Harry here... this is a film with disturbing subject matter - and I'm curious to see how it plays after I've seen SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE which has an element or two in common with this. Well, here's CAPONE...
Hey, Harry. Capone in Chicago here. Since seeing DIRTY PRETTY THINGS a couple days ago, I've found myself waking up every morning and immediately checking to make certain there are no new scars on my torso that weren't there the night before. Here's why...
The latest work by master Brit director Stephen Frears (MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE, PRICK UP YOUR EARS, DANGEROUS LIAISONS, THE GRIFTERS, HIGH FIDELITY) is also on one of his finest and most compelling. DIRTY PRETTY THINGS is so well done and believable that the first words out of your mouth after seeing it are going to be “Does this really happen in Britain?” I’ll answer that for you before you see the film: Yes.
What is the ‘this’ in question? Illegal immigrants selling their kidneys in exchange for authentic looking passports and/or residency papers. The problem with this practice is that the surgeons performing these illicit operations aren’t always the most highly regarded...or the most sanitary. So infections and even death are not uncommon. True, the practice is barbaric, but as one character points out: “Everybody gets what they want.” The kidney recipients get to live, the immigrants get their papers, and the organ brokers get paid. If only things were so simple.
The hero of our film is Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian immigrant living in London and working as the front desk clerk at a medium-sleaze hotel. Sure the occasional hooker uses the place for an hour at a time, but most of the clientele is reputable. Okwe is first clued in that something isn’t quite as it should be when a toilet in one of the room becomes blocked. He fishes around at the bottom of the bowl and pulls out a human heart. Okay, you’ve got my attention. Since the threat of deportation always exists for Okwe, he’s not in a position to make trouble or involve the police, so he quietly investigates why there would be a heart in one of the room, and why his boss doesn’t seem to care. The hotel is run by a Spaniard nicknamed Sneaky (or Senior Juan, played by Sergi Lopez, most recent seen in the French films JET LAG and WITH A FRIEND LIKE HARRY), who is one of the most truly reprehensible characters I’ve seen in any film lately. Okwe works a second job as a taxi driver, and he uses the time driving to contemplate goings on at the hotel. The other third of his day is spent with an Asian friend (Benedict Wong) who works at a hospital morgue. As the film goes along, the more we learn about Okwe’s life in Nigeria, and why he had to leave the country in a hurry. It also turns out that he was a qualified doctor in Nigeria, which invites informal requests from other cab drivers for physical examinations and prescription drugs to cure STDs.
Okwe is staying in the small apartment of one of the hotel maids, a Turkish refugee named Senay (AMALIE’s Audrey Tautou in something of an image-shattering role). While nothing romantic is going on between them, it’s clear the two care for each other and try to protect one another from those looking to take advantage of their vulnerable positions. Maybe you’ve caught on by now that despite being set in the heart of London, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS features no native Brits as lead characters. These are the people who work the jobs that no one else will. As Okwe puts it in, “We are the ones you do not see.” Director Frears has certainly cast an eye to the UK’s working class in great films like THE SNAPPER, THE VAN, and 2000’s LIAM, but in this film, he and writer Steve Knight look even deeper into the underground, at these societal invisibles who essentially have no voice. Every performance here is note perfect, in particular Tautou and Ejiofor form a bond that is far more complex than if they were simply lovers. They are mutual protectors, who want to help the other but don’t want to draw any attention doing so. Senay is so desperate to get to America that she takes exceedingly dangerous steps to get her passport. As a result, Okwe must do everything in his power to both save her from harm and to help her achieve her dream. Once you start to see where the film is about to take you, you almost stop breathing until you’re there. DIRTY PRETTY THINGS is a daring and eye-opening experience filled with tension, great acting, and enough deviant characters and atmosphere to make you want a shower after you see it. See it with someone you trust.
I believe this movie is opened in a couple cities already, and will be opening wider (including in Chicago at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema) this Friday, Aug. 1.
Capone
If you want to put a new scar on my torso, write and tell me how you'd do it!
