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Dirty
Pretty Things
Stephen Frears, UK, 2003
Rating: 4.5
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Posted: September 19,
2003
By
Eric Grossman
Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things is a thoughtful,
contemporary thriller with a wholly international cast and an unflinching
view of such unpleasant topics as human trafficking, rape, and the organ
trade. In other words, it's a film Hollywood doesn't have the cojones
to make. Thankfully, British director Frears (High Fidelity,
Dangerous Liaisons), does, and he invests the film -- set against a
backdrop of modern-day London, in all its drab glory -- with both balls
and heart.
Admittedly, Frears owes credit for some of the former to Steven
Knight's smart, gritty script. But the heart comes courtesy of Chiwetel
Ejiofor, in a wrenchingly emotional performance. (There's also an actual
human heart, found floating in a toilet, which rather unsubtly sets the
film's tone early.) Ejiofor plays Okwe, a Nigerian illegal émigré who
spends half his days driving a gypsy cab and the other half working the
night desk at a non-descript hotel (to make ends meet, Okwe eschews sleep
by constantly munching on a peculiar African root). Once Okwe's boss, the
dastardly hotel manager Señor Juan (expertly played by the Spanish actor
Sergi Lopez), catches wind that the Nigerian was a respected doctor before
fleeing to the UK, he immediately attempts to enlist Okwe in an illicit
organ transplanting ring.
A stoic, thoughtful man, Okwe immediately declines. But once he sees
some of the desperate foreigners, including his friend and former roommate
Senay, succumb to Señor Juan's offer -- a passport for your kidney -- he
is forced to reconsider. Senay, adeptly played by the French actress
Audrey Tatou (best known stateside for her sunny performance as the
titular heroine of the French smash Amelie), is a study in sadness
and humanity, and the virginal Turkish émigré's scenes with Okwe are
alternately innocent and heartbreaking.
Knight, creator of the original British version of the game show Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire?, deserves special kudos for defying
Hollywood convention and keeping the central characters' budding romance
strictly platonic. Also worth mentioning is Chris Menges' stark
cinematography; in keeping with the storyline, he manages to cast a grim,
funereal pall over one of the planet's most vibrant cities. But the movie
is Ejiofor's, and the English-Nigerian actor should keep next February
clear for the Oscars. Add a strong supporting cast (notably Benedict Wong
as a wisecracking coroner and Sophie Okonedo as a clichéd but likeable
hooker), plus a delicious final twist, and you have one of the best films
of the year.
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