Sophie Okonedo's prostitute may be pleasant, but she's not a hooker with a heart of gold. But neither Frears nor Knight ever feel the need to crowbar the characters into an existing mould.

The storyline contains a number of mystery or thriller elements, with Chiwitel Ejiofor's sleepless protagonist bringing something of a film noir feel. On the other hand, Knight's screenplay constantly resists becoming too generic. By showing their different circumstances and levels of security, the film avoids the trap of caricaturing the underclass as something to be pitied, and hence it never risks us losing trust in the story. On the one hand, there are attempts made to differentiate between the different aspects or layers of the underclass: Okwe is an illegal immigrant, Senay is seeking asylum, and Guo Yi is an employed refugee. Instead, the film is a screenwriting triumph, with Knight thoroughly deserving his Oscar nod. If Steven Knight's screenplay wasn't so adept at constructing characters, Dirty Pretty Things would quickly descend into melodramatic hogwash. Signor Juan is presented as equally a monster and a twisted entrepreneur: as he says, 'I'm an evil man, and yet I am saving a life.' He is fulfilling the capitalist dream by making something of himself and earning money, but his success comes at the expense of innocent people who have no form of defence, legal or otherwise. This storyline allows the film to explore the workings of the black economy, again without either glamorising or outright condemning its participants. Throughout the film several characters sell or attempt to sell one of their kidneys to Signor Juan (Sergi Lopez) in exchange for that most coveted of items, a British passport. They exist in a limbo state where the only choice is survival, by any means and at any cost. Whether they're driving taxis or cleaning toilets, the people in this underclass live virtually hand-to-mouth with no proper rights and no chance of police protection. The central point of the film is that a capitalist society cannot function without an underclass of cheap labour which can be readily exploited. But the film is layered and nuanced enough to make xenophobe reconsider, or at least to admit how lucky they are. Though the film is nearly ten years old, the political issues it raises are still big hot potatoes rarely a week goes by without the Daily Mail bursting blood vessels over immigration numbers or benefit cheats. This is not a film which takes on a pertinent and sensitive subject only to hand it with kid gloves: it is frequently painful to watch, but in a way which is ultimately vindicated.Дirty Pretty Things is about the British underclass of illegal immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers, who come over in their thousands ever year to do the jobs that no-one else will do. Chris Menges, who has worked with Frears extensively since Gumshoe, lights London completely naturalistically, with no effort made to glamorise the characters' surroundings or gloss over the dingier aspects of London. Like much of his 1980s work, Dirty Pretty Things has an unassuming visual style. The world which Frears creates is so readily and shockingly believable that we don't need constant reminders that we are seeing might actually be based on fact.

But even if Dirty Pretty Things felt the need to boast about such things, there would be no need for it. It's all too common for a film to boast about its 'gritty realism', with most such boasting being a hopeless cover for a preposterous storyline or sub-par shooting style. With Dirty Pretty Things he returns to the gritty territory of My Beautiful Laundrette, and delivers what is possibly his finest film. His directorial stamp is so subtle that you would have difficulty convincing the casual viewer that Dangerous Liaisons and High Fidelity were directed by the same man. Over a career spanning 40 years, Stephen Frears has demonstrated versatility in his filmmaking rivalled only by Alan Parker and Ridley Scott.

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