Stars: Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Shirley Ann Field

Director: Stephen Frears

Summary: Set in the Pakistani community of London, The film follows young Omar who enlists a friend's help to run an inherited laundrette. Together they transform it into a veritable palace, wuth space invaders and video screens... but trouble is only a step away...

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.

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In case you'd forgotten, My Beautiful Laundrettewill remind you of those mid-80s days when Thatcherism ruled the earth (or so it seemed) and money was king. Stephen Frears' low-budget realisation of Hanif Kureishi's subversively critical play captures the contradictions of that time in a way that's as fresh today as when it was new. Omar's wheeler-dealer uncle, Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), sums it up when he says, "In this damn country, which we hate and love, you can get anything you want". He sets up Omar (Gordon Warnecke) with a rundown laundrette and the instruction to make it a success, which Omar temporarily does, with the help of his childhood friend Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). When the film first came out, it was the gay content that dominated the column inches, whereas now it seems a sensitive and multi-faceted summation of its decade, exploring social, ethnic and sexual issues and contradictions. Bringing together two such different characters as Omar--Asian, ambitious, for whom success is defined by wealth--and former childhood friend Johnny--white trash, ex-National Front--was inspired. Watching their friendship develop into love, and the ensuing bitterness and misunderstanding that they suffer from friends and family is very poignant. All the lead roles are well taken, the contradictory character of Nasser in particular. By turns, funny, touching and anger-inducing, this is a movie that wears its age lightly and its era proudly.

On the DVD:the picture is in 4:3 ratio with a Dolby Digital soundtrack. There's an original trailer and filmographies of the four main characters, with an additional biography for Day-Lewis. --Harriet Smith

Aspect Ratio:	4:3 Full Frame
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Full Motion Menus, Scene Index, Theatrical Trailer, Biographies
Subtitles:	None
Year:	1985
Release Date:	September 10, 2001
Runtime:	93 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C C D 8688
Label:	Film Four Distributors
Keywords:	Beautiful, General, Wide, Screen, Laundrette, My, Drama
Genre:	Drama