Organ trafficking is the central theme of this overlooked great movie by Stephen Frears which received little noise when it came back in theatres in 2003 but managed to receive an Oscar nod for Original Screenplay. While this might not sound like the stuff that makes movies, Frears creates a visually effective thriller about the constant state of anxiety and exploitation in which immigrants with no papers must go through in order to survive.
This is the reality as seen through the eyes of Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Senay (Audrey Tatou) who work in a seedy hotel under the smarmy and vaguely psychotic supervision of appropriately named Sneaky (Sergi Lopez). Both are in constant fear of being discovered by immigration agents who pop up at the most inopportune moments, and to top this all, it seems the hotel where they work in is being the focus of something quite dirty; when Okwe makes a grisly discovery in a toilet after a call girl (recently Oscar-nominated Sophie Okonedo), he is blackmailed into participating in the illegal plot he uncovers, which later threatens to overcome Senay as she succumbs to the pressure of legalizing her papers.
Nice pacing, occasional dark humor brought in from time to time, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS never goes overboard with flashy chase sequences or explosions or implausible villains, but benefits from a grimier yet equally intense approach that conveys its message of the helplessness marginalized immigrants feel in a foreign country, compounded by the determination to survive at all costs, even when the situation seems grim.
This is the reality as seen through the eyes of Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Senay (Audrey Tatou) who work in a seedy hotel under the smarmy and vaguely psychotic supervision of appropriately named Sneaky (Sergi Lopez). Both are in constant fear of being discovered by immigration agents who pop up at the most inopportune moments, and to top this all, it seems the hotel where they work in is being the focus of something quite dirty; when Okwe makes a grisly discovery in a toilet after a call girl (recently Oscar-nominated Sophie Okonedo), he is blackmailed into participating in the illegal plot he uncovers, which later threatens to overcome Senay as she succumbs to the pressure of legalizing her papers.
Nice pacing, occasional dark humor brought in from time to time, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS never goes overboard with flashy chase sequences or explosions or implausible villains, but benefits from a grimier yet equally intense approach that conveys its message of the helplessness marginalized immigrants feel in a foreign country, compounded by the determination to survive at all costs, even when the situation seems grim.