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Made as a British telefilm, My Beautiful Laundrette hit theater screens like an intoxicating gulp of fresh air, spiralling director Frears, screenwriter Hanif Kureishi, and actor Daniel Day Lewis to new career planes. A young South Londoner on the make, Omar (Gordon Warnecke) treads a risky line between the upward mobility of his Pakistani-immigrant relatives and the dole-queue punkdom of childhood pal Johnny's (Lewis) friends. Prankish, witty, stylish, the movie works on many levels as a critique of Thatcher-era race/class divisions. But for gay audiences, it's the sizzling (and matter-of-factly treated) sexual chemistry between Omar and Johnny that caps a contemporary classic.

--Dennis Harvey

My Beautiful Laundrette
		97 minutes, color 35mm, English
		Gay,
		Subjects: Asian Images, Family Issues, Racism
		Distributor/Studio: Swank Motion Pictures, Kit Parker Films, British Film Institute