Stephen Frear’s “My Beautiful Laundrette” is a rare film to see released in the mid-’80s. Its display of counterculture and tackling various subjects was well-done. Recommended!
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TITLE: My Beautiful Laundrette – The Criterion Collection #767
YEAR OF FILM: 1985
DURATION: 98 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, Color, 1:66:1,English Monaural, Subtitles: English SDH
COMPANY: MGM/THE CRITERION COLLECTION
RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2015
Directed by Stephen Frears
Written by Hanif Kureishi
Produced by Tim Bevan, Sarah Radclyffe
Music by Ludus Tonalis
Cinematography by Oliver Stapleton
Edited by Mick Audsley
Casting by Debbie McWilliams
Production Design by Hugo Luczyc-Wyhowski
Costume Design by Lindy Hemming
Starring:
Daniel Day-Lewis as Johnny
Richard Graham as Genghis
Derric Branche as Salim
Garry Cooper as Squatter
Gordon Warnecke as Omar
Roshan Seth as Papa
Saeed Jaffrey as Nasser
Shirley Anne Field as Rachel
Charu Bala Chokshi as Bilquis
Souad Farress as Cherry
Rita Wolf as Tania
Stephen Frears was at the forefront of the British cinematic revival of the mid-1980s, and the delightfully transgressive My Beautiful Laundrette is his greatest triumph of the period. Working from a richly layered script by Hanif Kureishi, who was soon to be an internationally renowned writer, Frears tells an uncommon love story that takes place between a young South London Pakistani man (Gordon Warnecke), who decides to open an upscale laundromat to make his family proud, and his childhood friend, a skinhead (Daniel Day-Lewis, in a breakthrough role) who volunteers to help make his dream a reality. This culture-clash comedy is also a subversive work of social realism that dares to address racism, homophobia, and sociopolitical marginalization in Margaret Thatcher’s England.
Before “Dangerous Liaisons”, “The Queen” and “High Fidelity”, Stephen Frears directed the feature film “My Beautiful Laundrette” (1985).
A British comedy and drama based on a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi, the film takes on issues of the time including “Thatcherism” and the social and economic climate of Britain during the mid-’80s, homosexuality and also racism.
The film is one of the earlier films starring Daniel Day-Lewis (“Gangs of New York”, “Lincoln”, “The Last of the Mohicans”), Gordon Warnecke (“Boon”, “The Pleasure Principle”), Richard Graham (“Titanic”, “Vera Drake”, “Gangs of New York”), Roshan Seth (“Gandhi”, “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, “Street Fighter”), Saeed Jaffrey (“Gandhi”, “A Passage to India”, “The Man Who Would Be King”) and Shirley Anne Field (“Alfie”, “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning”).
And now “My Beautiful Laundrette” received critical acclaim and was nominated in 1987 for “Best Original Screenplay”. And now, “My Beautiful Laundrette” will be available in July 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
“My Beautiful Laundrette” is set during the mid-’80s. Omar Ali (portrayed by Gordon Warnecke) is a young man living in South London. His father, a liberal British Pakistani journalist who lives in London but has a distaste toward British society and has become an alcoholic after a family tragedy and Omar is his caretaker.
But his uncle Nasser (portrayed by Saeed Jaffrey) is a successful businessman and is active in the London Pakistani community and when Omar’s father ask to give Omar a job, Nasser gives him a chance.
At first, Nasser wants to give Omar a taste of extravagance and while he gives Omar a job as a car washer at one of his garages, he decides to give Omar a chance to become successful by taking a run-down laundrette and turning it into a thriving, successful business.
And while Omar is excited at the opportunity to become a businessman, he is often asked to get closer with Nasser’s rebellious daughter, Tania (portrayed by Rita Wolf); trying to get through the anger of the rich Salim (portrayed by Derrick Branche), who is a drug trafficker, life changes when he gets reacquainted with his old friend, an anarchist named Johnny (portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis), who has the appearance of being a street thug.
And as Omar hires Johnny to work with him and Johnny wanting to turn a new leaf and make money, this decision angers Johnny’s anarchist friends, who look down on the Pakistani community.
But in truth, Omar and Johnny are gay men who once had a fling when they were younger and now, are together once again but hiding their relationship from their friends and family.
Will the pressures from society and the people around them affect, their relationship?
VIDEO:
“My Beautiful Laundrette – The Criterion Collection #767” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:66:1 aspect ratio). The film features a good amount of grain and because it was shot with a 16mm, has a good amount of grain for this film and looks good for its age. Watching the film in HD as skin tones are natural, black levels are nice and deep and no signs of DNR or any problematic issues such as scratches, jitter, etc.
According to the Criterion Collection, the film was “supervised by director of photography Oliver Stapleton, this new digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on a Scanity film scanner from a 16 mm interpositive made from the 16 mm original A/B camera negative at Sony Colorworks in Culver City, California. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches and splices were manually removed using MTI’s DRS, while Digital Vision’s Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, noise management, flicker and jitter.”
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
As for the lossless audio, “My Beautiful Laundrette – The Criterion Collection #767”. The monaural soundtrack is clear and dialogue and the ’80s soundtrack can be heard quite well.
According to the Criterion Collection, “the original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35 mm magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD, AudioCube’s integrated workstation and iZotope RX 4.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“My Beautiful Laundrette – The Criterion Collection #767” comes with the following special features:
- Stephen Frears – (33:06) Stephen Frears and Producer Colin MacCabe discuss “My Beautiful Laundrette” (2015).
- Hanif Kureishi – (16:27) Hanif Kureishi discusses his first screenplay, “My Beautiful Laundrette” (2015).
- Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe – (22:20) Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe, founders of Working Title discuss the film that changed their careers (2015).
- Oliver Stapleton – (20:59) Cinematographer Oliver Stapleton discusses working with director Stephen Frears and on “My Beautiful Laundrette” (2015).
- Trailer – Theatrical trailer for “My Beautiful Laundrette”.
EXTRAS:
“My Beautiful Laundrette – The Criterion Collection #767” comes with a five-page fold-out insert with the essay “Postcolonialism in the Wash” by Graham Fuller.
Having watched many of Stephen Frears films, one film that I haven’t watched is his 1985 comedy/drama.
A film that captures modern British culture and also counter-culture of the mid-80’s, I really enjoyed the film for how it captures two perspectives.
The first, which I can understand, being the son of immigrants and seeing how my parents and other family members have tried to survive and become part of the melting pot in America. Growing up and seeing families who have succeeded (or built a facade of financial success) and being given opportunities by them to make something of myself.
But similar to the character of Omar, exhibiting a side of rebelliousness.
What I found interesting about Omar is how he would have this different life. A good son but also a man who wants to prove he can take a craphole of a laundrette and prove like his uncle, he can be successful. But as he tries to show he can be successful, unlike his older counterparts where money is everything and having luxuries that come with being successful, that’s not what Omar is about.
Unknown by them, he is a man who is gay, during a time when people kept their sexual preference secret. Add in another unfortunate situation of being born Pakastani and seeing non-Pakistani people frown upon the people who have moved into their country. Fears that are showcased by the anarchists who are depicted as those who hate society and most of all, foreigners who are moving, let alone owning establishments in their country.
What is interesting is that when this film was released, in America, a similar situation was happening as Japanese who were thriving in the bubble economy were taking over a lot of companies and similar hostilities and racism was on display as certain groups took their fears and converted them to violence.
The film also showcases a younger Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays the character of rebellious Johnny. Who got caught up in the anti-establishment and hung out with a gang of anarchists. But unknown to his group is that he and Omar have had a relationship that was cut short when they were younger. Of course, because of the times, he tells his crew that he wants to change and make money for a change. But his crew can’t understand why he would work for a Pakistani, people who have moved to their country and are owning a lot of businesses, which of course, these individuals see as wrong.
It’s an interesting look at society for its time and how it is a counter to the glitz of the ’80s. For those who didn’t grow up during that time, the ’80s showcased financial indulgence. From your dramas such as “Dynasty” to television shows of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”, the ’80s were a time where people wanted to become rich and movies, television and media help propagate the luxurious lifestyle which continued on to the ’90s.
So, it was interesting to watch this film and know that it came out in the mid-’80s and was a counter-culture film tl the norm and I can understand why its beloved by many.
As for the Blu-ray release, picture quality is good, but for people expecting HD clarity, one must remember that films shot in 16 mm are not those type of films. “My Beautiful Laundrette” looks very good as there is no discoloration or blurring and I was quite pleased with overall picture quality. Meanwhile, the monaural lossless audio is also crystal clear with no hiss.
You get a good number of special features with the director, cinematographer and producers but it’s unfortunate there was no revisiting of the film with the original actors. But still, the Criterion Collection has released a solid Blu-ray release that fans of the film, of Stephen Frears work or those wanting to see a rare type of film for the ’80s on Blu-ray.
Overall, Stephen Frear’s “My Beautiful Laundrette” is a rare film to see released in the mid-’80s. Its display of counterculture and tackling various subjects was well-done. Recommended!