Sometimes my friends and I go to a very young friend of ours who has a passion for movies and to project them in the original form, if possible. He acquired an 8 mm projector, 35 mm projector, a VHS player, a.o. His basement feels like a trip in time. I recommend you to see this movie on a VHS player if it is possible, will be nice. A nice Martini Vodka will work as wonder.
“My Beautiful Laundrette” will be always an icon movie and legend for so many reasons.
The first is written by Hanif Kureishi, one of the most important contemporary British playwrights, screenwriters and novelists, when he was only 29 years old. I recommend you all his novels, especially my favourite “The Buddha of Suburbia”.
Then because the leading role belongs to one of the most radical style actors, very young at the time, Daniel Day-Lewis.
The third reason is Stephen Frears. What can I say about him? Fabulous director with tons of movies and awards.
And, after almost 40 years has a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes!
My Beautiful Laundrette is fast and all over the place because it has so much to say, and show.
No spoiler, because you can not spoil such a movie.
A brutally funny social comedy about the racial and social consequences of a Pakistani and an Englishman going into business and becoming lovers.
In very short, in a seedy corner of London, Omar (Gordon Warnecke), a young Pakistani, is given a run-down laundromat by his uncle (Saeed Jaffrey), who hopes to turn it into a successful business. Soon after, Omar is attacked by a group of racist punks but defuses the situation when he realizes their leader is his former lover, Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis). The men resume their relationship and rehabilitate the laundromat together, but various social forces threaten to compromise their success.
What I loved about this film is that it presents its themes without going overboard to explain or resolve anything. It is all downplayed and subtle. It’s about the characters, rather than a social message. It is a positive movie. And for 1985 one of the first movies about gay life, not about anything else.
A trio to never forget. Hanif Kureishi with his brilliant writing, Stephen Frears directing style and a fabulous interpretation of Daniel Day-Lewis and Gordon Warnecke. Of course, everybody in the cast is brilliant and the cinematography of the movie has created the one and only Oliver Stapleton.
This movie is like a pearl of cinematography and an important moment for the LGBT+ path.
