Dirty Pretty Things (2002)

An illegal Nigerian immigrant discovers the unpalatable side of London life.

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Steven Knight

Stars:

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sophie Okonedo

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 17 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Okwe
Audrey Tautou	...	Senay Gelik
Sergi López	...	Sneaky / Juan
Sophie Okonedo	...	Juliette
Benedict Wong	...	Guo Yi
Zlatko Buric	...	Ivan
Kriss Dosanjh	...	Asian Businessman
Israel Oyelumade	...	Mini Cab Driver (as Israel Aduramo)
Yemi Goodman Ajibade	...	Mini Cab Driver (as Ade-Yemi Ajibade)
Nizwar Karanj	...	Mini Cab Driver
Deobia Oparei	...	Mini Cab Driver
Jeffery Kissoon	...	Cab Controller
Kenan Hudaverdi	...	Cafe Owner
Damon Younger	...	Punter
Paul Bhattacharjee	...	Mohammed

Storyline

Okwe is an illegal Nigerian immigrant leading a hard life and struggling to survive in London's underground. He works as a hotel receptionist in the night time and as he has a doctor degree he practices some medicine, during the day, in a very odd way. Besides that he must constantly escape from Immigration officers. One day Okwe discovers by chance an illegal scheme of surgeries is being lead by Juan, his boss in the hotel. Juan quickly comes up with a tempting proposal: if Okwe accepts to perform the illegal surgeries he makes a lot of money and gets legalized situation in the U.K. Can Okwe keep his moral values intact?

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Plot Keywords:

underwear | nigerian | hotel | immigrant | surgery | 

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Taglines:

Every dream has its price.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content, disturbing images and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English Somali Spanish French

Release Date:

5 September 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Negocios entrañables

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£141,865 (United Kingdom), 15 December 2002, Limited Release

Opening Weekend USA:

$100,512, 20 July 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$8,111,360, 16 February 2004

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,550,000, 7 November 2003

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Films, Celador Films, Jonescompany Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Damien O'Donnell was originally attached to direct, but he decided to pass after problems with Harvey Weinstein. He directed Heartlands (2002) instead.

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Goofs

Guo Yi says the mythological figure who ferries the dead to Hades is Pylades; in fact the ferryman's name is Charon. Pylades is the companion of Orestes.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Okwe: Do you want a car? Ten pounds, Theatreland. Car? London? You want a taxi? Buckingham Palace.

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Connections

Featured in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004)

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Soundtracks

Glass, Concrete & Stone
Written by David Byrne
Performed by David Byrne
Courtesy of Nonesuch Records
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

An Urban Legend About the Socially Excluded Immigrants in London

In London, the Nigerian illegal immigrant and former doctor Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) works as cab driver along the day and in the front desk of a hotel managed by Juan 'Sneaky' (Sergi López) in the graveyard shift. He shares a couch in the small flat of the Turkish illegal immigrant Senay (Audrey Tautou), who also works in the hotel as maiden. One night, the Londoner prostitute Juliette (Sophie Okonedo) asks Okwe to fix the toilet of room 510, where she 'works', and he finds a human heart obstructing it. Okwe's further investigation discloses an invisible world of traffic of human organs of illegal immigrants in London. This excellent movie has a great screenplay about the urban legend of traffic of organs of the socially excluded immigrants in London. Just as a comparison, in Brazil, thousands of children of the lower classes vanish every year. The urban legend tells that they were adopted overseas or were used in the illegal traffic of human organs, but these stories are only rumor in Internet. Therefore, this theme in an excellent script is very attractive. Stephen Frears is one of the greatest directors of the cinema history and his movies are synonym of quality. The great surprise for me was the international cast, leaded by the unknown Chiwetel Ejiofor, followed by the excellent Audrey 'Amélie Poulain' Tautou and Sergi 'Harry' López , and the also unknown Sophie Okonedo, all of them with excellent performances. 'Dirty Pretty Things' is a highly recommended film. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): 'Coisas Belas e Sujas' (Pretty and Dirty Things')