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My Beautiful Laundrette
Directed by	Stephen Frears
Produced by	Tim Bevan,; Sarah Radclyffe
Written by	Hanif Kureishi
Starring	Daniel Day-Lewis,; Gordon Warnecke,; Saeed Jaffrey,; Roshan Seth
Cinematography	Oliver Stapleton
Editing by	Mick Audsley
Distributed by	Mainline Pictures
Release date(s)	November 16, 1985
Running time	97 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$400,000 (estimated)

My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 film directed by Stephen Frears. The screenplay was written by Hanif Kureishi.

[edit] Plot

Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is the son of a Pakistani journalist who lives in London but hates Britain and its international politics. By contrast, Omar's paternal uncle Nasser is a successful entrepreneur and an active member of the London Asian community. Omar's father asks his uncle to give him a job and, after working for a brief time as a car washer in one of his uncle's garages, he is assigned the task of running a run-down laundrette and turning it into a profitable business.

Omar's car is attacked by a group of right-wing extremists shouting racist slogans: among them he recognizes an old friend of his, Johnny (Daniel Day Lewis). Johnny agrees to help Omar, and they resume a love affair which (it is implied) had been interrupted after school.

At Nasser's, Omar meets a few other members of the Pakistani community: Tania, Nasser's daughter and possibly a future bride; and Salim, who trafficks drugs and hires him to deliver them from the airport. Running out of money, Omar and Johnny sell one of Salim's deliveries to make cash for the laundrette redecoration.

The laundrette becomes a success. At the opening day, Nasser visits the store with his mistress, Rachel. They dance together in the laundrette while Omar and Johnny are having sex in the back room. Omar and Johnny are almost caught by Nasser, but Omar claims they were sleeping. Tania confronts Rachel about having an affair with her father, Nasser. Nasser and Rachel leave the laundrette and fight, Rachel storms off. She later falls ill with a skin rash apparently caused by a potion made by his wife, and decides to leave him.

Omar proposes to Tania, but she decides to leave. She drops by and asks Johnny to go away with her; he refuses because he does not want to leave Omar, and she departs.

Omar's father is unhappy with his son running a laundrette and appeals to Johnny to persuade Omar to go to college.

Omar decides to take over two laundrettes owned by a friend of Nasser, with the help of Salim. Salim drives Johnny and Omar to view one of the properties, and he expresses his dislike of the British non-working punks. Salim attempts to run over the group of punks who had previously attacked Omar's car and injures one of them. The group of working class punks decide to wait for Salim around the laundrette. They ambush and attack him, until Johnny decides to save him, despite their mutual dislike.

The film cuts to Nasser visiting Omar's father, and their decision about his future. Nasser sees Tania at a train platform while she is running away.

Meanwhile, Johnny's friends decide to attack him for supporting the Asian community, and beat him savagely until he is saved by Omar. Omar proceeds to clean up his wounds, and the two bond. The film ends with them splashing each other with water while topless.

[edit] Production highlights

My Beautiful Laundrette was Frears' fifth feature film. Originally shot for television, it was later released in cinemas and eventually became his first international success. The movie features an early performance by Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Johnny. The cast also includes Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Gordon Warnecke, Derrick Branche and Rita Wolf.

The film benefits from a widely praised original screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, which depicts London life in the Thatcher Era through the complex — and often comical relationships between members of the Asian and White community. The plot tackles many polemical issues, such as homosexuality, racism and England's economic and political policy during the 1980s.

The soundtrack was produced by Stanley Myers and Hans Zimmer, and written by Ludus Tonalis. Non-original music included the waltz Les Patineurs, by French composer Emile Waldteufel, and excerpts from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

My Beautiful Laundrette marked the first time Oliver Stapleton was in charge of the cinematography in one of Frears' movies. He would later grow to be one of the director's most stable collaborators. This film was also one of the first films released by Working Title Films.

[edit] Awards

My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated in 1987 for a single Academy Award – Best Original Screenplay, by Hanif Kureishi. It lost to Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters. Kureishi received a few more non-US nominations, most notably for the BAFTA in his home country, and was awarded by the American National Society of Film Critics.

[edit] See also

London in film

[edit] External links

My Beautiful Laundrette at the Internet Movie Database
Channel 4 Review: uncredited
Slant Magazine Review: Eric Henderson
The Chicago Sun-Times Review: Roger Ebert

Contents

[edit] Plot

[edit] Production highlights

[edit] Awards

[edit] See also

[edit] External links