Dirty Pretty Things (2003)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	93:02
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Stephen Frears
Studio Distributor	Walt Disney Studios Home Ent.	Starring	Audrey Tautou Sergi López Chiwetel Ejiofor Sophie Okonedo Benedict Wong Zlatko Buric Kriss Dosanjh Israel Aduramo Yemi Ajibade Nizwar Karanj Dhobi Oparei Jeffery Kissoon Kenan Hudaverdi
Case	?
RPI	$36.95	Music	David Byrne Christian Henson Nathan Larson

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    It would be easy for those whose idea of London is based entirely around gritty crime dramas that feature prominently on weekday nights on the ABC or Mike Leigh dramas to form a less than entirely flattering opinion of one of the world's great cities. Certainly the London tourism board wouldn't be looking to Stephen Frears' latest film - Dirty Pretty Things for any pointers as to the selling points of the city. It is set, tellingly, in two distinct 'worlds' - the deodorized cleanliness of a major hotel where the bellhops, launderers and valets scrounge a living whilst presenting a mandatory, manicured perfection, and the grimy, shadowy reality of tenement buildings, where the city's immigrant population live heaped on one another.

    The story revolves chiefly around two immigrants - one legal - a young Turkish woman who harbours dreams of making her way to New York, the other illegal - a Nigerian doctor who fled his homeland for reasons which remain unknown throughout much of the film, revealed towards its close in heartbreaking fashion.  Audrey Tatou is perfect as Senay, a young woman struggling to preserve her sense of identity and morality in a world so devoid of it, befriending the doctor Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor - a terrific performance from this British actor who copied his accent from his Nigerian born family members), whom she works with at the hotel and sublets her room to.

    Whilst cleaning a hotel room Okwe makes a gruesome discovery - a human heart is blocking the plumbing of a toilet, with not a body in sight. Unable to contact the police for fear of alerting the authorities of his illegal residence in the country, Okwe initially tries to put the incident out of his mind, but conversations with Sneaky (Sergi Lopez), a fellow employee, raise his suspicions and he decides to investigate further. The further he digs, the more of the seedy and desperate world of black market organ trading he discovers, a world that threatens to embroil Senay, whose desperation to get to New York sees her make a terrifying decision.

    Frears has made an intriguing film, but its swift pacing and (I felt) clipped ending left me a little dissatisfied. The characters are fascinating and I was constantly wishing there was more exploration of their pasts. Perhaps, though, we are kept at arm's length because it is an accurate reflection of the impersonal world of so many of a large city's poor. There is much to admire in Steven Knight's script, which received an Oscar nomination, and I can recommend the film with few reservations.

Video

    We are presented with a decent if not spectacular transfer of a recent, low budget film. It is correctly presented at its originally intended aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness levels are commendable with equally good levels of detail. Shadow detail is a little poorer than I would have liked but it isn't a major detraction. There are instances of grain throughout - which is probably a combination of artistic intent and a less than perfect transfer.

    The colour palette swings between garish night lights of red and green and the city's drab, sobering greys - all well captured.

    There are occasional smatterings of fairly insignificant film artefacts and the print is not 100% clean but it is very good. Film to video artefacts are not overly noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is of very good quality. It is subtle and only occasionally does one make out definite sounds from the rear speakers. The subwoofer doesn't get much to do, but adds some weight to the intermittent musical soundtrack and some punch to some of the livelier scenes.

    Dialogue is at all times clear, so long as you can adjust your ears to the myriad of accents. Audio sync is terrific and there were no detectable dropouts or distortions.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    No extras - not one!

    Compared to the Region 1 release we miss out on:

• Audio commentary with director Stephen Frears
• a six minute making-of feature
• theatrical trailers for other Miramax releases

    An interesting but somewhat disappointing film.

    The video quality is fine.

    The audio is not demonstration material but works well.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall