Themes: Immigrant Life, Culture Clash, Political Unrest
Main Cast: Charlotte Coleman, Charles Kay, Rosalind Ayres, Roger Sloman, Heather Tobias
Release Year: 1998
Country: UK
Run Time: 109 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Jasmin Dizdar's debut feature takes place in London on October 13, 1993. England is to play against Holland in a critical World Cup qualifier. The Bosnian war is at its height, Sebrenica is besieged, and the UN is preparing relief airdrops. Serbian Dado Jehan and Croatian Faruk Pruti meet on a London bus. Recognizing each other as fellow refugees from the same village in Bosnia, they try to beat each other up. The subsequent crazy chase through the streets of central London sets the scene for a highly charged dark comedy. Beautiful People draws a portrait of the multicultural life of London where lives of British families are inadvertently linked with the lives of the refugees. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
Danny Nussbaum - Kate Higgins; Gilbert Martin - Jerry Higgins; Steve Sweeney - Jim; Linda Bassett - Nurse; Nicholas Farrell - Dr. Mouldy; Nick McGaughey - Welsh Nationalist
Credit
Suzanne Crowley - Casting, Gilly Poole - Casting, Jasmin Dizdar - Director, Justin Krish - Editor, Ben Gibson - Executive Producer, Jon Henson - Production Designer, Barry Ackroyd - Cinematographer, Ben Woolford - Producer, Dave Humphries - Sound/Sound Designer, Jasmin Dizdar - Screenwriter
In London, during October 1993, England is playing the Netherlands in the preliminaries of the World Cup. The Bosnian War is at its height, and refugees from the ex-Yugoslavia are arriving. Football rivals, and political adversaries from the Balkans all precipitate conflict and amusing situations. Meanwhile, the lives of four English families are affected in different ways by encounter with the refugees; one of the families improbably becomes involved with a Balkan refugee through the England vs. Holland match.
