Movie news on your iPhone today!
Advertisement
Sign in
Username   Password         Forgot password?
Wanna join? Sign up
Find movies you'll love
My Beautiful Laundrette
  • 0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Rate this movie.

Watch trailer Watch trailer

Rent it, watch it, find it

Advertisement
Synopsis
After the death of his wife and his subsequent descent into alcoholic near-agoraphobia, a crotchety Pakistani intellectual convinces his shady entrepreneur brother to provide work for his son in this multi-layered portrait of the immigrant experience in Great Britain. Young Londoner Omar (Gordon Warnecke) isn't sure what he wants out of life, but his uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey) provides a corrupt, capitalist role model as Omar graduates from washing cars for the old crook to running his run-down laundromat. After a chance meeting with Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis), an old school chum whose flirtation with fascism deeply wounded Omar's principled Papa (Roshan Seth), Omar hires the young thug to work for him. Soon, the pair begin a romantic relationship that remains as under-wraps as the illicit drug-running and enforcement work they perform for Nasser's associate, Salim (Derrick Branche). On the domestic front, Omar must balance his knowledge of Nasser's long-running affair with posh Brit Rachel (Shirley Ann Field) with his own loyalty and attraction to Nasser's Westernized daughter, Tania (Rita Wolf). After successfully transforming his laundrette into a vision of resplendent pastel suds and providing a bright spot in his otherwise sqalid London neighborhood, Omar seems to have a bright future in Nasser's organization. The spectre of Johnny's past, however, combines with Omar's conflicted immigrant loyalties to threaten the sense of identity the young man has managed to stake out for himself. British-born, half-Pakistani playwright and novelist Hanif Kureishi won an Oscar nomination for his screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette, which was originally filmed for BBC television. Kureishi collaborated again with director Stephen Frears on Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide


Production Crew

Oliver Stapleton Cinematographer
Hans Zimmer Composer (Music Score)
Ludus Tonalis Composer (Music Score)
Stanley Myers Composer (Music Score)
Lindy Hemming Costume Designer
Stephen Frears Director
Mick Audsley Editor
Elaine Carew Makeup
Sarah Radclyffe Producer
Tim Bevan Producer
Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski Production Designer
Hanif Kureishi Screenwriter
Bill Weston Stunts
Jim Dowdall Stunts
Nosher Powell Stunts
Rocky Taylor Stunts
Tip Tipping Stunts
Year: 1985
Runtime: 93
Country: UK
MPAA Rating: R
Category: Feature

Genre
Drama

Produced by
Channel 4
Orion Classics
Working Title Films

Release
March 07, 1986 (USA)

Awards
1986 - Best Foreign Film - Independent Spirit Award
1986 - Best Picture - National Board of Review
1986 - Best Foreign Film - Independent Spirit Awards