Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #230683 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Somali
• Subtitled in: English
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
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

From The New Yorker
Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the African-in-exile hero of Stephen Frears's extraordinary London thriller, drives a cab during the day and works as a desk clerk in a good hotel at night; he keeps himself awake by chewing on some sort of African root. Like Travis Bickle, Robert De Niro's overstimulated psycho in "Taxi Driver," Okwe never really sleeps; unlike Bickle, Okwe is a good man, even a fanatically good man. In four or five frantic days, he tries to save another illegal immigrant, Senay (Audrey Tautou), from the clutches of the cheerfully sinister manager of the hotel in which they both work. Se–or Juan (Sergi Lopez), as he's known, offers forged passports to illegals in return for a kidney or some other organ that he can sell on the black market. There are a few grisly scenes in the elegant upper rooms of the hotel, but "Dirty Pretty Things" is not a violent thriller. It might be called a social thriller-a tightly knit suspense film that reveals more of the lives of immigrants in London than the most scrupulously earnest documentaries. The great cinematographer Chris Menges keeps the images cool and crisp. There's no murk, no "atmosphere." However harried, Okwe, a great chess player, has to see every move in advance as he defends himself and his friends from the treachery on all sides. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Tightly Structured Thriller With Something To Say
It isn't often that you see a well-crafted thriller with something on its mind, but "Dirty Pretty Things" is one of those films. It tells the story of Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian living in London illegally. He works two jobs: one as a taxi driver and the other inside a second-rate hotel. This doesn't give him much time to do anything, but work. When it is time to rest, he has an unusual living arrangement with Senay (Audrey Tautou), a Turkish immigrant that also works at the hotel. They share the same flat, but never occupy it at the same time.

One night, while Okwe is working at the hotel, he is asked to check on a room and discovers a human heart. When he tells his boss Sneaky Juan (Sergi López), he's told to keep quiet or he'll risk deportation. This causes Okwe to have a moral dilemma, which drives this fascinating story of the underside of London live.

Without revealing too much of the plot, "Dirty Pretty Things" keeps raising the stakes and makes you really care about the plight of the main characters.

Fans of the international hit "Amélie," might be a bit surprised by Ms. Tautou's performance as Senay. Some might find her work shocking, but it clearly indicates that Tautou is an actor unafraid of taking risks. She and Mr. Ejiofor are a pleasure to watch on screen together.

Okwe is reminiscent of some of Sidney Poitier's early films. He's sensitive, noble and has strong moral convictions. That's something you don't see much in film today. Ejiofor's performance is all the more remarkable given the world in which his character lives in. Okwe is surrounded by morally bankrupt people that will do anything to become British citizens. He stands tall in the face of many temptations.

While a fascinating and provocative film, "Dirty Pretty Things" may not be for everybody. However, if you're looking for an intelligent story with complex characters and don't mind venturing into a seedy world, this film is for you.

Dirty rather than pretty
They're in the shadows, the people that no one sees. "Dirty Pretty Things" can be classified as many things -- horror, drama, thriller, social commentary or some combination of the above -- but in the end it is merely a wonderfully gritty, realistic film that will leave you thinking.

Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian immigrant in London, lives with (but is not involved with) prickly Turkish immigrant Senay (Audrey Tatou), both of whom struggle against immigrant officials -- and their own feelings. Okwe works by his own strong morals, hampered by a dark secret. But one day Okwe makes a grisly discovery in the hotel where he works -- a clog in a toilet that turns out to be a human heart.

His boss Juan (Sergi Lopez) tells him to not say anything. Does Okwe obey him? Of course not. He digs deeper, and soon uncovers a sinister web that hits close to the heart: Desperate immigrants sell their organs in exchange for forged papers and passports. As the immigration officials start to close in on Okwe and Senay, they must figure out what to do about the organ smuggling ring.

A lot of movie moralizing is contrived and poorly-scripted. But Stephen Frears manages to stick the moral dilemmas in the faces of the viewers and make them stick. Okwe's conflicted feelings when he discovers the organ trafficking are wonderful, especially as he himself is a doctor who could help people, but working for an evil man. Similarly we see Senay, a religious girl, in a slow, inexorable downward slide.

We see many immigrants, all with different dreams, goals, and pasts. And Frears makes them all come alive. He shows London as a city with a dark underbelly, with plenty of sinister big buildings where immigrant workers struggle to remain anonymous. Most sinister of all: That people will sell their organs or their bodies in order to find a better life.

Audrey Tatou shatters the public perception of her in "Dirty Pretty Things," shifting into the role of a trodden-on Turkish maid. She's absolutely masterful, fragile and sad. Chiwetel Ejiofor brings wonderful expressiveness and dignity to his role, but doesn't have quite the dimension of Lopez or Tatou. Sergi Lopez is one of the best screen villains in quite some time, absolutely making the screen sparkle. But you'll hate his guts. Also good is Sohie Okonedo as an upbeat hooker and Zlatko Buric as the likable doorman.

Not for the faint of heart, "Dirty Pretty Things" left me staring at a semi-dark screen when the film had ended. Powerful, gritty, and stark. One of the must-sees of the year.

A thriller that's actually about something.
You can view director Stephen Frears' DIRTY PRETTY THINGS one of two ways, maybe even more than that.

It allows viewers the chance to see a side of London that is never shown, an underground world of illegal immigrants trying to get by and gain legal citizenship while trying to evade authorities. It also shows viewers a rather creepy and twisted plot involving the black-market sale of human organs and how willing some people are to pursue their dreams. The film also gives Audrey Tautou her first English-speaking role and features her prominently in a rather odd, completely compelling love story.

I was rather pleased with this movie, which though flawed is never boring. And the ending of it was particularly satisfying.