My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Hanif Kureishi (written by)

Release Date:

April 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

An ambitious Asian Briton and his white lover strive for success and hope, when they open up a glamorous laundromat.

Plot Keywords:

Laundromat | London England | Thatcher | Indo Pak | Mistress

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Saeed Jaffrey	...	Nasser Hussein
Roshan Seth	...	Ali Hussein
Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Johnny (as Daniel Day Lewis)
Gordon Warnecke	...	Omar Hussein
Derrick Branche	...	Salim N. Hussein
Rita Wolf	...	Tania N. Hussein
Souad Faress	...	Cherry N. Hussein
Richard Graham	...	Genghis
Shirley Anne Field	...	Rachel
Winston Graham	...	Jamaican One
Charu Bala Chokshi	...	Bilquis (as Charu Bala Choksi)
Dudley Thomas	...	Jamaican Two
Garry Cooper	...	Squatter
Neil Cunningham	...	Englishman
Persis Maravala	...	Nasser's Elder Daughter
Walter Donohue	...	Dick O'Donnell
Nisha Kapur	...	Nasser's Younger Daughter
Stephen Marcus	...	Moose
Badi Uzzaman	...	Dealer
Ayub Khan-Din	...	Student
Gurdial Sira	...	Zaki
Chris Pitt	...	Kid One
Dawn Archibald	...	Gang Member One
Kerryann White	...	Kid Two
Gerard Horan	...	Telephone Man
Jonathan Moore	...	Gang Member Two
Ram John Holder	...	Poet
Colin Campbell	...	Madame Butterfly Man
Bhasker Patel	...	Tariq
Dulice Liecier	...	Girl in Disco (as Dulice Leicier)
Sheila Chitnis	...	Zaki's Wife
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Persis Khambatta	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Stephen Frears

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hanif Kureishi		written by

Produced by
Tim Bevan	....	producer
Sarah Radclyffe	....	producer

Original Music by
Ludus Tonalis

Cinematography by
Oliver Stapleton

Film Editing by
Mick Audsley

Casting by
Debbie McWilliams

Production Design by
Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski		(as Hugo Luczyc Wyhowski)

Costume Design by
Lindy Hemming

Makeup Department
Elaine Carew	....	makeup artist
Wendy Rawson	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Jane Frazer	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Gary Davies	....	third assistant director
Simon Hinkly	....	first assistant director
Waldo Roeg	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Mark Allett	....	stand-by props
Alison Dominitz	....	assistant art director
Alastair Gow	....	constructor
Raymond Perry	....	stand-by props (as Ray Perry Jr.)
Ray Perry Sr.	....	property master
Julian Rothenstein	....	graphic artist
Robin Thistlewaite	....	constructor
Jeanne Vertigan	....	production buyer

Sound Department
Albert Bailey	....	sound recordist
St. Clair Davis	....	boom operator
Peter Maxwell	....	dubbing mixer
'Budge' Tremlett	....	dubbing editor
Matthew Whiteman	....	assistant dubbing editor
Steve Hancock	....	sound camera operator (uncredited)

Stunts
Jim Dowdall	....	stunt coordinator
Tracey Eddon	....	stunts (as Tracey Eddons)
Wayne Michaels	....	stunts
Nosher Powell	....	stunt coordinator
Rocky Taylor	....	stunt coordinator
Tip Tipping	....	stunts
Bill Weston	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Fiona Cunningham-Reid	....	clapper loader
Malcolm Davies	....	gaffer
Martin Duncan	....	electrician
Tony Hare	....	electrician
Anthony James	....	camera trainee
Steve Keith-Roach	....	focus puller
Mike Laye	....	still photographer
Dave McWhinney	....	electrician (as Dave McWhinnie)
Jamie Monks	....	second camera grip
Jim Monks	....	camera grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Karen Sharpe	....	wardrobe mistress

Editorial Department
Jason Adams	....	first assistant editor
Chris Cook	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Stanley Myers	....	music producer
Hans Zimmer	....	music producer

Transportation Department
Harry Vincent	....	driver: property

Other crew
Ronald Bailey	....	national film school attachment
Jo Brown	....	national film school attachment
Chris Bruce	....	unit runner (was: Bruce, Chris 20030812)
Abdul Chowdray	....	national film school attachment
Bill Craster	....	production accountant
Anuree De Silva	....	national film school attachment
Penny Eyles	....	continuity
Sam Garwood	....	production runner
Graime Marmion	....	assistant production accountant
Charlie McGrigor	....	unit runner
Rebecca O'Brien	....	location manager
Sarah O'Brien	....	production assistant
Andrew Young	....	projectionist

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• SAF Productions
• Working Title Films

Distributors

• Cineplex-Odeon Home Video (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• Homescreen (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Karl-Lorimar Home Video (KLV-TV) (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• MCA Home Video (1986) (Canada) (VHS)
• Mainline Pictures (1985) (UK)
• Mundial Filmes (Brazil) (video)
• Orion Classics (1986) (USA)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1986) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Video Collection International (1999) (UK) (VHS)
• Virgin Video (1986) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Film Lighting Services  lighting equipment
• Frameline Productions Ltd.  titles
• Griptruck  camera equipment
• Technicolor  processing

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Urdu

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/16 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

245 Queenstown Road, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and A Room with a View (1985) both opened in New York on the same day, March 7, 1986. Both movies featured Daniel Day-Lewis in prominent and very different roles: in A Room with a View, he played a repressed, snobbish Edwardian upperclassman, while in Laundrette, he played a lower-class gay ex-skinhead in love with an ambitious Pakistani businessman in Thatcher's London. When American critics saw Day-Lewis, who was then virtually unknown in the US, in two such different roles on the same day, many (including Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times and Vincent Canby of The New York Times) raved about the talent it must have taken him to play such vastly different characters.

Quotes:

Nasser: [whilst having sex with his lover] Christ, you move like a liner.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Indiana Jones: Making the Trilogy (2003) (V)

A perfect slice of Thatcherite Britain.....oh! And a fab gay romance..

A classic film in my book, My Beautiful Laundrette is the story of Omar, a young restless Asian man caring for his alcoholic father in Thatcherite London. Escape comes in the form of his uncles many and varied business ventures,...

Anyone who experienced anything of life in '80's Britain will recognise the craving for instant financial success. Similarly I am sure Asian viewers will recognise the struggles inherent in finding an identity in a country which is your home but which can never feel quite like your real home.

Omar dreams of success so works to achieve it...along the way he meets up with old school-friend Johnny, who has betrayed him by falling in with a group of neo-nazi's. Omar soon has Johnny working for him and his uncle. Turning the tables on him as he is made to rely on the very people he has been taught to hate. The chemistry between Omar and Johnny is palpable and their relationship handled totally matter-of-factly. About the only part of the film not trying to score any political points is the gay relationship. There is a "so-what" attitude and no-one comes out at any point. And why should they?

Tension in the film is far more the result of socio-economic and racial inequalities. The whole thing is handled with grace, charm and wit. Anyone remotely familier with British film in particular will note the starry casting of supporting roles, though Danial Day Lewis is - now - the biggest star of the show. Here he shows the real substance behind his fame - more so than in any other film of his seen to date. The cast is universally excellent and the unique shooting, pacing and dialogue, quite quite brilliant.

Some of the shots in this film could be used as a template for brilliance...An unexpected kiss in a dark alley is easily the most erotic single shot I have seen in a film.

Despite a few reviews I have read claiming otherwise, I don't believe you need to be gay or Asian to get something out of this picture. Living in Britain may help, though it's a lot less than essential.......

And hey! Wouldn't you love to throw your knickers into the washing machines of a neon-lit music-filled laudrette from heaven run by two insatiably young and energetic lovers?

Well I would anyway! Pass the detergent this way please!