Film: Dirty Pretty Things
Cast includes: Chiwetel Ejiofor (Kinky Boots), Audrey Tautou (Amelie), Sophie Okonedo (Hotel Rwanda), Sergi López (El Laberinto del Fauno)
Director: Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaison)
Genre: Crime thriller (2002)
In brief: “I’m not here to pick up you in particular. But I’m here to rescue those who have been let down by the system.” As a taxi driver, Okwe is pretty resourceful. And when his shift is over, he heads to his job as the night desk clerk at the Baltic Hotel. When Okwe’s boss needs help with a case of clap, we find out that Okwe also knows his way around medicine. “I’m a driver, not a doctor,” Okwe insists. But he gets his boss the amoxicillin anyway. So why would a man with a medical education be struggling this way to make ends meet. He’s an illegal from Nigeria, who struggles to stay one step ahead of British immigration authorities… as does Senay, the Baltic Hotel maid who shares a flat with Okwe.
When Juliette, a regular hooker at the hotel, tells Okwe about a problem in room 510, Okwe finds an overflowing lavatory. It’s blocked by something that leaks blood when prodded. As it turns out, it’s a heart… a human heart. Okwe wants to call the police but he can’t risk the contact with London authorities. So the hotel manager takes the heart and throws it away. “Hotel business is about strangers. They come here to do dirty things, and we clean it up in the morning,” he tells Okwe, warning him to keep his mouth shut.
Okwe visits his friend who works at the hospital and tells him about the incident. Days later, Okwe is called upon to help a man who can not go to the hospital, even though he has a large open wound, right where his kidney would normally be. That’s when Okwe realizes that the hotel manager is trafficking in human organs. And it’s not hard to find donors, especially with so many illegals around, willing to give up a kidney in exchange for a passport. People like Senay and Okwe are often so desperate to be free, they’ll even risk death. They’ve certainly “been let down by the system,” but is there any rescue for them?
3 popped kernels
Popped kernels for the interesting dark story, good casting and acting, good script.
