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Joshua Reviews Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette [Blu-ray Review]

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Just 20 movies.

First starting in the brilliant John Schlesinger film Sunday Bloody Sunday, Daniel Day-Lewis has become arguably one of the greatest and most highly regarded thespians in the history of cinema. And yet he has only 20 credits to his name. For a craft that sees even the biggest of Hollywood stars sign on for just about any project that comes their way, Daniel Day-Lewis has become a genre defining actor on almost a part-time like schedule.

It’s not something new for the actor either.

Look at one of his greatest achievements, Stephen Frears’ My Beautiful Laundrette. 14 years after his debut, this marked his first performance of any real note, taking secondary billing in what would become one of the definitive cinematic achievements of 1980s British cinema.



Penned by Hanif Kureishi, My Beautiful Laundrette stars Gordon Warnecke as Omar, a young man who convinces his uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey) to let him manage a local launderette. Daniel-Day Lewis comes in in the form of Johnny, a childhood friend of Omar’s who ultimately becomes a business partner and even more so a lover in one of his great early performances, arguably the role that launched him into the stratosphere he’s been comfortably shacking up in ever since. A comedy, a thriller, a love story, a drama, My Beautiful Laundrette is simply a triumph beyond reproach.

Stephen Frears has, since this film, become known for pictures he made on this side of the pond like High Fidelity or Oscar bait material like The Queen, but during the mid-late 1980s, there were few British filmmakers pushing the boundaries harder than Frears. Very much a child of directors like Lindsay Anderson and other British New Wave auteurs, the film is at its core a rousing bit of social commentary and faux neo-realism. Ostensibly a comedy, the film is even more so a potent slice of social commentary that looks directly at the fringes of Thatcher’s England. A marginalized England, Frears and writer Kureishi have a decidedly potent hand when it comes to portraying the fire burning in the belly of these people who are being undone by the nation they love. It’s a powerful achievement that may be greater as a sociological exploit, but as cinema from this period goes, it doesn’t get any greater and more influential.

Aesthetically, the film is gorgeous. Possibly the crowning achievement of cinematographer Oliver Stapleton (who is still churning out films like this year’s Hot Pursuit), the film is lushly composed and the grain of the film stock really comes to life in this new 2K restoration for Criterion’s new Blu-ray release. Frears is at his absolute best here as well as a filmmaker, using his camera to thrust the viewer into this decidedly distinct and singular world. There are some frames here, particularly one involving a love sequence between our two leads that is shot opposite a dance sequence inside the laundrette, that really gives the film a completely original sense of style. The final act is powerful and emotionally resonant, particularly the final few frames, which is a finale you’ll really never forget. Frears has gone on to do studio Oscar pictures like Philomena, but this period in his career (this directly followed his masterpiece, The Hit) saw him not only experimenting with new ideas but saw him at his most assured as a visual artist.



But we’re burying the real discussion here. While Frears is at his very best here, the two leads absolutely steal the show. Gordon Warnecke as Omar is one of the real revelations of this film. An actor who hasn’t done much since, Warnecke’s performance is superb, really hinting at both the film’s emotional center (his relationship with Johnny) and its intellectual center (the discussion of marginalized groups in Thatcher’s England). It’s a performance that is trying to touch on many a topic emotionally and intellectually, and without speaking in intellectual exposition, it is a clearly drawn and lived in performance. Day-Lewis is startlingly good here, albeit a performance that takes a moment or two for new viewers to get in to. Something a bit more anarchic than what modern viewers are used to seeing from Day-Lewis, there is a lot to take from what is ostensibly the film’s emotional core. Rounding out the cast are names like Jaffrey and the beautiful Rita Wolf, two of the many great performances that make up the film’s supporting cast.

As a Blu-ray release, this is a solid, but decidedly slim release. The 2K restoration and subsequent transfer are glorious to view, particularly in the outdoor night sequences, of which there are many here. This writer adores the cover art, and the overall packaging is really a highlight. Supplemental material here is small on critical discussion (there is a superb essay from Graham Fuller), but there are interviews with Frears, Kureishi, Stapleton and producers Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe, whose company Working Title has become one of film’s most important, taking up a great deal of discussion on this release. It’s a great release of a brilliant film, and should be on the top of anyone’s list when it comes to must-own releases from Criterion in 2015.

Buy the film on DVD or Blu-ray from Barnes & Noble (50% off through July 27th), or on Amazon.


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Joshua Brunsting

Josh is a critic, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, a wrestling nerd, a hip-hop head, a father, a cinephile and a man looking to make his stamp on the world, one word at a time.