonable explanation for her looking like an oversize statuesque fictitious âAmazon womanâ who inexplicably strikes artificial poses belonging only to runway models.I found it bizarre and not too interesting.
José Manuel Lucas Laseca –
Todo está en perfecto estado de entrega y de calidad-precio.
Kristina –
This is a delightful fairy tale. A young Prince and a seductive Princess who beguiles the unsuspecting young Prince into eternal love, against all odds. It is staged in an aboriginal community now subject to British Rule. So English Rule collides head on with Aboriginal Justice and Social Norms. The most beautiful young talking dictionary (Alba), essentially a tutor in the native customs and language captures the young officer’s heart.(Dancy).The secret of the tale is kept by a cunning British Governor (Bob Hoskins…Hook). He is torn apart by family, Jessica Alba, and his own past. It is a delightful romantic adventure…but it is delivered with a sense of British oversight in a distant world, a hopeless exercise in converting the aboriginals to British stupidity and arrogance. I found Dancy out of his league, but Alba played her role with ultimate perfection…the sultry, seductive wench. In reality they would not match up at all. Nonetheless, a very enjoyable romance!!
appros –
Un jeune fonctionnaire colonial arrivant en poste, entre les deux guerres mondiales à Bornéo, se voit proposer la compagnie d’une “fille dictionnaire” (le titre Anglais du film est ‘d’ailleurs “silent dictionnary”). Il s’agit d’une jeune fille indigène, parlant couramment Anglais, qui est chargée d’enseigner à son compagnon la langue du pays en vivant avec lui pendant plusieurs années …. jour et nuit !Dans le cas présent, rien ne se passe comme prévu, car le jeune Britannique tombe amoureux de sa “fille dictionnaire”, qui est effectivement charmante et son sentiment est partagé par cette dernière. Le couple doit alors faire face aux préjugés de l’époque vis à vis de lâofficialisation d’un couple mixte.Le sujet est traité avec délicatesse et le plaisir du spectateur est encore augmenté par la beauté des images : un beau film, qui vous fera passer une belle soirée !
ca –
Una bella storia d’amore sullo sfondo del colonialismo inglese che per una volta tanto non porta l’indigeno a “civilizzarsi”… In inglese con sottotitoli in inglese.
Frequent gazer –
Although I already had a high opinion of Jessica Alba (on the basis of Dark Angel), this film made me revise it upwards quite a bit. It shows that she can do something quite different, in an excellent manner. From the moment she appeared, she held my attention in a firm grip. The other actors are well cast and do a good job. The only negative thing is a minor hole in the plot line: the final action of the commissioner’s wife is out of character, a complete act of madness. I think that this could have been solved in another, more consistent way.