Stephen Frears has once again given viewers a fascinating look at characters that seem to live in societies cracks and its underbelly. This film is about an illegal immigrant from Nigeria named Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who drives a minicab part time and also works the front desk at a hotel. He sleeps on the couch of another illegal immigrant who works as a chambermaid. Her name is Senay (Audrey Tautou) who is Turkish and secretly in love with Okwe and they both have to be careful of immigration officials. The night manager at the hotel is Sneaky (Sergi Lopez) and he is involved in vile schemes behind the doors of the hotel. One night Okwe is checking a stopped up toilet in a room and he finds it clogged with a human heart. He asks some questions but Sneaky tells him to mind his own business. Immigration officials are tracking Senay and she finds another job at a sweat factory sewing but the owner of that business makes her give sexual pleasures in order for her to keep her job. Okwe talks to his Asian friend Guo Yi (Benedict Wong) who works at the hospital morgue about the heart and he tells him that many illegal immigrants give up their kidneys in exchange for citizenship. Its then that he figures out Sneaky is behind these illegal operations but Okwe cannot tell anyone in fear of being deported. Senay dreams of going to New York and makes a deal with Sneaky about giving him her kidney. Okwe was a surgeon in Nigeria and asks Sneaky that in exchange for two passports he will perform the operation. Stephen Frears has again directed a film with characters that are on the fringe of normal society. This is a carefully detailed script and each one of these characters is well written. One of the interesting things about this film is that each character is of a different nationality. Sneaky is a Spaniard, Yi is Asian, The doorman is Russian, Okwe is Nigerian and Senay is Turkish. Each of them have jobs that most of us would not want. But Frears wants us to realize what people perform these tasks and how difficult it is to do some of these jobs and stay true to their morals and beliefs. This is a fascinating character study of a bunch of people that a lot of us take for granted. The characters are all so well written and we have come to expect this from Frears. Okwe was a surgeon and exiled out of Nigeria and he is haunted by his past. Senay is a virgin but in love with Okwe and she wants to go be with her sister and not be like her mother, Yi understands Asian customs and when he gets an Asian body he makes sure it is prepared correctly for their religious service. Beautifully detailed script paints a riveting look at immigrants who do what they have to in order to survive. It's not a pretty picture but Frears usually doesn't direct pretty films. Along with "The Grifters" this is arguably his best film. Although I wouldn't call it a mystery, it does work on that level. What I would call it though is a carefully detailed character study. The performances are all exceptional and Ejiofor is the centerpiece of the film. He shows he can carry a film and definitely has screen presence. I think this is an important role for Tautou who was probably bombarded with scripts for romantic comedies following the huge success of "Amelie". She wanted to show that she's capable of a lot more than that and this was definitely an excellent step in that direction. She's very good in this film. And Lopez gives us a villain that you will not easily forget. He's not some high profile gangster type with henchmen to help him. He's just a night manager at a seedy hotel but with the power to turn them all in to immigration if they don't follow his orders. Some have said that this is Stephen Frears masterpiece. After thinking about it, who's to argue?
Review of Dirty Pretty Things
