Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

i think i'm just gonna review any film i find interestin rather than restrict it to one genre. i bought a second-hand copy of this off ebay for three quid or thereabouts and i found it to be good value for money. the fact that all the characters are so typical should spoil all sense of realism (neatly there is a drunken russian doorman, a strugglin nigerian taxi-driver, a kind-hearted whore of caribbean descent, a quirky chinese man who works in the hospital, a timid turkish cleaner girl etc) but somehow the clever lines carry the story through. the film is necessarily dark (literally even, as it's mostly shot at night) because of its morbid theme but the dialogue is so refreshin and quirky i was laughin many times durin the film.

SYNOPSIS: okwe (chiwetel ejiofor) is an illegal immigrant brother who works in a hotel and discovers that all is not as it appears when he finds a human heart in the toilet bowl of one of the rooms. i suspect this film is made more for the american audience than for the english because the emphasis on the characters are just too sharp. if you live in london you'll wonder why they're harpin so much on things which hardly surprise you. if you think this film is shockin, then it's good you watched it because you're clearly handicapped by your class to the point of bein oblivious to the silent vices in society. without giving too much away, the vice at work in this film is very real (i know because i'm from a third-world country) and the premise of the story is very refreshin. this is probably why it won many awards. few mainstream films are made today about workin-class immigrants in london and even less about the illegal things that go on in the film.

CAST: good performances from the two leads although audrey tautou brought too much amelie timidness into this and also it's impossible to pass her as turkish with that accent. ejiofor does remind me of a nigerian brother i used to know except he's a bit too refined and too moral to be believable. the true star here would be sergei lopez who played that hyena of a hotel manager. what a fuckin vulture. you'll love to hate him.

MOST MEMORABLE LINE: the black whore was so surprised senay (tautou) was still a virgin and colloquially exclaimed "Christ!" to which the girl, bein turkish and therefore muslim, calmly said "No, Mohammed". what a laugh!

BEST SCENE: well i won't spoil it for you but there's one scene where okwe's expertise in diagnosin STDs just got into demand. wait for it!

WOLF TRIVIA: can anyone tell me if that herb okwe was eatin to stay awake in order to work two shifts really exists in the african community?

PAWS UP: immaculately-paced, clever dialogue and well-executed.

PAWS DOWN: slight over-typification on illegal immigrants in london and no memorable soundtrack.

IMDB RATING: 7.6/10

WOLF RATING: 7/10

VERDICT: low-budget and yet so well-made. don't take this film on it's technical merits but enjoy the brilliant screenplay.

p/s Freebie Of The Day is a sample of Bounce, a wonderful fragrance-releasin paper you can put into your dryer or into your closet. my football socks smell so great now i kiss them! just fill in your name and address and they'll send you four sheets of the stuff within days!

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Word Of The Wolf today is blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\,

noun:
Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement-- often used in the plural.

"A manner of blandishments and promises of financial paradise have often secured young girls as unassuming and unwitting working girls in the international sex trade."

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Blandishment ultimately comes from Latin blandiri, "to flatter, caress, coax," from blandus, "flattering, mild."