Dirty Pretty Things
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Israel Aduramo, Kriss Dosanjh, Nizwar Karanj, Yemi AjibadeBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 97 minutes
Published: 2004-03-01
DVD Release Date: 2004-03-23
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax Films
Movie Reviews of Dirty Pretty Things
Movie Review: Atmospheric Thriller/Character Drama Hybrid.
Summary: 5 Stars
Okwe (Chjwetel Ejiofor) is an illegal Nigerian immigrant in London, who drives a taxi by day and works as a hotel desk attendant at night. He rents a couch, on which he catches an occasional few minutes of sleep, in the apartment of Senay (Audrey Tautou), a young Turkish woman who works as a maid at the hotel. When tending to a backed up toilette at the hotel one night, Okwe makes a bizarre discovery: Clogging the commode is a healthy human heart, obviously adrift from its owner. And so Okwe begins to unravel the hidden activities behind the respectable facade of the Baltic Hotel."Dirty Pretty Things" is a hybrid atmospheric thriller and gritty drama, written by Steven Knight and directed by the brilliant Stephen Frears. The story takes place exclusively among normally "invisible" service workers: taxi drivers, maids, porters, and prostitutes. Telling a tale of people who go largely unnoticed, even as they perform tasks that make the city tick, gives the film a covert atmosphere that supports the seedy and suspenseful narrative. The film's performances are outstanding. Chjwetel Ejiofor commands attention and inspires empathy as Okwe, an ethical man seemingly living in an unethical and intractable world. Audrey Tautou is sympathetic as Senay, who tries to preserve something of her culture's values while living in London's underbelly and dreaming of someplace better. Benedict Wong gives an interesting turn as a resident physician at a local hospital and friend of Okwe's. The most impressive performance may come from Sergi Lopez, a Spanish actor who does not speak English, but turns in a powerhouse performance as Juan, the hotel's manager, in English, nevertheless. I have to attribute the decision to hire two actors who didn't at the time speak English -Tautou and Lopez- to play key English-speaking roles to Stephen Frears' eccentricity. But it works remarkably well.
"Dirty Pretty Things" is billed as a thriller, and although the film is a drama about disillusionment more than anything else, it plays by the rules of a thriller. It stretches credibility. I wouldn't have trouble believing what goes on in that hotel if it were in a third world country,but I don't buy it in London. It's not realistic. "Dirty Pretty Things" gets away with this because it is so emotionally authentic. It's very effective as a character drama, and typically fantastic as a thriller. Writer Stephen Knight has imbued the film with enough comedy that the drama doesn't become oppressive, and it's a great credit to him that he was able to make us laugh, given the film's subject matter. This great script has a distinct subversive feel, and the film is filled with great character actors. "Dirty Pretty Things" is an odd, atmospheric, but enjoyable hybrid mystery, with the kind of character writing that big budget thrillers can only dream of.
The DVD: The extras aren't thrilling. Bonus features include a "making of" documentary entitled "Behind the Scenes" and an audio commentary by director Stephen Frears. "Behind the Scenes" is short and says very little. The audio commentary is uneven. There are a few interesting tidbits amidst a generally humdrum narration about filming and locations. Captioning is available in English. Subtitles are available in French.
Summary of Dirty Pretty Things
From Stephen Frears, the Oscar(R)-nominated director of THE GRIFTERS (Best Director, 1990) and DANGEROUS LIAISONS, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS stars Audrey Tautou (AMÉLIE) in a harrowing tale of struggle and survival for two immigrants who learn that everything is for sale in London's secret underworld! Part of an invisible working class, Nigerian exile Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Turkish chambermaid Senay (Tautou) toil at a west London hotel that is full of illegal activity. Then late one night Okwe makes a shocking discovery, which creates an impossible dilemma and tests the limits of all they know! Honored with numerous European film awards and nominations -- including wins at the London Critics Circle Film Awards and the Venice Film Festival -- you'll find this gritty urban thriller to be thoroughly engrossing and impossible to forget!The luminous Audrey Tautou (Amelie) stars in Dirty Pretty Things, a riveting thriller about an illegal immigrant in London named Okwe (Chiwetal Ejiofor, Amistad), a doctor in his homeland who now works days as a taxi driver and nights as a hotel desk clerk. When a hooker tells him there's a mess in one of the hotel's bathrooms, Okwe finds a human heart in the toilet. He soon discovers a snare of desperation, poverty, and black-market body organs--and finds that his only friend, a Turkish hotel maid (Tautou), may be the next to be caught. Dirty Pretty Things, skillfully directed by Stephen Frears (High Fidelity, Dangerous Liaisons, My Beautiful Laundrette), fuses taut suspense with an unsettling portrait of life among the British underclass of immigrant service workers. Thanks to the excellent cast and script, the movie makes its social points subtly, while the gripping story coils itself around you. --Bret Fetzer
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