Movies

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday June 23, 2008

Doug Anderson

Dirty Pretty Things

(2002) SBS, 10.20pm

From the refined facades and gilded corridors of The Queen, Stephen Frears takes us into the shadowy domain of London's illegal immigrant subculture where "guest" workers survive on their wits, matching their courage with the predatory opportunism of those above them in the food chain. The story revolves around Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian doctor working illegally in Britain. Unable to return to his homeland due to political intrigue and a personal tragedy, he can't afford to dwell on the past because his future is so insecure. He shares a flat with Senay, a Turkish Muslim woman (Audrey Tatou), whose fear of deportation compromises her strong resolve to pursue her dreams of independence and liberty. Senay loves Okwe for his gentle determination but isn't game to reveal her feelings. Who can a poor girl trust? Driving cabs by day and working as a concierge at the dubious Baltic Hotel by night, Okwe stumbles upon a dark and dirty scam when he is obliged to unblock a toilet in one of the hotel's suites. The obstruction is caused by a discarded human heart which leads him, by degrees, into the murky underworld of opportunism maintained by his amoral and ruthlessly expeditious boss, Juan (the always interesting Sergi Lopez). This implacable manipulator - who shades even Harvey Keitel for cavalier indifference - runs an illegal organs-for-passports racket from the hotel and has refined his entrepreneurial skills to the most venal degree. None of the principal or supporting players are Anglo-British. Bad, good and in-between representatives of the underclass are played by "guest workers". Frears reveals a bleak and despairing society behind simple survival dreams where the holy grail of a British passport can create a life - or cost one. Recommended.

Cradle Will Rock

(1999) Seven, midnight

Tim Robbins has assembled a star-studded cast for his film about a stage musical. It's New York in 1936 and Angus Macfadyen (Orson Welles) is in the process of mounting a production of a working-class stage show about low-level battlers struggling to survive in a power-hungry world. Vested interests in the top end of town feel the show could inflame anti-capitalist sentiments and strive to have it terminated. It's a true story - a tribute to the power of theatre and to the individuals who give it that power through their commitment to causes. "Art is never dangerous unless it tells the truth!" is the strapline for the film. The fact is, good art is always dangerous because it represents the truth.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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