Dirty Pretty Things

Rating

Director

Stephen Frears

Screenplay

Steven Knight

Length

97 min.

Starring

Audrey Tautou, Sergi López, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, Zlatko Buric

MPAA Rating

R (For sexual content, disturbing images and language)

Review

Sometimes the life you lead is not the one you wanted. Dirty Pretty Things finds two people who have lost almost everything but may have found each other.

Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) works a long shift. By day he drives people around town making sure they reach their destinations. By night, he works the front desk of a nice hotel while fighting off the sleep he’s not getting. All of this without a visa or work voucher. Okwe is in London illegally and, if caught, faces deportation and possibly worse as we slowly discover as the film unfolds.

Senay (Audrey Tautou) is in London on sanctuary. She’s not allowed to work, take boarders for pay or anything that might bring in money. She’s harassed by two government officials who don’t believe a thing she says. And they shouldn’t as she’s working as a maid at Okwe’s hotel and is boarding Okwe.

Tautou and Ejiofor give subtle and breathtaking performances. Tautou is tender, vulnerable and strong as her character attempts to woo Okwe. Ejiofor gives a slightly stronger performance than his co-star as his Okwe tries to avoid getting close to anyone for fear of his own past catching up with him, which is bound to happen and does.

The film was written by television writer Steve Knight, creator of the hit series Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. His screenplay is tight and features fantastic dialogue. There are some predictable elements, but otherwise, Dirty Pretty Things is original and pensive. We slowly learn of the two completely different individuals and the complex relationship they develop as each tries to seek happiness from whatever direction they can.

Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons ) takes the audience on an incredibly engrossing journey through Okwe and Senay’s lives. Each character is given sufficient breathing room to expand in ways that help yield compassion for their trials. Even when bad things happen to these people, one can’t help but believe that things will one day get better.

Frears gives the viewer that opportunity and lets the story and performances speak for themselves, avoiding tricky or complicated camera angles and shots, often lingering on one scene far longer than most directors from the music video age. Quick cuts are used only as punctuation instead of to the narrative-driving ends they are in many recent efforts.

Ejiofor gives a fine performance as a soul tortured by the memory of his own past. Okwe travels through life avoiding sleep, hoping not to see those he left behind. Ejiofor gives his character a deep resonation that so many actors fail to embody. Not to be outdone, Tautou, whose fantastic performance in Amlie gained her a great deal of recognition, turns in another nuanced performance. Senay is a confident and independent woman but when her life falls apart her, the faade is ripped apart.

Dirty Pretty Things isn’t the type of film that most audiences will flock to. It is, however, the type of film that will affect the minds, and in some cases hearts, of those who watch it.

Review Written

August 24, 2004