My Beautiful Laundrette (1985)

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writer:

Hanif Kureishi (written by)

Release Date:

April 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

An ambitious Asian Briton and his white lover strive for success and hope, when they open up a glamorous laundromat.

Plot Keywords:

Violence | Boyfriend Boyfriend Relationship | Sexuality | Bigotry | Intentionally Misspelled Title

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 5 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Saeed Jaffrey	...	Nasser
Roshan Seth	...	Papa
Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Johnny (as Daniel Day Lewis)
Gordon Warnecke	...	Omar
Derrick Branche	...	Salim
Rita Wolf	...	Tania
Souad Faress	...	Cherry
Richard Graham	...	Genghis
Shirley Anne Field	...	Rachel
Winston Graham	...	Jamaican One
Charu Bala Chokshi	...	Bilquis (as Charu Bala Choksi)
Dudley Thomas	...	Jamaican Two
Garry Cooper	...	Squatter
Neil Cunningham	...	Englishman
Persis Maravala	...	Nasser's Elder Daughter

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:16 | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

245 Queenstown Road, Battersea, London, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Quotes:

Johnny: [driving Cherry and Salim home, Omar stops by a bunch of street kids, one of whom is Johnny. Omar gets out of the car to talk to Johnny]
[indicating his friends]
Johnny: Like me friends?
Omar: Ring us then.
Johnny: I will.
[indicates the car where Cherry is getting very angry]
Johnny: Leave 'em there. We can do something. Now. Just us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Do the Right Thing (1989)

Kureishi at his best

Johnny and Omar live in a world of multiple cogenerating, coexisting, modifying, negating, enforcing and enhancing forms of discrimination -- racism, sexism, groupism, homophobia, cultural elitism, snobbery, reverse colonialism, neocolonialism and fascism -- which they successfully grapple and topple in the form of their launderette with the power of economic enterprise. These squabbling goblins are left to each others excesses as economic success lifts them up and out of these, but many questions remain: will they remain; would others succeed; what does luck have to do with it? Kureshi has pissed off all groups who find themselves part of this smashing satire, prime among them the identity conscious confused second/third generation Subcontinental British kids, the same contingency that staunchly supported the Rushdie fatwa. Brilliant and stupendously enjoyable.