The Sleeping Dictionary

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The Sleeping Dictionary ★★ ½ 2002 (R)

In the 1930s, young Englishman John Truscott (Dancy) is newly arrived to take up his government post in Sarawak, Malaysia (where the movie was filmed). Governor Henry Bullard (Hoskins) tells Truscott that he will only be able to educate the native Iban population by learning their language and customs, so he arranges for the beautiful half-breed Selima (Alba) to become John's tutor. But John is not suppose to fall in love with the girl. Beautiful but slow-moving and that's a body double in Alba's love scenes. 109m/C VHS, DVD . Hugh Dancy, Jessica Alba, Bob Hoskins, Brenda Blethyn, Emily Mortimer, Noah Taylor; D: Guy Jenkins; W: Guy Jenkins; C: Martin Fuhrer; M: Simon Boswell.