My Beautiful Laundrette
Directed by	Stephen Frears
Produced by	Tim Bevan, Sarah Radclyffe
Written by	Hanif Kureishi
Starring	Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth
Distributed by	Mainline Pictures
Released	November 16, 1985
Running time	97 min.
Language	English
Budget	$400,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 film directed by Stephen Frears. The screenplay was written by Hanif Kureishi. Image File history File links MyBeautifulLaundrette_Poster. ... Stephen Frears (born June 20, 1941) is a British film director. ... Tim Bevan is a succesful movie producer for Universal Studios. ... Hanif Kureishi (born December 5, 1954 in London), is a Pakistani-British playwright, author, and director on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality. ... Daniel Day-Lewis in the 1988 film The Unbearable Lightness of Being Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an Academy Award-winning English/Irish actor. ... Gordon Warnecke is a British actor. ... Saeed Jaffrey (born 8 January 1929) is an Indian actor. ... Roshan Seth (born 17 August 1942) is a British-Indian actor. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... This article is about the year. ... Stephen Frears (born June 20, 1941) is a British film director. ... Hanif Kureishi (born December 5, 1954 in London), is a Pakistani-British playwright, author, and director on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality. ...

Production Highlights

My Beautiful Laundrette was Frears's fifth feature film. Originally shot for television, it was later released in theatres and eventually became his first international success. The movie features an early performance by Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Johnny. The cast also includes Saeed Jaffrey, Roshan Seth, Gordon Warnecke, Derrick Branche and Rita Wolf. A reel of film, which predates digital cinematography. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ... Daniel Day-Lewis in the 1988 film The Unbearable Lightness of Being Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an Academy Award-winning English/Irish actor. ... Saeed Jaffrey (born 8 January 1929) is an Indian actor. ... Roshan Seth (born 17 August 1942) is a British-Indian actor. ... Gordon Warnecke is a British actor. ... Rita Wolf (1960 - ) is a British Indian actress and theatre producer. ...

The film benefits from a widely praised original screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, which depicts London life in the Thatcher Era through the complex - and often comical - relationships between members of the Asian community. The plot tackles many polemic issues, such as homosexuality, racism and England's economic and political policy during the 1980s. Hanif Kureishi (born December 5, 1954 in London), is a Pakistani-British playwright, author, and director on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality. ... London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England and is the most populous city in the European Union. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS (born 13 October 1925) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. ... The word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings over time. ... An African-American man drinks out of the colored only water cooler at a racially segregated street car terminal in the United States in 1939. ... Thatcherism is the system of political thought attributed to the governments of Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. ... MacGyver - 1980s hero The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

The soundtrack was written by Stanley Myers and Ludus Tonalis. Non-original music included the waltz Les Pâtineurs, by French composer Emile Waldteufel, and excerpts from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Stanley Myers (6 October 1933 - 9 November 1993), born in Birmingham, was a prolific British film composer who scored over 60 films. ... Ludus Tonalis (Game of the Notes or The Tonal Game) is a collection of piano works by Paul Hindemith. ... Les Patineurs or The Skaters or Die Schlittschuhläufer (German) op. ... Emile Waldteufel (December 9, 1837 - February 12, 1915) was a French composer of popular music as well as waltzes and polkas. ... Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (December 22, 1858 – November 29, 1924) is regarded as one of the great operatic composers of the late 19th and early 20th century. ... -1...

My Beautiful Laundrette marked the first time Oliver Stapleton was in charge of the cinematography in a Stephen Frears' movie. He would later grow to be one of the director's most stable collaborators.

The title features a fairly common variant spelling of the word launderette.

Awards

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 received a few more international nominations, most notably for the BAFTA, and was awarded by the American National Society of Film Critics. The Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. ... Hanif Kureishi (born December 5, 1954 in London), is a Pakistani-British playwright, author, and director on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality. ... Woody Allen. ... Hannah and Her Sisters is a 1986 romantic comedy film which tells the intertwined stories of an extended family, told mostly during a year that begins and ends with a family Thanksgiving dinner. ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... The National Society of Film Critics or NSFC is an American film critic organization. ...

Plot

Omar is the ambitious son of a Pakistani journalist who lives in London but hates England and its international politics. By contrast, his brother Nasser is a successful entrepreneur and an active member of the London Asian community. Omar asks his uncle for a job and, after working for a brief time as a car washer in one of his garages, is assigned the task of running a run-down launderette and turning it into a profitable business. A laundromat (U.S.), launderette (British), Washette (Southeastern U.S.) or washateria (Southwestern U.S.) is a store where clothes are washed and dried. ...

Omar's car is attacked by a group of right-wing extremists shouting racist slogans: amongst them he recognizes an old friend of his, Johnny, whom he had been trying to invite into the launderette business. Johnny agrees to help Omar, and they resume a love affair which had been interrupted after school.

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 traffics cocaine and hires him to deliver the drug from the airport. Running out of money, Omar and Johnny sell off one of Salim's deliveries to make cash for the launderette redecoration.

The launderette becomes a success. At the opening day, Nasser visits the store with his mistress, Rachel. She later falls ill with a skin rash apparently caused by his wife's magical powers, and decides to leave him. Tania drops by and asks Johnny to go away with her; he refuses, and she departs alone. Johnny's former friends also appear and engage him in a fight. He is saved by Omar, who then helps him clean up as the film draws to an end. Nasser sees Tania at a train platform whilst she is running away.

External links

• My Beautiful Launderette at The Internet Movie Database
• Channel 4 Review: uncredited
• Slant Magazine Review: Eric Henderson
• The Chicago Sun-Times Review: Roger Ebert