Details
Movie Description
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE is a highly acclaimed and beautifully rendered portrait of two boyhood friends struggling to survive in racially tense Thatcher-era Britain. Omar, a homosexual Pakistani boy living in London with his alcoholic father, lifts a chunk of drug money from another Pakistani and, with his school chum Johnny, decides to renovate a grungy laundrette. Featuring seething dialogue and visually stunning camera work, the film explores the world of modern Pakistanis trapped between two cultures in Thatcher's Britain and their white working class counterparts with no future in their own country.
Synopsis
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, directed by Stephen Frears, is a highly innovative and fantastical exploration of marginalized cultures in Thatcher-era London. Set in the Pakistani community of South London in the 1980s, the film focuses on two youths, friends from schooldays. Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a working-class white whose friends belong to the National Front, a fascist group whose members extol "white power" and bash immigrants. Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a homosexual Pakistani, lives with his leftist father who spends most of his time in bed drinking. Omar's wealthy uncle, Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), is determined to give one of the family a (small) step up, and at first gives him a lowly garage job, and then hands Omar a rundown laundrette. Omar and Johnny become lovers and decide to convert the laundrette into "a Ritz among laundrettes," a gaudy, neon-lit storefront called "Powders" complete with aquarium, video games, potted plants and piped classical muzak. Johnny looks upon the laundrette as a lifeline on which to salvage his self-respect, while Omar sees it as just the beginning step on the long road toriches. A thoughtful and innovative portrait of modern contrasts in class, race, and sex, this film defined a generation of Londoners.
Film Notes
DVD Features:
Region 1
Keep Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.66
Audio:
Mono - English
Additional Release Material:
Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
Theatrical release in the U.S.: March 7, 1986.
Although this was director Stephen Frears' third feature, it was the first to earn him widespread notoriety and put his career on firm footing.
Along with A ROOM WITH A VIEW, this film established Daniel Day-Lewis as one of the leading actors of British cinema.
Screenwriter Hanef Kureishi, then 29, collaborated with Frears on one more project, SAMMY AND ROSIE GET LAID, which continued to explore many of the same issues--race, class, and the effect of the Thatcher government on Britishsociety. Kureishi has since published novels and directed his own films.
Estimated budget: $900,000.
"The working class is such a great disappointment to me."--Papa (Roshan Seth) to Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis)
"I'm a professional businessman, not a professional Pakastani."--Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey) to Omar (Gordon Warnecke)
"Everything is waiting for you. The only thing that ever waited for me is your father."--Rachel (Shirley Anne Field) to Tania (Rita Wolf)
Industry Reviews
Included in the New York Times "10 BEST FILMS OF 1986"
New York Times - p.II,19 - Vincent Canby (12/28/1986)
"...One of the most delicate and touching love scenes in contemporary cinema....Unemphatic, guileless, easy, touching and unashamedly erotic..."
Sight and Sound - p.67 - David Robinson (12/01/1985)
"...Rude, wise, vivid social comedy....[Lewis gives] a performance that has both extraordinary technical flash and emotional substance..."
New York Times - p.C8 - Vincent Canby (03/07/1986)
"...With the superb Jaffrey and Seth as linchpins, the cast is extraordinary..."
Los Angeles Times - Sheila Benson (03/13/1986)
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