"My Beautiful Laundrette," released in 1985, is many things: a study of Britain in the '80s, a class story, the story of Pakistanis trying to assimilate, and a gay love story. Somehow it succeeds on all levels.
Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a young Pakistani living in England and caring for his alcoholic, very ill father Hussein (Roshan Seth), once an important journalist whose left leanings haven't gone over very well in Britain. His wife committed suicide by throwing herself onto the train tracks outside of their home. Hussein intends for Omar to go to college, but in the meantime, he wants his brother Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), who runs many businesses with his right hand man Salim (Derrick Branche), to give Omar a job.
Omar is ambitious and eventually asks his uncle to let him run the filthy, graffiti-ridden laundrette and make it profitable. Omar sees an old school friend, Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) on the street; Johnny has fallen in with a neo-Nazi group. However, the two reconnect, and Omar convinces Johnny to work with him at the laundrette. They rip off Salim during a drug deal to get money and make the place quite fancy. And Johnny has no compunction about seducing Omar.
One of the things that makes this film fascinating is the treatment of the gay theme, which is not really treated as a theme at all but merely as information about these two young men. Omar doesn't "come out" to his family, no one catches them in the act and is shocked, no one beats them up because they're gay, no one is killed because he's gay, and no one commits suicide because of it. If Omar doesn't tell his family, it's because it's none of their business. He's under pressure to get married, but he doesn't do it. What he will do in the future, obviously, is unknown, but he'll risk losing Johnny so he may never give into the pressure.
The story is more about people living in a country that isn't their own and attempting to "make it," which was the promise of the '80s under Thatcher, and it's about a class system that looks down on poor whites like Johnny. It's also about racial hatred and the violence it causes.
The film is peppered with interesting characters: Nasser's glamorous white mistress (Shirley Anne Field), Nasser's daughter Tania (Rita Wolf), and the volatile Salim.
The film is beautifully photographed, particularly in the romantic scenes...Johnny kissing Omar in the alley is but one example.
The acting --- well, what can be said about acting where Daniel Day-Lewis has a supporting role? It's bound to be good! This film was released on the same day as A Room with a View, and when critics saw Day-Lewis in two such different roles, they were mightily impressed. With his weird hair and low-class accent, Day-Lewis is a likable Johnny, unashamed of his sexuality and trying to get away from a life of violence. The handsome Warnecke is a sympathetic Omar, and Jaffrey and Seth give vivid portraits of two diametrically opposite brothers, one interested in money and flaunting it, the other a beaten-down, sick man of principle. Rita Wolf is a feisty Tania, and Shirley Anne Field is delightful as Rachel.
Excellent film that I'm sure resonates even more if you're British or, better yet, an immigrant in Britain. Excellently directed by Stephen Frears.
Omar (Gordon Warnecke) is a young Pakistani living in England and caring for his alcoholic, very ill father Hussein (Roshan Seth), once an important journalist whose left leanings haven't gone over very well in Britain. His wife committed suicide by throwing herself onto the train tracks outside of their home. Hussein intends for Omar to go to college, but in the meantime, he wants his brother Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), who runs many businesses with his right hand man Salim (Derrick Branche), to give Omar a job.
Omar is ambitious and eventually asks his uncle to let him run the filthy, graffiti-ridden laundrette and make it profitable. Omar sees an old school friend, Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis) on the street; Johnny has fallen in with a neo-Nazi group. However, the two reconnect, and Omar convinces Johnny to work with him at the laundrette. They rip off Salim during a drug deal to get money and make the place quite fancy. And Johnny has no compunction about seducing Omar.
One of the things that makes this film fascinating is the treatment of the gay theme, which is not really treated as a theme at all but merely as information about these two young men. Omar doesn't "come out" to his family, no one catches them in the act and is shocked, no one beats them up because they're gay, no one is killed because he's gay, and no one commits suicide because of it. If Omar doesn't tell his family, it's because it's none of their business. He's under pressure to get married, but he doesn't do it. What he will do in the future, obviously, is unknown, but he'll risk losing Johnny so he may never give into the pressure.
The story is more about people living in a country that isn't their own and attempting to "make it," which was the promise of the '80s under Thatcher, and it's about a class system that looks down on poor whites like Johnny. It's also about racial hatred and the violence it causes.
The film is peppered with interesting characters: Nasser's glamorous white mistress (Shirley Anne Field), Nasser's daughter Tania (Rita Wolf), and the volatile Salim.
The film is beautifully photographed, particularly in the romantic scenes...Johnny kissing Omar in the alley is but one example.
The acting --- well, what can be said about acting where Daniel Day-Lewis has a supporting role? It's bound to be good! This film was released on the same day as A Room with a View, and when critics saw Day-Lewis in two such different roles, they were mightily impressed. With his weird hair and low-class accent, Day-Lewis is a likable Johnny, unashamed of his sexuality and trying to get away from a life of violence. The handsome Warnecke is a sympathetic Omar, and Jaffrey and Seth give vivid portraits of two diametrically opposite brothers, one interested in money and flaunting it, the other a beaten-down, sick man of principle. Rita Wolf is a feisty Tania, and Shirley Anne Field is delightful as Rachel.
Excellent film that I'm sure resonates even more if you're British or, better yet, an immigrant in Britain. Excellently directed by Stephen Frears.