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?

---

Plot Keywords:

underwear | nigerian | hotel | immigrant | surgery | 

---

Taglines:

Some things are too dangerous to keep secret.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

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

Dirty Pretty Things is a band named for this movie.

---

Goofs

When Okwe and Senay are drinking wine, Senay lifts a full glass. In the next shot, the glass is 3/4 full.

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Inspiring Immigration Movies (2017)

---

Soundtracks

This Man Is A Doctor
Written and Produced by Nathan Larsen
Published by Miramax Film Music (BMI), Hot One Inc

User Reviews

Dirty Pretty Things - A poetic film !

First off I want to say that I'm not going to write about neither the plot nor the contents of this film, while it's rather unnecessary.

The best way to describe "Dirty pretty things", is in my opinion, that it is like a beautiful poem. It flows easily and because of the fact that the cast are such good actors/actresses, almost every scene in the film affects you in some way.

This is certainly not another Hollywood flick, because of the fact that it is so realistic. At times you actually forget that you are watching a film.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Audrey Tautou, Sergi López and the rest of the brilliant cast were new to me but I am going to keep following their careers, as I am hopeful that they will rise and get recognized for the great actors that they are.

I strongly recommend this film, for it is most certainly like a breath of fresh air in the otherwise monotonous movie jungle...

I easily give this film a 9 out of 10.