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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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4 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Early Channel 4 success
Take the PC ingredients of homosexuality, ethnic minorities, stereotypes of Thatcherism, deprived neoghbourhoods, etc, mix them together and you would expect to get tedious bilge. Channel 4 films produced a lot of that. But this is one the efforts that work. The plot doesnt evolve as you expect, and its tight. The characters involve you, to your surprise. The actors look like they're doing it for the love and not the money. And the real London locations are used effectively. The film is being re-evaluated as an 1980s gem, and rightly so.
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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, ...
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