My Beautiful Laundrette

by Pa Rock
Film Fan

In an effort to make up for the severe lack of new episodes of television shows and movies brought on  by the pandemic, the major streaming services are digging into the deepest recesses of their film vaults to come up with things that might hold our interest until new shows start arriving.  Last night I stumbled across one of these "sleeper" movies on Amazon Prime, the 1985 British classic, My Beautiful Laundrette - a film that I had last seen at least a quarter-of-a-century ago.

The movie, written by renowned novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi (who is of British and Pakistani descent), tells the story of life on the streets in one of the rougher parts of London as it also explores the circumstances of the young Brits and Pakistanis who populate that world.

Most of the young Brits in the film are street thugs who are living rough and often "squatting" in abandoned tenements.  Many of these young toughs are bitter toward the Pakistani population because they - the Pakistanis - are focused on making money and moving up in the social order.  Some of the older, more successful Pakistanis are buying distressed properties and local businesses, often causing direct confrontations with the angry British youth, and some of the younger Pakistanis are finding quicker and easier ways to get ahead - such as by dealing drugs - again to the ultimate detriment of the British young people in the neighborhood.

Most of the Pakistanis believe that making money is the key to social advancement, and most of the young Brits view rage in the streets as their answer to what they see as a growing disenfranchisement from the country of their birth.

There are two main characters in this story, both young men in their late teens or early twenties.  They had been friends in primary school, but had apparently not seen each other in several years as the tale begins.

Omar  is a Pakistani who is living at home with his father, a dying alcoholic and academic who was at one time the teacher of both boys in primary school.  Omar's mother had killed herself a few years before by stepping in front of a train.  Omar's father, a chronically poor man, wants his son to go to the university and get an education, a path that he sees as preferable to just making money to get out of the tough economic conditions.  The father has a brother who is a successful businessman, and he gets the brother to give Omar a job to hopefully allow him to make enough money to begin classes and improve his situation in life.

The uncle and his family warm to Omar immediately and give him a series of jobs in the family business.  They also provide him with a car.  Finally the uncle provides Omar with a business challenge - he wants him to get one of his businesses - an old laundromat - back into a profitable condition.  Omar accepts that challenge, but says that he would like to rent the laundromat so that the profits he makes will be his.  An agreement is reached.

Soon after, during a street brawl, Omar reconnects with Johnny, his British friend from his youth.  Omar convinces Johnny to help him clean up the laundromat and make it a profitable enterprise.  Omar makes it clear that Johnny would be his employee, and not his partner in the enterprise.  But the young men "partner" in other ways and are quickly involved in a sexual relationship.

My Beautiful Laundrette was the first professional acting credit for Gordon Wamecke, the man who played Omar.  Wamecke has since appeared in many (primarily British) movies and television shows.  The other lead, Johnny, was played by Daniel Day-Lewis in one of his earliest film appearances.   Day-Lewis, the son of former British Poet-Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis, has gone on to be nominated for six Academy Awards for "Best Actor" over the length of his career - and he has won three of those, and he has also been recognized as a "Best Actor" by the British BAFTA Awards and the Golden Globes.  Daniel Day-Lewis is known for being very selective in the roles that he agrees to play, and he literally becomes his character.  (As evidence of that, check out 2013's Lincoln for which Daniel Day-Lewis won one of his three "Best Actor" Oscars.)

The film, My Beautiful Laundrette, skirts across mores and taboos regarding sex, race, money, and social status.  It is an intense exploration into the clash of two cultures and the shared humanity experienced by both - and it is a completely engrossing film.  I appreciate Amazon Prime giving me the chance to see it again.

I highly recommend this movie!