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| Dirty
Pretty Things
Directed By: Stephen
Frears Plot
Summary - Review 1 - Review
2 - CURRENT REVIEWS
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| Okwe, a kind-hearted Nigerian doctor, and Senay, a Turkish chambermaid, work at the same West London hotel. The hotel is run by Senor Sneaky and is the sort of place where dirty business like drug dealing and prostitution takes place. However, when Okwe finds a human heart in one of the toilets, he uncovers something far more sinister than just a common crime. [TRAILER] There seems to be one film a year like “Dirty Pretty Things,” which rises out of the unknown to capture people’s attentions. It is not an easy work to pigeon-hole. In fact, its greatest weakness at the box office and in the annual awards race is its defiance of genre. This is not a romance, a thriller or an action film, and even writing a review of it, I do not know exactly how to classify it. So, how about this: It’s just a damn good movie. It is entertaining in both terms of characters and plot, and is one of the few non-romantic films this year to make a complete story arc work from beginning to end. Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Senay (Audrey Tautou) work in a London hotel. They are illegal immigrants, and are paid in cash. Okwe is the night watchman, sitting at the front desk through the silent hours of the night and then moving on to his day job as a cabbie. He does not sleep, but rather ingests a strange herb which gives him the energy to stay awake permanently. Senay is a maid who allows Okwe to sleep on her couch during the day, and is the epitome of a shy and reclusive girl. Given what happens, Senay may have the right kind of personality. Not allowed to hold down a job, the government soon cracks down on Senay’s employment and she must go underground to stay in the country. She gets a job at a corrupt garment sweatshop, just as Okwe uncovers a most shocking item clogging the toilet of a guest’s room. What ensues is fascinating to watch, but I will not divulge it here. Let’s just say that Okwe comes face-to-face with a sinister industry that preys off the desperation of illegal immigrants – an industry which soon sets its sight on the hopeless Senay. There is an unspoken affection between Okwe and Senay, and this culminates in a final scene where Okwe goes against all his ethical inclinations to save Senay’s life. “Dirty Pretty Things” is a movie that may seem all over the map, but it never wanders at the expense of its characters. Whether showing their work life, their personal life, their despair or their later scenes while involved in corrupt business transactions, everything adds to who these people are and why they tick. This is why “Things” sticks with us, why it feels alive and why even the most absurd plot twist seems perfectly natural. And rather than seeing its lack of a genre as a bad thing, I instead think of it as the film’s greatest attribute. We never once know what to expect.   Check out Reviews, Commentary, and More at Zertinet.com |
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