Mountain FogRETROSPECT: DIRTY PRETTY THINGS (2002)
May 21st 2009 08:18
Audrey Tautou as Senay and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Okwe in Dirty Pretty Things.
In Dirty Pretty Things, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the role of Okwe, a medically trained illegal immigrant forced to flee Nigeria under shady circumstances. Okwe has found himself in London, where he crimps his way through life by driving a taxi during the day and working the night desk at a midrange hotel through the evenings. It’s a thin thread of an existence, and Okwe keeps himself going by chewing on herbal stimulants and grabbing the occasional few hours of sleep on the couch of Senay (Audrey Tatou), a Turkish refugee who works at the same hotel as a maid, despite it being in violation of her status as an asylum seeker. One night while working at the front desk, Okwe is asked to check a problem in one of the rooms by hotel prostitute, Julia (Sophie Okonedo), and when attempting to unblock a toilet he makes a horrifying discovery. It sets off a chain reaction of events that will suck both Okwe and Senay into a tumultuous world of blackmail and black markets, highlighting their expendability and threatening their lives.
While Dirty Pretty Things possesses a script with a highly original narrative hook, the greatest strength of the film is in actual fact the way in which it has been rendered onscreen. Chris Menges cinematography and Peter Lindsay’s sound design are both miraculous in their careful subtlety, working together to fashion a sometimes-stifling atmosphere. The many scenes filmed inside the hotel are particularly impressive, with a careful selection of film stock and filters giving everything a warm and stuffy feel and Lindsay seemingly fiddling his microphones to almost block the ears of the audience. The result is as if someone’s left a heater on, as the perpetually exhausted Okwe makes his way about the floors, sometimes not quite believing what he sees, and there’s almost an audible ‘pop’ when the players emerge into the relative freedom of the outside world.
Indeed, despite its great premise, it is in fact the screenplay that almost scuttles the entire film. Screenwriter Steve Knight, better known at the time for being a co-creator of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (no kiddin), perhaps wasted the greatest idea of his career with the way he decided to develop Dirty Pretty Things. It has the feel of being written by a first-year film student, with Knight getting so excited by his central premise that he runs absolutely wild with the rest of his ideas, all of which slowly eat away at the core of the film. Strong characters and development are substituted for numerous red herrings and hokey gimmicks that undermine the thrust of a strong central storyline.
Senay carefully considers the dubious benefits offered by Sneaky (Sergi Lopez) in Dirty Pretty Things.
Thankfully, Frears managed to land some home runs with his casting. Ejiofor is absolutely fantastic as Okwe, gently and ably adding layers to the Nigerian that wouldn’t have existed on the page. Likewise, the always-enjoyable Sergi López fleshes out the heartless cardboard cut out that is Sneaky, the film’s villain, as best he can, and Sophie Okonedo manages to survive the ignominy of piloting the ‘hooker with a heart of gold.’ Elsewhere, things aren’t so good. Audrey Tautou landed one of the thinnest characters in history with Senay and doesn’t help matters with her totally off key and histrionics-dominated performance, while Darrell D'Silva is straight out of a Dickens’ classic as a mean-spirited and bullying immigration officer.
The whole thing adds up to being a strangely uneven experience. Ultimately, however, it would be almost cruel to say that Dirty Pretty Things is a bad film. The stroke of genius that was Knight’s original premise managed to survive the script’s other failings, but this was largely down to the excellent technical aspects of the production and also Ejiofor, who defied his underwritten character to really make the film his own. Worth seeing just for its claustrophobic atmosphere and often carefully built tension, Dirty Pretty Things is still a frustrating film that wasted a fabulous premise.
Check out the trailer for Dirty Pretty Things (with cheesy voice over!) below:
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Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
Comment by MVD
Sounds like you think Knight should have maintained his allegiance to Regis.
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
What was the point of the Goodfellas-tribute with the garlic and razor blade scene? I didn't get why such an obvious visual tribute would be inserted...
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Mike - there's a fair bit to recommend here so, like Janet, perhaps you should check it out. Knight now has three films under his belt - this, Eastern Promises and Amazing Grace - and all three suffer from script problems.
Cib - Ha! Yes,the razor blade garlic scene - I had exactly the same thought. It's not that the film's realy bad - it's just that it could have been so much better.
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
Ejiofor is an actor I really like, in Redbelt especially.
As for Frears, love The Hit and The Grifters.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Still, I'll be interested to hear what you think when you get around to seeing it.
And Ejiofor is fantastic - he shines in any role I've seen him in, really.
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
This one slipped through the cracks for me too...love al ot of Frears work and wanted to catch this because of the intriguing hook.
Didn't read all of your review because I still intend to see it.
Thanks for the reminder!
Comment by Michelle Sweeney
Competition Queen
Always Learning
Cinema Voyage
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Michelle - exactly, and this film almost suckers you into thinking it's really good, but falls over a bit under closer inspection.