James Ivory is an important figure in queer cinema, not only because he has written and directed several excellent movies about gay characters, but also because his production company (Merchant Ivory Productions) with his professional and romantic partner Ismail Merchant made some of the most revered films of the 1980s and early 1990s. Given that Frears' movie was made in 1985, half way through Margaret Thatcher's second term as Prime Minister of the UK, this film featuring an interracial, same-sex couple was pretty revolutionary. Eventually, Johnny and Omar rekindle their friendship, which turns into a beautiful romance passionately played out by Day-Lewis and Warnecke.
Johnny became the apparent leader of a group of right-wing street punks who attack members of the Pakistani community that Omar knows. Johnny and Omar used to be friends at school, but grew apart and took different paths. One of those earlier movies, and one of the very first where he took a lead role, was Stephen Frears' 'My Beautiful Laundrette,' which follows Day-Lewis' Johnny opening a laundrette with his Pakistani boyfriend, Gordon Warnecke's Omar, in the UK in the late 80s.
Daniel Day-Lewis is an actor of legendary status, having won three best actor Academy Awards and earnined a reputation as the method actor despite only appearing in 20 films across a career spanning 49 years.
