Blinded By The Light product reviews

At first glance, the trailer makes this look somewhat similar in style to Yesterday which was released just over two months earlier and had a soundtrack that was entirely centred around The Beatles music. While Blinded By The Light does also centre its soundtrack around a single artist, this film is grounded in reality (being based on a true story) and has far less of a focus on romantic interests.

One of the things about this film that I liked, was the whole environment and culture of the movie. The insights one could gain by looking back at a dramatization of what an immigrant family went through during the 80s in Thatcher's Britain could be very impactful in today's world, which is again finding itself with a rise of neo-fascism and an anti-immigrant culture. Funnily enough, this paragraph makes the film sound like something that would be labelled as "leftist propaganda". Regardless, I still wholeheartedly support its message.

Because what the film does really well, is to present these culturally different characters, and highlighting the similarities between them. Whether Pakistani or British, during tough economic times it is easier to try to place the blame on others, but when neither parties are the cause of the crisis, and both are simply trying to provide a positive life for their families, it puts things into perspective. It reminds the audience that we are all humans. It's a highly sympathetic element that draws you in and engages you; even when you disagree with the characters decisions, you understand their perspective.

It's that relatability that really hooks you in. While Bruce Springsteen's music may not be everyone's cup of tea, the idea of discovering an artist that feels like they are speaking to you on a spiritual level is something that we can all empathise with. Going through those formative teenage years when you start to realise the limitations of your parents' upbringing, and that search for direction and understanding, music is a powerful tool.

With themes of tradition versus progressive living, Blinded By The Light is a heartwarming coming-of-age story, that looks at the degradation of traditional family values during economic depressions. The film is far from perfect, however, with a tangle of different story events that act like they are significant but have no effect after the scene ends. This is the challenge when basing a 117-minute film on the memoirs of a person's life; properly separating out what to keep in, and what to leave out. There are a few supporting characters that could benefit from receiving more to do and more focus, but the film takes on so many little side stories, that it finds itself spread thin.

The tone is also a little inconsistent. For the majority of the runtime, the film is serious, with some subtle humour interwoven into the script. But there are other times when things take more of a fantastical musical turn, with characters breaking into song-and-dance, or environments changing for the plot in a way that is obviously highly-exaggerated. These song-and-dance numbers are okay, but also a bit cringe at times, undercutting the tension.

Viveik Kalra is a perfectly fine lead and is very likeable for most of the film. His infectious enthusiasm for Bruce Springsteen's music is convincing, and the visual accompaniments connecting his situation to the lyrics or certain songs is well-executed. Ultimately, Blinded By The Light is enjoyable, but formulaic. While the handling of the topics of immigrants in Britain is well done, the overall story doesn't really stand out, and despite being a satisfying watch, is a film that will be forgotten in no time at all.

It is difficult to decide just what genre "Blinded By The Light" might belong to. It crosses the line between drama and comedy with a liberal helping of song and dance in the mix. The DVD cover advertises it as "The Feel-Good Movie Of The Year". And yet I still favour drama over the other genres (if indeed it needs to be assigned to a specific genre at all) because underlying the coming-of-age and culture-clash elements which provide much of the humour, there is a stark political message which is always simmering in the background. The movie is not a hard-sell protest statement, but the realities of 1980s Britain are there nonetheless.

Right from the outset the world of Javed Khan (Vivelk Kalra) is presented against a background of rallies, posters, National Front protests, racism and poverty. Jobs are hard to come by and easily lost; immigrants cling to the culture of their old countries while trying to prevent their children from falling victim to bullies and haters. In the midst of all this negativity, Javed finds his mentor in Bruce Springsteen whose lyrics affirm everything he is looking for. The Springsteen influence extends to Javed's friends Eliza (Nell Williams) and Roops (Aaron Phagura), who share his newfound energy. As a compulsive writer from a very early age, Javed relates to Springsteen's lyrics; they help him to aspire to live a better life through his own words. Writing is his salvation and his obsession; he needs to write in order to be fulfilled, and his preferred career path would include a university education leading on to a career in journalism. This enthusiasm is mirrored by Javed's choice of new, brighter clothing as he discovers new pathways to creativity through his exposure to The Boss.

Throughout the movie, Springsteen's music is used to complement the action. It is to the credit of the director that the music and lyrics fit seamlessly into the story without interfering with the flow; a great deal of hard editing has gone into the placement and timing of each track. For those who are unfamiliar with Springsteen's music, it is a gentle introduction to some of his more well-known compositions: influences of musicians like Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie in particular come to mind with their inclusion of powerful lyrics and contemporary issues. There is also a link forward to rap music, especially in the lyrics of songs like "Blinded By The Light" which gave the movie its name.

One technique that stood out was the way that Springsteen's lyrics were presented as a scrolling display above and around Javed at times of stress or indecision. These lyrics appeared like thought bubbles, reflecting what Javed might be thinking at the time and reinforcing his own conviction that Bruce was speaking to him. It was an innovative and highly effective way of sharing with the film viewers what was going on in Javed's head. Although thought bubbles have appeared for many decades in static images like cartoon strips, it is the first time I have seen them used quite like this in a movie.

As a coming of age film, it succeeds on many levels. Not only does Javed have to cope with the usual teenage angst about fitting in, finding a girlfriend, and planning his own future as a writer, but he also has to cope with a father who is strictly old school. His father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir) cannot handle the challenge of the British way of life; for him, everything is prescribed from food choices to dress codes to selection of marriage partner. Both Javed and Malik go through their journeys of adjusting and realigning their own values to accept those of the other. This is an issue faced in all immigrant communities when the younger generation begins to challenge old world traditions - it is not confined to any one group.

Bullying is a major theme of the movie. From the low-key actions (Eliza's father insisting Javed try some alcohol even though it is against his religion; the small boys desecrating a Muslim home by peeing through the letter-box) to the large scale attacks (Malik being beaten up in the street by National Front marchers; Muslims' houses spray painted with racist comments about "Pakis"; a pig's head being hung from a minaret at the local mosque), there is the constant impression that this country is an unsafe place to be. At the conclusion of the bigger National Front rally the camera zooms in on a poster of Margaret Thatcher holding up her arm as if to offer a Nazi salute. The message on the poster is "Uniting Britain".

I felt the actors did a superb job in treading the line between serious and light-hearted. Some of the street dancing sequences exude joyful energy as Javed and his friends lose themselves in their response to Springsteen's music. The love story between Eliza and Javed is sweet and reasonably predictable, and the brotherly relationship between Javed and Roops is affirming, but the love of Javed for Springsteen transcends all right until the end of the movie, when Javed finally finds his own voice. That Javed was portraying the story of a real person (Sarfraz Manzoor) who was also one of the scriptwriters made this a doubly difficult role to play. I found it convincing to the point that I was surprised to find out later that Manzoor looks nothing like Vivelk Kalra!

And the ending - nicely understated without too much schmaltz. Although it was expected, there was a nice touch as Javed's speech moved from a somewhat wooden text delivered deadpan from the page to an emotional confession which was straight from the heart and bore little resemblance to the original prizewinning essay! In essence, the speech was a symbol for the reconciliation of father and son, and the possibility of a new life opening up for both of them. Working class they might be, Muslims they might be, but there was a new familial bond to give them the courage to go on.