Wednesday 4 September 2013

Extract from the essays - Dirty, Pretty, Things

All the names were deleted from articles for keeping anonymity. Each paragraph was written by different person. These are the extract of 250 words essay. Enjoy.


PRETTY THINGS


We live in a world covered with a glittering layer made of selfishness,

beautiful cars, elegant people, and technological tools. 'Dirty Pretty

Things' makes a deep cut through  this thick layer to show how other people

fight and struggle to live everyday. Those people are very far from the

dazzling word in which we live.



White people like Sneaky do  a dirty trade in sex and organs  while black people

like Okwe help other poor and illegal immigrants. In my opinion, this means that

we should not have racial discrimination. Skin colour does not relate to people’s

behavior.



It seems there are numerous escape doors surrounding us but people hardly

ever endeavor to break away in stressful circumstances.  In my opinion, we just

settle for the present because we are afraid of facing something unusual.



There is a  similar movie in Korea, Failan (2001). The Story happens not just

in Seoul and it’s more a romance rather than a thriller, but the film deals with illegal

immigrants and helpless people of the lowest social stratum in Korea. I think It is also

a very nice movie  and I’d like to recommend it to people who like the film, Dirty

Pretty Things.



From this point of view, I am not much different from him (Okwe).  What I can

do is just to do my best for my dream and just to remind my goal every

morning. Nobody can stand in for me. I have to focus on the present, like

Okwe.



The healthy abandoned heart touches both characters’ sincere hearts and

motivates them to make a dramatic jump leading to their dream. We are all

looking for our  missing part with fervent heart,  and keep gripping the invisible

filament. Senay’s naive dream hints of a hope to those who have a warm heart.



However, the man’s and the woman’s choice contrast. Did Okwe choose to go

to Nigeria for his family, indeed? Is his life in the slums in London not the Dirty

things for him? And Senay, how would she remember London? Would there

be pretty things her life in New York?



Senay’s dreams one day she can fly to New York to see ‘police on white horse’

and Okwe keeps working and seeking a method to go back to an Africa gathering

with his family. At the same time, he tries his best to help friends and the

poor. Even when he encounters the menace from Sneaky, he can still keep his

conscience and fight back. Thus, all these plots suggest the real ‘pretty’ are

positive ideals and human conscience.



I do not think London can make my  dream into reality. London is a place for my

experiment. In the early  stage, I will examine and look into phenomenon. If I

find the invisible  crack or gap in this society, I will disrupt the status quo. People

can be  taken aback by my different approach.



Moreover, the way of expressions in sound and images are really

good at linking with the characters' s emotions and situations. Seney's

dancing with her native music, the mid night silence in the hotel, (or

telephone rings in the night hotel), some ethnic music at the chaos in

the city, and so on,  make the situations realistic and effective.



As an international student, it looks like such a miserable situation and I can

understand them. In detail, some international students are waiting for their

working holiday visa very desperately. It is not exactly the same situation

but it has something in common. However, I understand the reason for   the

government policy of London.



To conclude, these chains of different contradiction represented very well how

those who are weak in society and those who control them by taking advantage

of their weakness coexist in  the shady underground society of London.



On the one hand, the sadness of the buildings and the dark colours of the

environment are particularly surprising. The feeling is that one decade ago life

was harder, and technology was not as advanced as now, for example some

problems in the movie would have been solved just by using a mobile phone.

On the other hand, I found several similarities with today’s London life. London

nowadays  is also a very stressful city, where people move all the time very fast,

just like the main character, Okwe, who works 24 hours a day to make a lot of

money.

I still remember one scene when the “ policemen wait in the hotel and try to

catch Senay”: it is soundless and it makes me feel nervous. The director does not

use any background music and keeps the scene in a freezing atmosphere. Silence

can help me pay more attention to the actors’ movement and the relationship

between them. I am led into a wired emotion and I sweat like Okwe does. It is a

very brilliant way to use silence while something is going to happen. It is very

common in films but it is still impressed me.


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