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Dirty
Pretty Things may very well be the first ever urban legend love
story. Its
contrasting tale of the beauty of love and the horror of reality
set against the desperation of the unnoticed people of the world. This contrast makes it both admirable and frightening, for
the same reasons. The
setup of the film builds and intensifies the finale while the
details are methodically released to create a simultaneous
interest and curiosity in the progression of events. The patient,
methodical character development and story telling give the movie
the necessary pacing to have the effect that it does by the
conclusion, that of both smiling satisfaction and sad realization.
“There is
nothing so dangerous as a virtuous man”
There is a
two-pronged story going on here that melds together with a
frightening ease. The
setting is the side of London that is rarely seen; it is dark,
industrial, desperate and full of “invisible” people who go
about their everyday lives in an anonymous, content, but slightly
disenchanted fashion. They
live on the edge, close to their dreams, yet close to falling into
an inescapable abyss. The
films two main protagonists are Oquay, a hotel bellhop with a
mysterious past and extensive medical knowledge, who may be in the
country illegally, and Senay, a Turkish immigrant who works as a
maid in the hotel and has dreams of a better life in America but
is trapped in the aforementioned rut.
They are roommates, but must keep it secret from everyone
or risk pushing themselves into that abyss.
Things are thrown askew when Oquay discovers a human heart
while cleaning a hotel bathroom.
Upon confronting his boss, Juan, a manipulative, despicable
and self-righteous entrepreneur, he is told to basically leave
well enough alone. With
the help of more residents of the invisible darkness, a coroner, a
prostitute, and an overly hormonal Russian doorman, some shocking
revelations are made about the characters themselves and the
desperation of others to escape their plight and find the
sunlight. Director
Steven Frears has excelled at finding a painfully humorous and
realistic irony in the darker side of society’s outcasts.
This is no exception.
“Women
love the men most who do not love them back”
He captures so
many emotions, in an uncomfortably macabre yet believable manner.
Showing the beauty of love, and the horror of the lengths
people will goto, Frears balances opposite emotions with a
frightening ease. The
surprise of the story may seem outlandish or impossible to some,
but consider the lengths that desperation will drive people too,
and its really not that far fetched.
The most amazing thing about the story is how he
incorporates in the vast human emotions of isolation, desire,
dreams, love and frustration into the storyline so seamlessly and
naturally. Credit
to the cast of basic unknowns, save Tautou (who made Amelie into
the charming revelation and jewel that it was).
Tautou shows another aspect of her personality from that
film. She showed a
carefree vulnerability, yet determination in that film, and here,
the happy-go-lucky spirit is replaced with that of unfulfilled
dreams and the wearing down of the human soul through life’s
roadblocks. Combined with newcomer Chiwetel Ojiofor whose
character is strong
yet vulnerable, haunted and tortured yet driven and impassioned
while remaining a bit of an enigma.
He seemingly encompasses all the messages about life and
its underground denizens that the film so beautifully and
painfully portrays. Their
relationship shows that beautiful things can indeed result from
the darkest ones, one of the films many parallels to the sometimes
treacherous path that peoples lives can often take in the everyday
grind.
Ultimately,
Dirty Pretty Things is the perfect blend of social commentary,
emotional turbulence and revelatory journey of self-discovery.
Every person you pass on the street or encounter in some
way in the fight for daily survival has a story.
This is real life, a macabre fairy tale of desperation,
hope and reality, populated by examples of the mass populace who
exist just under the radar screens of being noticed.
You can look in their eyes, watch their walk, even watch
the expression on their face, but you will never truly understand
unless you get to know them.
Each of these stories, if chosen, would probably make an
interesting movie. Usually
though, the media focuses on the extremes, either the elite and
powerful, or the destitute and desolate.
In Dirty Pretty Things, Frears does as he usually does;
focusing on the oft-ignored people who walk that line in between.
They are the people who walk the middle ground.
The people who make our lives go by without us noticing. We take them for granted, yet would be able to function
without them. It is easy to forget that these people have
emotions, have known joy and pain, have good things and bad ones,
and have stories to be told.
They often wander unnoticed through life, but thanks to
directors like Frears, and writers like Steve Knight, they have a
voice. Their story
can be told in all its complexity and appreciated for its impact.
Life is not always clean and not always pretty, but without
people like Oquay, Senay, Juliette and the rest, it would not
be near as interesting.
Agree?
Disagree, Questions? Comments?
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