Dirty Pretty Things

Genre: suspense drama
Director: Stephen Frears
Release: 2003
Studio: Celador Films, Celador Productions, BBC Films, Blue Films, Miramax Films
Rating: R
MBiS score: 8.2/10


One From The Heart


For Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an illegal immigrant living in London, time and sleep are priceless commodities. To make ends meet, he must hold down two jobs simultaneously – as a cab driver and a porter at the Baltic Hotel – and his precarious status allows for little socializing except with Senay (Audrey Tautou), a young Turkish woman also living in limbo on British soil. That should be enough trouble for any man to endure… until a plumbing problem in room 510 puts our hero in a real bind. With Sophie Okonedo (Juliette), Sergi Lopez (Signor Juan or ‘Sneaky’, Okwe’s boss at the Baltic) and Benedict Wong (Guo Yi).

I was attracted to DIRTY PRETTY THINGS because I remembered reading favourable reviews upon its release but, after finally seeing it, I must admit that it is a much better film than I was led to believe. Its value is twofold, firstly as a candid commentary about the developed world and secondly as a tight suspense film that offers great entertainment. On a socio-political level, it clearly denounces our Western world’s growing disdain for immigrants by focusing on innocent foreigners who have been forced into subservience as a result of our faltering economies (and, I might add, the hardening of consciences since 9/11 despite Barack Obama's soothing words). Among the foreigners depicted in the movie, Okwe will strike you as a caring and sympathetic man burdened by past and present alike, a noble character convincingly portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor. As for Senay, a young woman handicapped by her sex as well as her social status, some critics have panned Audrey Tautou’s incarnation but it must be said that Senay’s inexperience and vulnerability certainly contributed to Audrey’s restraint in her role. Among the other characters, Benedict Wong impressed me with his tongue-in-cheek performance while Sergi Lopez proved himself worthy of Robert De Niro in one of his meaner streaks.

Beyond these comments, I will reveal nothing of the movie’s story-line because the less you know about it, the more impact it will generate. From a technical standpoint, the movie also gives little cause for criticism, with its crisp visuals and faultless direction by Stephen Frears, one of the best in the business. That should cover the essentials, I think.

Need I say more? Not really. Do watch this thrilling bit of cinema and remember to be kind to foreigners around you. Many of them are stuck at the bottom of the social ladder and God only knows how painful life can be for them.


MBiS

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