Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Hanif Kureishi (writer)

Release Date:

30 October 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

As London burns...

Plot:

Sammy and Rosie are an unconventional middle-class London married couple. They live in the midst of inner-city chaos...

Plot Keywords:

Political | Photography | Riot | Interracial Relationship | Adultery

Cast

Shashi Kapoor	...	Rafi Rahman
Frances Barber	...	Rosie Hobbs
Claire Bloom	...	Alice
Ayub Khan-Din	...	Sammy
Roland Gift	...	Danny / Victoria
Wendy Gazelle	...	Anna
Suzette Llewellyn	...	Vivia
Meera Syal	...	Rani
Badi Uzzaman	...	Ghost
Tessa Wojtczak	...	Bridget
Emer Gillespie	...	Eva
Lesley Manville	...	Margy
Mark Sproston	...	Young Policeman
Cynthia Powell	...	Woman in Kitchen
Dennis Conlon	...	Asian Shopkeeper
Magussi Shimanuki	...	Japanese Woman
Buster Bloodvessel	...	Ringerman
Peter Kelly	...	Property Developer
Carol Frazer	...	Property Developer's Wife
Nicholas Pritchard	...	Tory M.P
Valerie Buchanan	...	Danny's Girlfriend
Allister Bain	...	Father
Cleo Sylvestre	...	Mother
Freddie Brooks	...	Son
Maurice O. Iley	...	Gardener's Boy
Tariq Alibai	...	Asian Accountant
Patrick David	...	Deaf Young Man
Paul Daley	...	Danny's Boy
Agnes Laye	...	Eva's Baby
Ade Sapara	...	Michael
Gerard Horan	...	Restaurant Manager
Anne Wood	...	Pizzicata Sisters
Anna Hemery	...	Pizzicata Sisters
Allan Adebisi	...	Drag Artiste
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexander Siddig
Jane Gurnett	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Colin MacCabe	...	Semiotics Professor (uncredited)

Directed by
Stephen Frears

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hanif Kureishi		writer

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

Original Music by
Stanley Myers

Cinematography by
Oliver Stapleton

Film Editing by
Mick Audsley

Casting by
Debbie McWilliams

Production Design by
Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski

Art Direction by
David McHenry

Costume Design by
Barbara Kidd

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Guy Travers	....	assistant director
Kevin Westley	....	additional third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Mark Hedges	....	dressing prop

Sound Department
Albert Bailey	....	sound mixer
Steve Hancock	....	sound camera operator
Peter Maxwell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Laurie McDowell	....	foley editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Paul Borg	....	best boy
Stewart Hadley	....	rigging gaffer
Tony Hester	....	gaffer

Music Department
Charlie Gillett	....	additional music supervisor
Vlad Naslas	....	composer: additional music
Alan Snelling	....	music editor
Ed Stratton	....	composer: additional music
Ray Williams	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
Richard Booz	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Bernard Bellew	....	unit runner
Patrick Isherwood	....	production accountant

Production Companies

• Channel Four Films
• Working Title Films

Distributors

• Cinecom Pictures (1987) (USA) (theatrical)
• Palace Pictures (1987) (UK) (theatrical)
• Alvorada Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• PolyGram Video (1994) (UK) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1988) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• ARRI Lighting Rental  light equipment
• Film Wheels Ltd.  transport

Also Known As:

Sammy and Rosie (Canada: English title)

Runtime:

Germany:101 min | USA:100 min | Argentina:101 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:18 | Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

During its initial release, many American newspapers would not run ads with the full title. Ads would show "Sammy and Rosie" printed at the top of a poster, with the bottom part shredded up.

Soundtrack:

The Jack That House Built

a mess of a movie, head and shoulders above the usual Hollywood dreckarhea

OK, I'm predjudiced. I love English cinema. This might not be the best, but I"ve watched it a few times, and I like it better each time.

Hanif Kureishi the chronicler of Indians, Pakistanis, and their love/hate relationship with England, can't be blamed for all the confusion. Stephen Frears and his editor come in for some of the blame. And I wonder how the actors go about their jobs? I mean, we see the final print, and get some sense of what the writing and directorial team had in mind, But sometimes the actors get only their scene to learn; some later scenes are filmed first, probably to save money on certain location shots, and some of the actors are doing theatre gigs and are only available certain times. You think you have problems? This is basically your average bleeding heart liberal 60's/90's epic. The poor are pushed to violent revolution by an uncaring conservative government that sends them checks every week, so they can dress in garish costumes, march in parades, playing instruments they never bothered to learn... why trouble a child with lessons and practicing when all these hippy darlings want to experience, is the pure joy of a child the first time it is given an instrument? The cast is peopled with the great actors from India who would be better known if they had Anglicised names. I've seen these guys a lot and I apoligise to them, but there's no way my attention deficit mind can remember their names. Anyway, it's a beautiful mess that begins to make sense after two or three viewings.