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The Sleeping Dictionary
- R
- Year:
- 2003
- 109 min
- 656 Views
Get out of here!
Get off!
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
I was expecting
to be met.
Good morning,
Truscott.
I am Belansai.
Welcome
to our country.
He's a bright chap.
He'll be the head man
of his Longhouse in two years.
John Truscott.
Henry Bullard.
I'm the governor
of this district,
but you just
think of me as God.
Hop aboard.
You've got far too good
a degree for this job.
What are you running away from?
Your debts?
Your family?
Or a woman?
No, no debts.
No woman.
My mother
died two years ago.
My father was killed
at Passchendaele, so...
Well, why in God's name
are you here?
My father was
William C. Truscott?
Ahhh.
He'd drawn up a plan
to bring education to the Iban
which the governor general
had approved,
but then he had
to go back to the war...
and it never happened.
And you've brought
this plan with you, have you?
Yes, I think it's our duty
God, you sound
a sanctimonious little prig.
Still, you're young.
Sarawak'll knock
it out of you.
Famous,
you lazy bastard!
Look at the state
of this place.
Bring Truscott tea and gadgets
double quick.
Come on.
Chibi, chibi, chibi.
It's got bugs in there.
He's the best cook
in Sarawak.
Though strictly speaking
he's still on parole.
What did he do?
Oh, he hacked some damn fool
rickshaw driver to death.
But you should
taste his meringues.
- Shouldn't he be in--
- Now, tomorrow,
you've an invitation
from your local Longhouse,
the Gawa Kenyalong.
So Belansai'll
pick you up.
The feast to honor
the war god
where they take the giant hornbill
statue down from the rafters.
Oh, God.
You read-- books.
I'm afraid they insist
upon it at university.
Do they?
Has it come
to that now?
Yes, I'll--
I'll see you
in a day or so.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
Excuse me...
What's my job?
This is my father,
Melaka.
He is head man
of the Longhouse.
This is rice wine.
Ah. Um...
I won't drink
on duty, thanks.
To refuse is an insult.
Left, right.
Left, right.
It's chibi,
chibi, chibi!
It is a... very ancient
tribal dance.
Oh, no, um... no.
Very kind
of you to offer,
but I think I'll give it
a miss this time round.
You must make us
entertainment.
A song? A dance?
A poem?
Perhaps all three.
"The sand of the desert
is sodden red,
Red with the wreck
of the ranks that broke.
The Gatling's jammed
and the Colonel dead,
And the regiment blind
with dust and smoke.
The river of death
has brimmed his banks,
And England's far
and honor's a name,
But the voice of a schoolboy
rallies the ranks,
'Play up!
Play up
and play the game!'"
" Da-dum-dum-dum "
" Da-da-da-da,
Dum-dum-dum-dum "
" Da-da-da-da "
Oh, Truscott, you are very
funny Englishman.
Excuse me.
What's going on?
The dancing is over.
We go to sleep now.
You deliberately dropped me
in it, didn't you?
You know I made a complete
fool of myself?
They like a man
who makes them laugh.
Iban society is based
on heavy drinking,
violent sport
and practical jokes.
Just think of it as
English public school
without the buggery.
I'm on a mission to civilize,
not to entertain.
The mining concessions
at Kera Pulau
have been trespassing
outside their boundaries.
Your local Longhouse
got to some Chinese miners
before I did.
You're going to have
What?
Well...
No, no, no.
You said...
you said "their heads."
Well, yes.
The Iban have
cut them off.
What?
Ahh.
My dear.
This is Selima.
She's going
to live with you.
As what?
Uh... she performs
wifely duties.
Oh yeah?
What... sewing?
in the bedroom.
- For God's sakes, man.
- I sleep with you.
We expect you to know
the language within six months.
Selima's what's known around here
as a "sleeping dictionary."
Sleep...
My mother was also
sleeping dictionary.
That's why I speak
the King English.
There's nothing like bed
for learning a language.
It's the only reason
I speak Portuguese.
No, look, poor girl.
- She was just-- picked?
- I pick you.
And she's really choosy.
She turned down
my last two cadet officers.
Listen, your contract
forbids you
to marry
for three years.
Three years can be
very lonely.
We'll probably all be dead,
so why worry?
Oh, dear.
Listen...
you'll go home
on leave to England
and you'll come back with
a rosy-cheeked little wife.
Selima will go home
to her Longhouse
speaking
fluent English.
Oh, damn it, man,
it's worked for centuries.
There's no reason
why you should be different.
No, I'm sorry, no. No.
I know you think
I'm just some young idiot,
but if I don't follow what
I think's right, what else is there?
Then you'd better find another way
to learn the damn language.
Because if a so-called
educated man
can't speak the language
of the people he governs,
he's no right to be here!
Fine, maybe she can stay as...
just a dictionary?
- If she doesn't mind, that is.
- What?
Mind not sleeping with you?
I'm sure she'll survive.
She said yes.
What else did she say?
You'll have to learn Iban
and find out, won't you?
I'd stand back
if I were you.
Ha ha!
Ants.
Yes, ants.
Thank you very much.
Good night.
You say no,
she get very angry.
Rain always stop
in morning.
Sleep tight and don't
let the bedbugs bite.
Chinese heads
as per request.
Thank you.
As you know, the Longhouse
will be fined.
Beyond that, there will
be no further action.
Monkey heads.
We make a joke on you.
Maybe I'll make
a joke on you
and bring a detachment
of colonial police up the river.
to my bungalow by tomorrow morning
or I will confiscate your--
your pigs.
Master?
I bring you someone.
This is Jasmine.
He is assistant chef.
What do we need
an assistant chef for?
- He assist you.
- Me?
He assist you in...
private way.
Is this one of your relatives?
No, no, no.
He very clean.
He come from
Englishman on coast
who too old
for all that now.
What?
Oh, good God.
Get him out of--
No, get him out now!
- But, master--
- Get him out of here!
And Selima,
bring me a whiskey.
What are you doing?!
I'm not servant.
Fine.
You don't have to be a servant.
You're fired!
Dismissed!
You cannot fire me because
I am not yours to fire.
I fire you.
You are dismissed.
Make no attempt
to follow me.
- What are you doing?
- I live here now.
You can't live there.
Then I will live
in the jungle.
I like the jungle.
No, listen. You must go
back to the Longhouse.
They will
laugh at her.
They will say she choose you
but you no have her.
- Is that true?
- No.
They will say you
not sleep with her
because she too
pig ugly.
Listen, I don't
think you're ugly.
I think you're
very beautiful.
I don't sleep with you
because of my beliefs.
Because... the spirits
You want to sleep with me
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"The Sleeping Dictionary" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 8 Sep. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_sleeping_dictionary_18290>.
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