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Dirty Pretty Things"We are the people you do not see," says Okwe (Ejiofor), the morally-upstanding hero at the centre of Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things. He, along with his Turkish asylum-seeker flatmate Senay (Tautou, Am?©lie), represent the invisible people; those that take out the rubbish, clean hotel rooms and drive mini-cabs while the rest of London sleeps. Okwe, without working papers, is holding down two jobs: a mini-cab driver, using uppers to keep himself awake, as he spends his nights tending the front-desk in a grubby West London Hotel, managed by the aptly-named Sneaky (L??pez). When he discovers a human heart blocking a toilet in one of the rooms, Okwe begins to get suspicious - and he soon discovers that Sneaky has a nice little sideline in peddling organs belonging to immigrants desperate for an English passport. With the pressure on Senay, who works at the hotel as a maid, to sell her kidney for residency, Okwe knows he has to protect a woman he is beginning to fall for.
Immersing us in a side of London we see everyday, but is rarely caught on camera, Frears - along with esteemed cinematographer Chris Menges - capture the city in all its festering glory. No tourist spots here, for Frears shows us a world of cab-stands, market-stalls and rain-drenched roads. With a less-than-flattering portrait of Britain's immigration authorities, Frears raises salient points about society's eagerness to trade in lives. Using the hotel as a metaphor for the class divisions that divide this country, the tightly-written script veils its didactic elements with genre pleasures. Part thriller, part (understated) love story, audiences are left entertained and educated in tandem.
The multi-cultural cast offers some outstanding performances. Ejiofor is notable; he invests Okwe with a tender heart and soul, managing to elicit genuine sympathy throughout. Lopez, best known for the title role in Harry, He's Here To Help, is suitably oily, while Sophie Okonedo - as the hotel hooker with a heart of gold - at least manages to raise her role above the clich?©d. Tautou's presence is less appealing - too often reminding you of her sweet-natured appearance in Am?©lie.
Verdict After shooting London so vividly in Prick Up Your Ears and My Beautiful Launderette, Stephen Frears' return to the capital is a triumphant one. Spotlighting an underclass rarely seen on film, this is one of the most beguiling British films this year.
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