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Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, Director Commentary
From Stephen Frears, the Oscar-nominated director of The Grifters (Best Director, 1990) and Dangerous Liaisons, Dirty Pretty Things stars Audrey Tautou (Amelie) in a harrowing tale of struggle and survival for two immigrants who learn that everything is for sale in London's secret underworld! Part of an invisible working class, Nigerian exile Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Turkish chambermaid Senay (Tautou) toil at a west London hotel that is full of illegal activity. Then late one night Okwe makes a shocking discovery, which creates an impossible dilemma and tests the limits of all they know! Honored with numerous European film awards and nominations -- including wins at the London Critics Circle Film Awards and the Venice Film Festival -- you'll find this gritty urban thriller to be thoroughly engrossing and impossible to forget!
"...the best ensemble cast I've seen this year." Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
"...part melodrama, part social critique, and part black comedy all rolled into one..." Nicholas Schager, filmcritic.com
"...a modern horror story that means to shake you, and does." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Editor's Note
Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a remarkably understated performance in director Stephen Frears's offbeat and gripping drama DIRTY PRETTY THINGS. Ejiofor stars as Okwe, a Nigerian who is trying to make a new life for himself in London, where he works days as a taxi driver and nights as a hotel desk receptionist. When he discovers a human heart in a hotel-room bathroom, he cannot go to the police because he is an illegal alien with a mysterious past that he refuses to talk about. Suddenly he is thrust into the middle of a dangerous situation that threatens to have tragic results for him and those around him. French ingenue Audrey Tautou costars as a Turkish woman who has sought asylum in England, where she is allowed to live but not work. But she must make money, so she works secretly while the government tries to catch her. Benedict Wong turns in a fine supporting performance as Guo Yi, a morgue employee who shares wise and humorous sayings with Okwe, and Sergi Lopez is absolutely chilling as the amorally opportunistic hotel manager. Frears directs the unusual proceedings with a deft hand, slowly revealing secrets that are as gruesome as they are poignant.
| Features | Commentary With Director Stephen Frears | | Behind The Scenes |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Buena Vista |
| Release Date: 3/7/2006 |
| Running Time: 107 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2003 | | Catalog ID: 3318703 | | UPC: 00786936232073 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Somali | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English, Somali | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
British Academy Awards (2003) | | | Tracey Seaward, Robert Jones, Stephen Frears , Nominee, Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film | | | Steve Knight , Nominee, Best Screenplay (Original) | |
Venice Film Festival (2003) |  | Stephen Frears, Winner, Sergio Trasatti Award | | | Stephen Frears, Nominee, Golden Lion |
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...A swift, tangy drama....[An] understated and sure film....Mr. Knight's climactic story-beat achieves its purpose with a minimum of fuss, abetted by the elegant thoughtfulness of Mr. Frears and the no-nonsense charisma of Mr. Ejiofor..." 07/18/2003 p.E13Los Angeles Times
"...Disturbing and intriguing, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS fits a great deal into its 94 quicksilver minutes....This is a film that insinuates itself deeply into our awareness..." 07/18/2003 p.C1 USA Today
"...Culture clashes in the U.K. are a common screen topic, but Frears is a master....It is dirtier than pretty, but Frears finds beauty in the telling..." 07/18/2003 p.4E Rolling Stone
"...Fueled by gripping suspense, dark humor and outraged humanity, the film is a modern horror story that means to shake you and does..." 08/07/2003 p.78 Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...It's a suspense thriller, a dark comedy, an astute sociological study of the 'New Europe', and a haunting love story, all rolled into one smashing film..." 07/01/2003 p.114-15 Premiere
"[W]orthy, intelligent, tense, and mostly quite wonderful..." 05/01/2004 p.96 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 7 of 10
Frears is one of modern cinema's most diverse and eclectic directors. He moves freely from big Holly - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
Crucial to the success of Dirty Pretty Things is the performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor--who, I - Roger Ebert
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