Talking To The Screen
Dirty Pretty Things
Yeah, ok, I?ll admit it. I saw this movie because Audrey Tautou was starring in it. I really liked ?Amelie?, and wanted to see if this doe-eyed ing?nue had some range. As an added bonus, it was directed by Stephen Frears who I remembered from ?High Fidelity? and found out later made ?The Grifters? and ?Dangerous Liasons?. So yeah, two hits no misses. Then my father recommended it to me?or, sort of recommended?his comment was a cryptic ?I?d like to hear what you think?. So when a friend of mine with some expiring gift certificates invited me, I said ?sure, why not??
The two main characters are Okwe (Chiwetel Kjiofor) and Senay (Audrey Tautou), both illegal immigrants in London. Senay is a Turkish muslim who lives above a market. Okwe drives a cab during the day and mans the desk at a swank hotel at night. When he sleeps, he sleeps on Senay?s couch. There?s some secondary conflict because the two are illegally working. But the plot starts with Okwe finding a human heart clogging up a toilet on the fifth floor.
Details about Okwe are meticulously drawn out as the plot progresses. First we find out that he is a doctor. Then that he?s from Africa. Then that he has been in America. Each fact just leads to more questions. He?s crafted as a remarkably intriguing character.
?Dirty Pretty Things? is a great little movie for about an hour and fifteen minutes. I wouldn?t describe the plot set up as exactly suspenseful, but it?s certainly deliberate. It slowly tells this yarn, raising intrigue and possibility and conservatively giving away its precious secrets. By the time of the denouement, the expectations are raised to such extremes that I was disappointed. For most of the movie, Okwe is mysterious and alluring. In the last twenty minutes, he?s cast as a very trite, classic good-guy fighting against injustice. Based on the build up, I had expected someone more conflicted. This is the biggest failure of the film. It makes you think there?s something very intriguing happening, very mysterious and dark, but when it?s all finally revealed, its just another good versus evil story.
Tautou is again charming and lovable. Still playing a virginal beauty, but in a darker situation than in ?Amelie?, allowed her do demonstrate some modest degree of range while still playing to her strengths. The real gems are the supporting characters, Senay?s boss at a garment factory, Okwe?s mortician friend, Okwe?s cab driver boss, and Juan, the foil.
The most interesting thing I came away from this movie with was a realization of how engaging it is to have a protagonist that doesn?t sleep. In most movies, there?s some action, then it stops, next day, more action, pause, and so on. When the main character doesn?t sleep, you get all of it, his whole experience for the frame of the film.
?Dirty Pretty Things? is a sweet movie that pretends to be dark, subtle and mysterious for a while, but then shows its true colors, black and white.
The two main characters are Okwe (Chiwetel Kjiofor) and Senay (Audrey Tautou), both illegal immigrants in London. Senay is a Turkish muslim who lives above a market. Okwe drives a cab during the day and mans the desk at a swank hotel at night. When he sleeps, he sleeps on Senay?s couch. There?s some secondary conflict because the two are illegally working. But the plot starts with Okwe finding a human heart clogging up a toilet on the fifth floor.
Details about Okwe are meticulously drawn out as the plot progresses. First we find out that he is a doctor. Then that he?s from Africa. Then that he has been in America. Each fact just leads to more questions. He?s crafted as a remarkably intriguing character.
?Dirty Pretty Things? is a great little movie for about an hour and fifteen minutes. I wouldn?t describe the plot set up as exactly suspenseful, but it?s certainly deliberate. It slowly tells this yarn, raising intrigue and possibility and conservatively giving away its precious secrets. By the time of the denouement, the expectations are raised to such extremes that I was disappointed. For most of the movie, Okwe is mysterious and alluring. In the last twenty minutes, he?s cast as a very trite, classic good-guy fighting against injustice. Based on the build up, I had expected someone more conflicted. This is the biggest failure of the film. It makes you think there?s something very intriguing happening, very mysterious and dark, but when it?s all finally revealed, its just another good versus evil story.
Tautou is again charming and lovable. Still playing a virginal beauty, but in a darker situation than in ?Amelie?, allowed her do demonstrate some modest degree of range while still playing to her strengths. The real gems are the supporting characters, Senay?s boss at a garment factory, Okwe?s mortician friend, Okwe?s cab driver boss, and Juan, the foil.
The most interesting thing I came away from this movie with was a realization of how engaging it is to have a protagonist that doesn?t sleep. In most movies, there?s some action, then it stops, next day, more action, pause, and so on. When the main character doesn?t sleep, you get all of it, his whole experience for the frame of the film.
?Dirty Pretty Things? is a sweet movie that pretends to be dark, subtle and mysterious for a while, but then shows its true colors, black and white.