• Post category:Movies
  • Post last modified:March 16, 2019

Dirty Pretty Things

EVERY DREAM HAS ITS PRICE.

Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an illegal Nigerian immigrant in London, finds a human heart stuffed down a toilet in the London hotel where he’s working; he learns that there’s plenty of money to be made in the organ transplant traffic. The hotels look swank and shiny but the people who keep them that way are regarded with contempt; this is the world of the illegal immigrant and director Stephen Frears portrays it with skill and conviction. Humiliation and desperation are key themes, but Audrey Tautou (in her first English-speaking film) and Ejiofor make their characters vivid and dignified; the organ traffic subplot also brings some excitement to the film.

2002-Britain-U.S. 97 min. Color. Produced by Robert Jones, Tracey Seaward. Directed by Stephen Frears. Screenplay: Steven Knight. Cast: Audrey Tautou (Senay Gelik), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Okwe), Sergi López (Sneaky), Sophie Okonedo, Benedict Wong, Zlatko Buric.

Last word: “In an unpolitical way, I don’t think people should be treated like that. I’m all for people being kind to each other. I’m not a political activist; I’m a storyteller […] In some peculiar way that I can’t really explain, England is both a very tolerant country and a sort of neo-racist country. People like this aren’t made to feel welcome. It’s a paradox. I can’t really explain it. The reaction of the British government is to make peoples’ flesh creep. Tell frightening stories. Instead of saying, ‘These people are really quite harmless. And good for the British economy.’ Instead they say, ‘Oh, you’d better watch out, these people have three heads.'” (Frears, Indiewire)

 

IMDb

What do you think?

0 / 5. Vote count: 0

Got something to say?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.