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IMDbPro

My Beautiful Laundrette

  • 19851985
  • RR
  • 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
16K
YOUR RATING
Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
An ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.
Play trailer2:02
2 Videos
99+ Photos
ComedyDramaRomance
An ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.An ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.An ambitious Pakistani Briton and his white boyfriend strive for success and hope when they open a glamorous laundromat.
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
16K
YOUR RATING
    • Stephen Frears
    • Hanif Kureishi(by)
  • Stars
    • Saeed Jaffrey
    • Roshan Seth
    • Daniel Day-Lewis
    • Stephen Frears
    • Hanif Kureishi(by)
  • Stars
    • Saeed Jaffrey
    • Roshan Seth
    • Daniel Day-Lewis
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 81User reviews
    • 40Critic reviews
    • 75Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar

    Videos2

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:02
    Watch Official Trailer
    Top 5 Forbidden-Love Films With 'Disobedience' Star Alessandro Nivola
    Video 2:33
    Watch Top 5 Forbidden-Love Films With 'Disobedience' Star Alessandro Nivola

    Photos120

    Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Rita Wolf in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Saeed Jaffrey and Roshan Seth in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Derrick Branche in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Saeed Jaffrey and Shirley Anne Field in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Rita Wolf in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Daniel Day-Lewis, Saeed Jaffrey, Gordon Warnecke, and Rita Wolf in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)
    Roshan Seth in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Saeed Jaffrey
    Saeed Jaffrey
    • Uncle Nasser
    Roshan Seth
    Roshan Seth
    • Papa Hussein
    Daniel Day-Lewis
    Daniel Day-Lewis
    • Johnny
    • (as Daniel Day Lewis)
    Richard Graham
    Richard Graham
    • Genghis
    Winston Graham
    • Jamaican One
    Dudley Thomas
    • Jamaican Two
    Derrick Branche
    Derrick Branche
    • Salim
    Garry Cooper
    Garry Cooper
    • Squatter
    Gordon Warnecke
    Gordon Warnecke
    • Omar
    Shirley Anne Field
    Shirley Anne Field
    • Rachel
    Charu Bala Chokshi
    • Bilquis
    • (as Charu Bala Choksi)
    Souad Faress
    Souad Faress
    • Cherry
    Rita Wolf
    Rita Wolf
    • Tania
    Persis Maravala
    • Nasser's Elder Daughter
    Nisha Kapur
    • Nasser's Younger Daughter
    Neil Cunningham
    • Englishman
    Walter Donohue
    • Dick O'Donnell
    Gurdial Sira
    • Zaki
      • Stephen Frears
      • Hanif Kureishi(by)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      This film 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 Sheila Benson of the LA Times) raved about the talent it must have taken him to play such vastly different characters. In his review of My Beautiful Laundrette, Roger Ebert wrote, "A movie like this lives or dies with its performances, and the actors in 'My Beautiful Laundrette' are a fascinating group of unknowns.... The character of Johnny may cause you to blink if you've just seen the wonderful 'A Room with a View.' He is played by Daniel Day-Lewis, the same actor who, in 'Room,' plays the heroine's affected fiancee, Cecil. Seeing these two performances side by side is an affirmation of the miracle of acting: That one man could play these two opposites is astonishing."
    • Quotes

      Johnny: Ain't nothing I can say to make it up to you. There's only things I can do to show you... That I am with you.

    • Connections
      Featured in Hooray for Holyrood (1986)

    User reviews81

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    What A Laundrette!
    'My Beautiful Laundrette' takes a look at the 80's local life within the Asian communities in England and between the British Southeast Asians and the British Caucasians. What I loved about this film is that it presents its themes without going overboard to explain or to resolve anything. When we see a relationship develop between Omar and Johnny, one would expect to see them get attacked for it and then expect a preachy message like gays have rights too but there is nothing like that. There are scenes where the British Asians are being humiliated but this too does not lead to a bloodbath of sorts. It is all downplayed and subtle. It's about the characters, rather than a social message (but that's there too).

    'My Beautiful Laundrette' mainly centres around Omar and his relationship with Johnny. Hanif Kureishi is known for telling tales about unconventional relationships and I thought it was great that both characters were shown to be open about their relationships in spite of their background. I mean they weren't screaming from the roof or anything but these two individuals did not care what others would think concerning their relationships. Frears deserves full marks for telling the story in such a raw, real, humorous and coherent way. The humour too is subtle and dry and flows well through the story.

    The renovated laundrette too plays a crucial role. It is a place of comfort for Omar and Johnny, kind of like a home they built and decorated. The customers are amused by the beauty of it. A fascinated Nasser dances with his girlfriend while the customers eagerly wait outside. Thus, it becomes a place of comfort for many.

    The characters are well etched. Both their strength and fragility is well displayed by the actors. Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke are excellent as Johnny and Omar. Day-Lewis brilliantly brings out Johnny's vulnerable and passionate side while on the exterior he appears as a tough and scary guy. Likewise Warnecke too effectively portrays Omar's determination and passion. A charismatic Saeed Jaffrey is phenomenal as the cheerful helpful uncle who goes through his own transformation. Rita Wolf is wonderful as the daughter who's in search of her own identity. Roshan Seth is good as the whiny father. The rest of the cast do well.

    Pretty much all the characters are in search of something except that Omar and Johnny find what they want and Nasser loses what he had. The film does not end by providing a solution for everyone. And that is one of the many brilliance of it as it reflects that everyone has their own life to deal with and questions will arise but life goes on and it is up to us to choose the answer.

    Simply great.
    helpful•39
    5
    • Chrysanthepop
    • Nov 5, 2008

    Details

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    • Release date
      • April 4, 1986 (United States)
      • United Kingdom
      • English
      • Urdu
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • 245 Queenstown Road, Battersea, London, England, UK
    • Production companies
      • Working Title Films
      • SAF Productions
      • Channel Four Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 37 minutes
      • Color
      • Mono

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