Film Review
The landmark British film which established director Stephen Frears'
international reputation and gave Daniel Day-Lewis his first major
screen role is one that paints a depressing picture of social decay and
racial conflict in the 1980s.
My
Beautiful Laundrette succinctly and eloquently encapsulates
everything that was wrong in Thatcher's Britain and vividly evokes the
disenfranchisement and damaging social tensions that stemmed from the
Conservative government's myopic preoccupation with the enterprise
culture. Hanif Kureishi's insightful screenplay is witty and
engaging, but it is also devastatingly astute and offers what is
arguably the most powerful indictment of government policies which were
not only morally indefensible and ruinous to British industry (both in
the short and long term) but left bitter social wounds that would take
decades to heal. Whilst it deals with some serious social issues,
My Beautiful Laundrette is not
a ranting polemic of the Ken Loach variety but a sensitive, delicately
composed drama which exposes the failings of the Thatcher
administration far more subtly, through the adverse impact these had on
communities and individuals.
My Beautiful Laundrette was
originally made for television (to be screened on the recently created
Channel 4) and was shot in just six weeks on a very modest
budget. The film's limited resources give it a gritty, washed-out
feel that is redolent of its era, and whilst a few of the performances
are a little on the wooden side, most are outstanding. Saeed
Jaffrey was the only big name actor in the cast when the film was made and turns
in a performance that is both hilarious and poignant as the Asian
community's answer to Alan Sugar. Daniel Day-Lewis was a virtual
unknown as the time but is clearly destined for better things - his
sympathetic portrayal of the peroxide-quiffed gay ex-Fascist Johnny
remains one of the highpoints of his illustrious career.
Gordon Warnecke makes an impressive screen debut as the gay proto-yuppy Omar,
a complex character which visibly stretches the actor's talents to the limit;
having appeared in several British TV shows of the 80s and 90s (
Doctor Who,
Birds of a Feather,
The Bill,
Brookside, etc.), Warnecke went on to
pursue a distinguished stage career.
My Beautiful Laundrette proved to
be such a hit when it was screened at the Edinburgh
Film Festival that it was subsequently given a national, and then
international, cinema release. It was not only a major commercial
success but proved to be one of the most critically acclaimed British
films of the decade, as well as a classic of gay cinema.
My Beautiful Laundrette was an
incredibly challenging film for its era, pushing the envelope in its
depiction of race relations and homosexuality at a time when both of
these issues were highly contentious. Most of the negative
criticism it received was from the Asian community, which condemned the
film for its seemingly negative portrayal of British Pakistanis.
Certainly, the film pulls few punches and is just as critical of
Asian immigrants who make no attempt to integrate themselves into British
society as it is of the neo-Nazi thugs who seem hell-bent on fuelling
an outright race war. But the real enemy the film has in
its sights is a government that has given up on its social obligations
and instead pursued policies that were guaranteed to drive communities
apart and create lasting damage to the fabric of British society.
My Beautiful Laundrette is a
perceptive commentary on what can go wrong when a government gets its
socio-economic bearings completely wrong and accepts that social
meltdown is a price worth paying for short term economic advantage.
© James Travers 2011
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Film Synopsis
London in the mid-1980s. Omar is a young British Pakistani, the
son of disillusioned journalist Hussein who has become a bedridden
alcoholic after his wife's suicide. Against the wishes of his
father, who wants him to go to university, Omar persuades his
entrepreneurial uncle Nasser to let him take over the management of a
rundown laundrette. With money acquired by somewhat dubious means
and the help of his old school friend Johnny, Omar totally transforms
the graffiti-covered South London hellhole into a laundrette fit for a
prince. In no time at all, Omar has a thriving business and makes
plans to expand his washing empire across the capital. But then
his world starts to fall apart. Not only does he come under
pressure from his own family, who are keen to marry him off (not having
yet twigged that he is gay), he also has Johnny's former neo-Nazi
friends to deal with. Omar's entrepreneurial dream is about to
become a hideous nightmare...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.