My Beautiful Laundrette

United Kingdom

1985

97 Min

Color

1.66:1

English, Urdu

Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
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PROD Tim Bevan, Sarah Radclyffe

CAST Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Derrick Branche, Rita Wolf, Souad Faress, Shirley Anne Field

MUSIC Ludus Tonalis

Toronto, Edinburgh, San Francisco, Toronto

Synopsis

Much of the Pakistani Hussein family has settled in London, striving for the riches promised by Thatcherism. Nasser and his right hand man, Salim, have a number of small businesses and they do whatever they need to make money, even if the activities are illegal. As such, Nasser and his immediate family live more than a comfortable lifestyle, and he flaunts his riches whenever he can. Meanwhile, his brother, alcoholic Ali, once a famous journalist in Pakistan, lives in a seedy flat with his son, Omar. Ali’s life in London is not as lucrative in part because of his left leaning politics, which does not mesh with the ideals of Thatcherism. To help his brother, Nasser gives Omar a job doing menial labor. But Omar, with bigger plans, talks Nasser into letting him manage Nasser’s run down laundrette. Omar seizes what he sees as an opportunity to make the laundrette a success, and employs an old friend… –IMDb

Director

Stephen Frears

Frears was born in Leicester, England to an Anglican father and a Jewish mother. Attended the Trinity College in Cambridge before starting his carreer in television where he contributed to several high-profile series such as the BBC’s Play for Today. In the mid-1980s he came to prominence as an important director of British and later American films. It was his production of the one-off drama My Beautiful Laundrette for Channel 4 in 1985 that led to his notice as a capable film director when the production was released theatrically to great acclaim. He next directed another successful British film, the Joe Orton biopic Prick Up Your Ears in 1987, followed by a second film from a Hanif Kureshi screen play, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. The following year he made his Hollywood debut with Dangerous Liaisons. Frears had another critical success with The Grifters, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director but suffered a major box office disappointment with Hero, starring… read more

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ramosbarajas

28Feb12

At first sight, it seems dated and bad, but I feel there is just so much to this. The story is subtle and straightforward, but the way it's executed makes it a great film. It definitely belongs on 80s canon. And the performances are very very good, with obvious emphasis on a young Daniel Day Lewis. I feel that context of its production is necessary to 'get' this film so if you see it, please read about the making of.

Laura Katherine

26Nov11

I can't stop thinking about this film.

Lorena

12Sep11

There's no words to describe how terrific Daniel Day Lewis is (oops, I just used the word terrific). I <3 him

Sarah J. Bean

25Jul11

Amazing performances from a film that is just straight-up odd (especially Saeed Jaffrey who hasn't been seen since), it would take multiple watches to really deem its star value. No intense plot lines or surprising directions, but altogether well-paced, well-directed and a one-of-a-kind story. There was some extremely quotable dialogue as well, making the film rather charming. + early Daniel Day-Lewis.