Summary: 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.
REVIEW My
Beautiful Laundrette, Stephen Frears's low-budget realization
of Hanif Kureishi's subversively critical play, captures
the contradictions of mid-'80s Thatcherism in a way that's
as fresh today as when it was new.
Wheeler-dealer Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey) sums it up when he
says, "In this damn country, which we hate and love, you
can get anything you want." He sets up his nephew Omar (Gordon
Warnecke) with a rundown laundrette and the instruction
to make it a success, which Omar temporarily does, with
the help of his childhood friend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis).
When the film was first released, it was the gay content
that dominated the conversation, whereas now it seems a
sensitive and multifaceted summation of its decade, exploring
social, ethnic, and sexual issues and contradictions.
Bringing
together two such different characters as Omar--Asian, ambitious,
for whom success is defined by wealth--and former childhood
friend Johnny--white trash, ex-National Front--was inspired.
Watching their friendship develop into love, and the ensuing
bitterness and misunderstanding that they suffer from friends
and family, is very poignant. All the lead roles are well
taken, the contradictory character of Nasser in particular.
By turns, funny, touching and anger-inducing, My Beautiful
Laundrette wears its age lightly and its era proudly.
Highly recommended
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Additional
Information
Categories: British Gay Cinema
Running
Time: 98 min, Year: 1986
Price: Around £12 on Amazon.co.uk*
Starring:
Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke,
Shirley Ann Field
Summary:
This hot, cheerfully campy soft-core soap opera follows
the tumultuous personal lives of the sexy residents of Dante's
Cove as the town's eerie supernatural history begins to affect
its present. Cheesy, sleazy, and thoroughly enjoyable, the
show's addictive first season boasts a cast of talented eye
candy that includes William Gregory Lee, Charlie David, Gregory
Michael, Tracy Scoggins, and Nadine Heimann.
My
Beautiful Laundrette, Stephen Frears's low-budget realization
of Hanif Kureishi's subversively critical play, captures
the contradictions of mid-'80s Thatcherism in a way that's
as fresh today as when it was new.
