My Beautiful Laundrette (1985, UK)

Director

Stephen Frears

Cast

Daniel Day Lewis (Johnny), Gordon Warnecke (Omar), Roshan Seth (Papa), Saeed Jaffrey (Nasser), Derek Branche (Salim), Shirley Anne Field (Rachel)

Screenplay

Hanif Kureshi, based on his own novel

Format

Live action, colour

Language

English

Running time

96 minutes

Classification

15

Distributor

Cinema Club

Genre

Drama

Setting

South London, early 1980s

Main characters

Omar, Johnny, Papa

Narrative focus

Omar as he develops his business and Johnny

Synopsis

Omar is an unemployed young man living in south London with his ailing father. Omar's uncle is a prosperous businessman. Omar says he wants the chance to run his uncle's run down laundrette and rises to the challenge he has set himself with the help of his childhood friend, Johnny. Johnny is a member of the National Front and Johnny's NF friends do not approve of his friendship with Omar. Omar becomes deeply involved with his family's business ventures, experiencing the bonds of family and the ruthlessness that business often demands. Johnny and Omar conduct their homosexual relationship in secret and as the laundrette succeeds, their love strengthens.

Throughout the film, the ever-present threat of the National Front activists is acknowledged as they gather near to the thriving, Asian-run laundrette. When one of Omar's relatives, Salim, visits the laundrette he is beaten up by some of the National Front gang and Johnny steps in to protect him, only to be heavily beaten himself.

Background

The film was originally produced for television before receiving a theatrical release. It was shot on 16mm film for a very low budget of under £1 million. Hanif Kureshi is one of Britain's premier Asian voices and his work has encompassed novels and screenplays, including The Buddha of Suburbia (1994) for TV. He began his career as a playwright, including a period in the early 1980s where he was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court Theatre, London. My Beautiful Laundrette was Kureishi's first screenplay and was BAFTA and Oscar-nominated. In 1986, he collaborated again with Stephen Frears on Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, which further dramatised issues of race and life in London.

Saeed Jafffrey and Roshan Seth were established Indian actors. Gordon Warnecke and Daniel Day Lewis were newcomers. Stephen Frears began working in theatre and then worked as a director in television. Since the success of My Beautiful Laundrette, Frears has become one of Britain's key filmmakers combining Hollywood projects, notably Dangerous Liaisons (US/UK, 1988) with non-Hollywood films, such as The Van (UK/Ireland, 1996), an adaptation of Roddy Doyle's novel and Dirty Pretty Things (UK, 2002).

Commentary

The film belongs to the British realist tradition with its naturalistic camera style, strong, believable performances and natural dialogue. It foregrounds the Asian characters, and despite Johnny's importance to the story, his character never dominates.

The film emphasises the disruptive and destructive power of racism in, for example, one of its most dynamically edited sequences, when the National Front gang attack the car at night near the tunnel. Here, an almost theatrical use of flashing lights, red lights and leering faces, conveys the threat of the moment, departs from the naturalistic style of the film. Again, towards the end of the film it inter-cuts between one of Omar's relatives being attacked by the National Front members whilst simultaneously Omar's father and uncle quietly and peacefully reconcile unaware of what is happening over at the laundrette. While it about a specific historical moment in British culture, the film continues to feel relevant almost twenty years later.

Also recommended:

The Firm (UK, 1984, Alan Clarke) tells of a group of apparently respectable young men who lead secret lives as members of the National Front.

East is East (UK, 1999, Damien O'Donnell) explores the tensions between British and traditional Indian culture for a mixed race family living in Britain in the 1970s.

Teaching suggestions (Key Stage 4, age 14-16)

Citizenship focus

• The rights and responsibilities of consumers/employers and employees
• How the economy functions and the role of business and financial services
• The origins and implications of the diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding.

Subject links

History: Racism in Britain since the war

Spot the shots

Watch the scene at the end of the film that cross-cuts between shots of Omar's father and uncle making up with each other and the National Front violence.

• What is the effect of this editing style?
• What does it add to your understanding of racism and the different strategies used to tackle it?

Sound and image

Watch the scene where Johnny goes with Omar to evict the tenant, with the sound turned down.

• If this were a documentary about poverty and housing conditions in 1980s Britain what would the voiceover be?
• Ask student to write and record two different voiceovers to accompany the scene:
  • From the landlord's point of view
  • From the tenant's point of view

Simulation

Ask students to write a 50-word pitch to be made to a commissioning editor for Channel 4, for a short anti-racist film.

Discussion

The following questions can be used as a starting point to focus discussion before generalising the issues that the film raises.

• Identify examples of racism in the film.
• What is Omar's father's approach to dealing with racism?
  • What is Omar's uncle's approach?
  • What is Omar's approach?
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
• Why does Omar's father think that Asians are hated in Britain?
  • Do you agree with his reasoning?
  • How does the film support or contradict his point of view?
• What is the National Front and why do you think Johnny joined it?
• Why do Omar and Johnny keep their relationship secret?
• Identify examples of anti-gay prejudice in the film?
• How does the film deal differently with the issues of racism and homophobia?

Practical production work

Students could make:

• A short anti-racist film. They should think about whether they want to 'problematise' racist behaviour as the main subject of their film or whether they think that the anti-racist message would be more effective if different ethnic identities were represented as a 'given' without explicit references to racist attacks.
• A short film dramatizing a racist attack, modelled on the final scene of the film. There should be two locations, one where the characters are unaware of the violence going on and one where the characters are directly under attack. Film one scene after the other, using in-camera editing only.
  • Watch the film and compare the dramatic effect with that of the final crosscutting sequence in My Beautiful Launderette. What effect does the crosscutting between scenes have on the audience?
  • Students could then use iMovie or Adobe Premiere to edit their short films and attempt a crosscutting editing style to compare with the first 'cuts