A 'High Fidelity' to his own vision

Director Stephen Frears, in a quintessentially British move, opens a recent phone conversation with an apology.

He's lost his glasses, and is frantically retracing his steps to locate them. So please forgive any interruptions or distractions.

It's an ironic problem for the owner of one of the most distinctive visions in cinema. His new film "Dirty Pretty Things," which opened strongly in limited release and goes nationwide Friday (Aug.1), is the latest addition to a celebrated body of movies made over more than two decades that includes "High Fidelity," "The Grifters," and "Dangerous Liaisons." Although it lacks traditional summer-movie pyrotechnics, his critically acclaimed new picture may be poised to become an art-house hit.

"Dirty Pretty Things" is the story of Okwe (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian doctor who, running from his past, is now an illegal immigrant in London who moonlights as a cab driver by day and hotel porter by night.

In the wee hours when Okwe watches the hotel, those few guests not sleeping are engaging in one criminal activity or another, from prostitution to operating a black market for human organs. Because Okwe and his immigrant friends are also wanted by the authorities, they feel powerless to stop the shady underworld dealings that surround them.

Costarring French actress Audrey Tatou of "Amélie" in her first English-speaking role (she plays a Turkish maid who befriends Okwe), the film dramatizes the hardships immigrants face from both sides of the law. At the same time, Frears presents this societal exposé like a Hitchcockian thriller, mixing food for thought with popcorn-movie excitement.

"I grew up with films that were both intelligent and entertaining," says Frears, who cites the classic movie "The Third Man" as an influence. "It's a combination that I found irresistible."

Curiously, the film was written by Steve Knight, who helped create the TV game show "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" and has done very little screenwriting. Frears worked with Mr. Knight to focus the script, which initially, he says, "got distracted and went down a road that I thought was not relevant to what we were trying to do.

"But I really thought the script made good observations. Some people just have good ideas."

"Dirty Pretty Things" was shot in Frears's hometown of London, his first onscreen foray there since 1985's "My Beautiful Laundrette." Frears calls London "a very difficult city to film in. You're made to feel very unwelcome. But what was striking about the script was what a modern account of London it was. Nobody had tackled like this the sort of change that had taken place over the last 10 years or so. It's a very multicultural city." (Perhaps the Notting Hill resident missed Zadie Smith's epic "White Teeth?")

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