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My Beautiful Laundrette
1985
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE is a highly acclaimed and beautifully rendered portrait of two boyhood friends struggling to survive in racially tense Thatcher-era Britain. Omar, a homosexual Pakistani boy living in London with his alcoholic father, lifts a chunk of drug money from another Pakistani and, with his school chum Johnny, .. Read more
| Starring | Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke |
|---|---|
| Director | Stephen Frears |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
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My Beautiful Laundrette
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE is a highly acclaimed and beautifully rendered portrait of two boyhood friends struggling to survive in racially tense Thatcher-era Britain. Omar, a homosexual Pakistani boy living in London with his alcoholic father, lifts a chunk of drug money from another Pakistani and, with his school chum Johnny, decides to renovate a grungy laundrette. Featuring seething dialogue and visually stunning camera work, the film explores the world of modern Pakistanis trapped between two cultures in Thatcher's Britain and their white working class counterparts with no future in their own country.
Directed by renowned English filmmaker Stephen Frears (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS), written by Hanif Kureishi and featuring a star-making performance from a then-virtually unknown Daniel Day-Lewis, MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE stands as one of the best British films of the 1980s.
| Starring | Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Shirley Ann Field |
|---|---|
| Director | Stephen Frears |
| Studio | CHANNEL 4 |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 33 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, Gay/Lesbian |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Subtitles | DVD: None |
| Released | DVD: 17 Mar 2008 Production year: 1985 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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This seminal 1980s movie launched a plethora of now distinguished careers, including those of director Stephen Frears and Daniel Day-Lewis. The latter shines in his first major role as the scabrous punk and friend to Gordon Warnecke's entrepreneurial Asian, who dreams of creating the most glittering laundrette in London. This marvellously played movie's undoubted importance lies in the way it takes the key characteristics of the Thatcherite decade — grafting in the free market, the desire for material acquisitions, the establishment of stability — and turns everything on its head with a merciful lack of polemic.
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Made for TV, but fashionable enough to get critical acclaim and cinema distribution, this soft-centred anecdote was a bit of a puzzle to those neither Asian nor homosexual.
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Most helpful member's review
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12 out of 15 people found this review helpful
A wonderful representation of gay love across the ethnic divide. Fantastic moody acting by Day-Lewis. Great performances form everyonr. a real classic. Shame more hoven'y seen it
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Most recent members' review
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
an excellent film - explores issues such as poverty, alcoholism, homosexuality, drugs and racism. well worth a look.
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News and features
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Daniel Day-Lewis: The Essential Performances
- 01 Feb 2008
Great performances come in all shapes and sizes, but there is nothing as thrilling as an actor bigging it up, striving for the epic, and pulling it off. The risks are obvious: larger-than-life can easily translate as ham, and the one can be mistaken for the other. Some of the most acclaimed performances from the past - by Laurence Oliver, or Charles Laughton, for example - now look so theatrical it's difficult to take them entirely seriously. Even so, we appreciate the effort. Al Pacino has... Read more
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My Beautiful Laundrette
MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE is a highly acclaimed and beautifully rendered portrait of two boyhood friends struggling to survive in racially tense Thatcher-era Britain. Omar, a homosexual Pakistani boy living in London with his alcoholic father, lifts a chunk of drug money from another Pakistani and, ...
-