'Dirty Pretty Things' reviewed

The camera follows a tall Nigerian man into the hallway of a taxi station, a small rundown building in downtown London. He enters a tiny room, perhaps an office, where the viewer through a window watches an encounter between Okwe and his boss. The conversation is partially blocked by the wall. Several hours later, Okwe leaves the taxi hub and begins his second job as a desk clerk at a hotel. It is here in the hotel, under the management of a sly Senor Juan, where the dirty events truly unfold.

A total inversion of what is meant by "dirty" and "clean" takes place; under the professional guise of the hotel, a whole series of dishonest events tug at Okwe's conscience. One night he goes upstairs to check a room and is surprised to find a toilet overflowing, clogged up by a heart — an error on the part of Senor Juan's underground organ-selling business.

Our first reaction to Okwe pulling a human organ out of the toilet is natural and reflects one of the main themes of the movie: the ambivalent shock associated with the means and necessities of "dirty work." Dirty work? Yes and no; just what one resorts to when hospitals and resources are out of reach.

This scene successfully heightens the level of suspension present throughout the entire film, rightly placing "Dirty Pretty Things" in the thriller genre. But something more skillful is going on: Director Stephen Frears, perhaps better known for High Fidelity (2000), in collaboration with writer Steve Knight, pieced together a film whose substance and drama draws from exactly this method of anticipation and suggestion; the content of the film is purely humanitarian, embracing poignant issues such as love, immigration, and the ills forced upon desperate people.

The main focus of the film is the subtle, grueling details of such a life; as mentioned before, the unfortunate actions to which an illegal immigrant must resort to survive in the hands of bosses looking for cheap labor and deporters wishing to send illegal immigrants home. The opening scene is the first indication of Okwe's talents as a doctor, his inexplicable superiority to the modest and diligent lifestyle that he has chosen, and the beginning of the mystery of his past.

Senay, played by Audrey Tautou, better known for her roll in "Amelie," works as a Turkish cleaning lady in the hotel and rents her couch to Okwe. Senay and Okwe have chemistry from the start, but her religious beliefs as a Muslim have kept her a virgin for the past twenty-one years, and Okwe's past also prevents him from immediately pursuing a relationship. The sexual demands from Senor Juan and an Indian boss in a sweatshop test Senay's purity.

Fortunately, "Dirty Pretty Things" is not a gushing romance about two people from different backgrounds brought together by adversity; unlike other formulaic love-stories, the film is saved by the truth of what it means to ultimately love-sacrificing, compromising, and letting go; the need for support and company, more than any physical relationship.

Most importantly, the suffering Okwe and Senay endure typifies a pain beyond economic disadvantage. As with many immigrants who must flee their country for refuge, Okwe and Senay, among others, have left entire families and lives behind. The desire to return to them serves as motivations for Senay and Okwe's relentless determination.

Sadly, hard work does not pay off in the movie as the industrious lives of Okwe and Senay prove. Passports, visas, lodging — all of these things become necessary resuscitators in the fight to obtain true freedom, which sadly in the end, must be gotten through "dirty" compromises.

Crucial to the success of the movie is the performance delivered by England native, Chiwatel Ejiofour who, in order to play the role of Okwe, mimicked his parents' Nigerian accent. His strong silence adds to the endearing qualities Okwe possesses in the midst of his turmoil. Though he is one of the main characters, Okwe's haunting past is downplayed until the very end. The movie is not about him; Okwe is at once a representation of every illegal immigrant who suffers through several jobs in order to earn money yet defies any stereotypes we may hold: He is surprisingly well-dressed, well-mannered and well-educated.

"Dirty Pretty Things" as an illustrative medium does not imply a certain morality to follow; instead, we are directed about the lives of people who can no longer maintain their preferred standards of living — religion, family, virginity — due to circumstances of desperation and a lack of resources; Senay and Okwe are only enslaved until they regain control of their lives, abandoning the very same dirty compromising positions into which they are put; by the end of the film, their hands and consciences are cleaner.