At the beginning of the last century, in Malaysia still under British rule, every British official sent to the local area could have a local lover who took care of their physical needs and taught them in the shortest possible time through some private and intimate communication methods. Local language. These women are called Sleeping dictionary.
This is a rule recognized by both parties. Local women who are dictionary candidates also have a little autonomy. When new British men appear, they can choose to accept or continue to wait. There is only one taboo between officials and their lovers, and they must never get married.
The male protagonist John is a enthusiastic and innocent British youth who follows in his father's footsteps to a foreign country, with a good faith in developing local education. However, the ideal is still flying in the sky, and the foreign country's calmness on the primitive desire of mankind gave him a lesson first.
Rejection, confrontation, struggle, compromise...
John, who thought he could only have a relationship with his future wife, finally fell in love with his dictionary lover, Selima, so much that he wanted to stay with her forever.
The love between the two met with opposition from all over the world, and there was no hope in sight.
After the elopement failed, in order to prevent John from being accused of untrue murder, Selima agreed to marry the patriarch's son Famous. John, who didn't know the truth, returned to England disheartenedly, and married his superior's daughter Jasmine a year later.
After the marriage, John took his wife to Malaysia again to continue his work, but was surprised to find that Selima had given birth to a child belonging to both of them. After some entanglement, with Jasmine's accomplishment and encouragement, John recovered Selima again, and gave up all involvement with the civilized world for her and her children.
At the end of the movie, the camera slowly zoomed away from the family that was nestling, until the whole scene was silent and undulating mountains, and the red light of the setting sun was gently shining down, and it was beautiful.
Similar keywords can be found in all such legends: natural scenery without industrial traces, savage and uncivilized aboriginals, handsome and lovely outsiders, beautiful local women, clash of civilizations, unexpected love, all parties The opposition of the forces differs only in whether it ends in tragedy or comedy.
Compared with romantic movies with realistic themes, this kind of legendary love almost does not need to consider how to be permanent in the ordinary. A little bit of the contradictions and conflicts that can be seen everywhere can see the brilliance and gloom of human nature, so it is easy to develop into an ambition. It is easier to develop into an ambitious work that cannot be achieved by four or six.
From this perspective, the director of the film is successful. He accurately and clearly grasped the main line of love, cleverly avoided social contradictions other than love, and all the details are also serving the feelings of the two protagonists. Except for the uninteresting end of the seclusion, which I can’t appreciate, the whole film is well taken care of internally.
Of course, from another perspective, this is superficial, but telling a love movie that you lack depth is itself a lack of depth behavior, so I choose to be tolerant.
As simple and straightforward as the title, the love in the film is the love of soul and body. The love between the hero and the heroine is largely due to the harmony and beauty of their sleeping. The large part of the erotic scenes in the film are shown solely for the needs of the plot. They are just a perfect blend of Western boldness and Eastern subtlety. There is no trace of obscenity, but the effect of accelerating the heartbeat is amazing. In the second half of the emotional stability of the hero and heroine, the language of the camera is sublimated to show more spiritual communication. It is not bold and direct at the beginning, which is also the temperate attitude I admire.
This film was filmed in 2003. Jessica Alba, who played the heroine, was in a period of steady rise. She always cherishes meat like gold and does not need to make lace eyeballs, but she still contributes the most daring and hot love in the film so far. The performance, except for the dew-point shots, is performed personally, which somewhat confirms the artistry and high level of the love scenes in this play.
Some women are born for words like stunners, such as my beloved Jessica Alba. Profound facial features, graceful body lines, wheat-colored skin, free-spirited temperament, beautiful banners are bright and aggressive, because she is her, this movie has the most basic and most important persuasive power.
No matter how much I like Alba, I must also say that in this film she only made an impeccable vase, relying on the outstanding appearance to make up for the lack of skills. In the film, her signature movements and eyes are reminiscent of Max, the heroine in her representative drama "Dark Angel" a year ago. Although there are indeed similarities between Selima and Max and their personalities are very independent and strong, they are after all two women from different eras and different backgrounds. The similarity in interpretation only shows that Alba's acting skills still need to be tempered. Watching her selections and interviews, I always feel that this is not a girl who is willing to only make vases. But movie audiences who watch her always remember that this is Alba first, and then pay attention to the characters in the film. At this point of beauty, I really don't know how much effort it takes to become an acting school. Or, this is actually enough.
The film's male lead John is played by British actor Hugh Dancy. In addition to his delicate and shy appearance that meets the requirements of the role, he has a more shocking appeal. From an ideal and carefree youth at the beginning to a numb and gloomy husband who lost enthusiasm at the end, Hugh Dancy well represented the scars that the torture of life had carved on this man. Dressed up equally neatly, John who was with Selima and John who was married were two people; with the same sloppy look, John who was with Selima and John who was married were two people. What is missing with Selima is not only John's love, but also his hope and passion for life. And when he made up his mind to go across the mountains to recover Selima and the child, he would never become the young man he used to be, and he was destined to be more determined and calm.
I have never forgotten that his eyes looked like two people before and after the film, and even after watching the first time, I quickly rewind to the beginning of the film to confirm whether this is really the same actor. Why did he have such clear and eager eyes to the end? There was only sadness and depression left. Why should such a good actor play "Instinct II", tangled!
As a movie that seems to have not been screened, "Dictionary Lover" won four awards from ten nominations for DVD Premiere Movie in the 2003 DVDX Award, including JA’s best actress, and the actor didn’t even have a nomination. Obviously there is a huge difference between my criteria and the judges of this award. However, the results of multiple nominations may prove that we have one point of view, that is, this film is quite a love movie worth watching. And if you love JA, then, what are you still hesitating?
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