My Beautiful Laundrette

My Beautiful Laundrette
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen Frears
Produced by	Tim Bevan Sarah Radclyffe
Written by	Hanif Kureishi
Starring	Gordon Warnecke Daniel Day-Lewis Saeed Jaffrey Roshan Seth
Music by	Ludus Tonalis
Cinematography	Oliver Stapleton
Editing by	Mick Audsley
Studio	Working Title Films Channel Four Films
Distributed by	Mainline Pictures
Release date(s)	7 September 1985 (1985-09-07) (TIFF) 16 November 1985 (1985-11-16)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English Urdu
Budget	£650,000
Box office	$2,451,545

My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The film was also one of the first films released by Working Title Films.

The story is set in London during the period when Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as shown through the complex—and often comical—relationships between members of the Asian and White communities. The story focuses on Omar, a young Pakistani man living in London, and his reunion and eventual romance with his old friend, a street punk named Johnny. The two become the caretakers and business managers of a launderette originally owned by Omar's uncle Nasser. The plot tackles many polemical issues, such as homosexuality, racism, and Britain's economic and political policy during the 1980s.

Plot

Omar Ali is a young man living in 1980s London. His father, Hussein, is a Pakistani journalist who lives in London but hates Britain and its international politics. His dissatisfaction with the world and a family tragedy has caused his alcoholism to take over, so that Omar has to take care of him. By contrast, Omar's paternal uncle Nasser is a successful entrepreneur and an active member of the London Pakistani community. Omar's father asks his uncle to give him a job and, after working for a brief time as a car washer in one of his uncle's garages, he is assigned the task of running a run-down laundrette and turning it into a profitable business.

At Nasser's, Omar meets a few other members of the Pakistani community: Tania, Nasser's daughter and possibly a future bride; and Salim, who trafficks drugs and hires him to deliver them from the airport. While driving Salim and his wife home that night, the three of them get attacked by a group of right-wing extremists shouting racist slogans. Among them, Omar recognizes an old friend of his, Johnny. Omar asks Johnny to resume their friendship. Johnny decides to help with the laundrette and they resume a romantic relationship which (it is implied) had been interrupted after school. Running out of money, Omar and Johnny sell one of Salim's drug deliveries to make cash for the laundrette redecoration.

The laundrette becomes a success. At the opening day, Nasser visits the store with his mistress, Rachel. They dance together in the laundrette while Omar and Johnny are having sex in the back room. Omar and Johnny are almost caught by Nasser, but Omar claims they were sleeping. Tania confronts Rachel about having an affair with her father, Nasser. Nasser and Rachel leave the laundrette and fight in the road; Rachel storms off because she feels humiliated by Tania and her presence. Later in the film, she falls ill with a skin rash apparently caused by a ritual curse from Nasser's wife, and Rachel decides to leave him. Omar, while drunk, proposes to Tania. She agrees on the condition that Omar gathers money. Omar's father also stops by, late in the night, and appeals to Johnny to persuade Omar to go to college because he is unhappy with his son running a laundrette.

Omar decides to take over two laundrettes owned by a friend of Nasser, with the help of Salim. Salim drives Johnny and Omar to view one of the properties, and he expresses his dislike of the British non-working punks (Johnny's friends). Salim attempts to run over the group of punks who had previously attacked Omar's car and injures one of them. The group of working class punks decides to wait for Salim around the laundrette. While the punks circle the laundrette, Tania drops by and tells Johnny she is leaving and asks if he will come with her. He refuses Tania by revealing his relationship with Omar, and she departs. When Salim enters the laundrette, the punks trash his car. Upon noticing their destruction, he runs out of the laundrette and is then ambushed and attacked. He is beaten and bloodied until Johnny decides to save him, despite their mutual dislike. The punks turn their attention to attacking Johnny instead for supporting the Pakistani community, and beat him savagely until he is saved by Omar.

The film cuts to Nasser visiting Omar's father, and their discussion about Omar's future. Nasser sees Tania at a train platform while she is running away, and he shouts to her but she disappears. Omar proceeds to clean up Johnny's wounds, and the two bond. The film ends with them playfully splashing each other with water from a sink while topless, implying they are continuing their relationship.

Cast

• Gordon Warnecke as Omar Ali
• Daniel Day-Lewis as Johnny
• Saeed Jaffrey as Nasser Ali
• Roshan Seth as Hussein Ali
• Derrick Branche as Salim N. Ali
• Rita Wolf as Tania N. Ali
• Souad Faress as Cherry N. Ali
• Richard Graham as Genghis
• Shirley Anne Field as Rachel
• Stephen Marcus as Moose

Production

My Beautiful Laundrette was Frears' fifth feature film. Originally shot for television, it was later released in cinemas and eventually became his first international success.

The film marked the first time Oliver Stapleton was in charge of cinematography in one of Frears' projects. He would later become one of the director's most consistent collaborators.

Reception

My Beautiful Laundrette received positive reviews, currently holding a 100% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Accolades

My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated in 1987 for a single Academy Award – Best Original Screenplay, by Hanif Kureishi. It lost to Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters. Kureishi was also nominated for a 1986 BAFTA award. The screenplay received an award from the American National Society of Film Critics.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Ludus Tonalis and produced by Stanley Myers and Hans Zimmer. Non-original music included the waltz Les Patineurs, by French composer Emile Waldteufel, and excerpts from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

See also

• London in film

External links

• My Beautiful Laundrette at the Internet Movie Database
• My Beautiful Laundrette at AllRovi
• My Beautiful Laundrette at Box Office Mojo
• My Beautiful Laundrette at Rotten Tomatoes
• Chicago Sun-Times Review: Roger Ebert