Dirty Pretty Things [DVD] [2002]

The film refuses to be heavy handed about the issues which most will focus on -- illegal immigrants. Neither does the film lose itself in characterisation at the expense of story -- there is a good plot which really gets you gripped as you wonder how things will turn out.

I cannot recommend this film highly enough. I hope that the British film industry continues to make films like this and resist the urge to only make "Hugh Grant vehicles". DPT reminds us how powerful cinema can be, without needing huge explosions to impress you. I urge you to watch this.

Tatou plays Senay, an undocumented Turkish immigrant toiling in London's underground labor pool as a maid at the Hotel Baltic in an unprepossessing part of the city. The night shift desk clerk, Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), also undocumented, is a Nigerian on the run from government persecution back home. In the old country, Okwe was a licensed physician. In London, besides his hotel gig, Okwe drives a cab using borrowed credentials. Senay surreptitiously allows Okwe, who hasn't a permanent residence, the use of her flat's couch to sleep on while she works the day shift.

One morning, Okwe pulls a fresh human heart out of a plugged toilet in one of the hotel's rooms. Wishing to make it a police matter, Okwe brings the body part to the attention of the Baltic's day manager, Sneaky (Sergi Lopez), who persuades the former to let the matter rest by playing on his fear of discovery by Immigration. Besides, Sneaky advises, the job of a hotel is to PRETTY up the DIRTY THINGS that happen during the wee hours.

If you're hoping to catch a glimpse of touristy London, forget it. I've been there more times than I can remember, and didn't spot anything I recognized - not even the Thames. This is London's gritty underbelly, the home of undocumented immigrants so desperate to reach someplace better that they risk death selling their body parts on the transplantable organs black market in exchange for passports and airline tickets. For instance, Senay longs for New York City, a place (she thinks) of lights in the trees and policeman on white horses, where she has a cousin.

Tatou appears on American ads for DIRTY PRETTY THINGS perhaps because she's the only one of the actors potentially recognizable to U.S. audiences. However, Ejiofor is the film's lead, and his low key, excellent performance argues for more widespread exposure. Lopez's Sneaky is the sort of oily, disgusting villain that one loves to hate. Particularly endearing in a secondary role is Sophie Okonedo as Juliette, the effervescent hooker who uses the Baltic for her nightly trysts.

DIRTY PRETTY THINGS is an unusual love story, a tale of righteous retribution, and an indictment of sordid conditions just around the corner and out of sight of the chirpy tour guide and her charges on their way to Buckingham Palace to have a chinwag with the Queen. It's a film different from, and certainly much superior to, the usual fare.