Blinded by the Light (2019) Warner Bros./Comedy-Drama RT: 117 minutes Rated PG-13 (thematic material and language including some ethnic slurs) Director: Gurinder Chadha Screenplay: Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha and Sarfaz Manzoor Music: A.R. Rahman Cinematography: Ben Smithard Release date: August 16, 2019 (US) Cast: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Nell Williams, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nikita Mehta, Tara Divina, Rob Brydon, Frankie Fox, Hayley Atwell, David Hayman, Sally Phillips. Box Office: $11.9M (US)/$18.6M (World)
Rating: ****
SLEEPER ALERT! I haven’t sounded one of these in a while, but with Blinded by the Light I have great reason to. Directed by Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham), it’s the feel-good movie of the summer. I knew I was going to love it as soon as The Pet Shop Boys’ “It’s a Sin” came on over the opening credits. Not only do I love that song, it’s the perfect way to establish the movie’s setting, Thatcher-era Britain circa 1987. Everybody who knows me knows why I consider ’87 my favorite year; let’s just leave it at that. In any event, I had a feeling Blinded by the Light was going to be special. I haven’t felt that way about a small-scale movie since Sing Street and that one is great. So is Blinded by the Light.
The story centers on Javed (Kalra, TV’s Next of Kin), a Pakistani teen living in Luton with his family headed by his strict, traditional-minded father Malik (Ghir, Rita, Sue and Bob Too). He keeps a short leash on Javed; he won’t even allow him to attend a party at his best friend Matt’s (Chapman, Game of Thrones) flat across the way. He’s determined that his only son will make something of himself by choosing a practical career and marrying the girl chosen for him. There’s no way Javed can tell his father that he longs to go to university in Manchester and become a writer. He’s been secretly writing poetry since he was 10. Writing is his ticket out of Luton and away from a mundane life.
Javed’s first day at a new school is marked by embarrassment when his father loudly orders him to stay away from girls and make friends with Jews. Isn’t it enough that he’s one of only two Pakistani students at the school? The other, a Sikh named Roops (Phagura), introduces him to the person that will change his life forever. He hands him two Bruce Springsteen tapes and urges him to listen as he is “the key to all that is true in this s***ty world”. When he hears “Dancing in the Dark” for the first time, it’s a huge moment of revelation for Javed. It’s like this American singer from New Jersey understands his situation and is speaking directly to him. He decides to start living his life according to the gospel of The Boss.
The 80s was a tough time to be living in the UK with the rising unemployment rate, economic recession, rising nationalism and racism. Javed’s family struggles to make ends meet. While Malik works at an auto factory, his mom Noor (Ganatra) works from home as a seamstress. Their situation gets a whole lot tougher after Malik loses his job and with it, his dignity. Day after day, he goes to the job center dressed in a suit hoping to find work and always comes up empty-handed. Meanwhile, things are looking up for Javed. His writing teacher (Atwell, Agent Carter) praises his work and urges him to keep at it. He also finds romance with Eliza (Williams, London Town), a politically active classmate his parents would never approve of.
Blinded by the Light is mainly about two things: (1) a stormy father-son relationship and (2) BRUCE! In the case of the latter, it’s part of a bigger picture, the transformative power of music. There’s that defining moment in every teen’s life when they really get into a particular band or singer for the first time. You know what I’m talking about, I know you do. When you hear their music for the first time, it hits you like a hurricane (like the one outside Javed’s window the first time he plays Bruce). The lyrics speak directly to us. A connection is made. We never see the world the same way again. Chadha, with more than a little help from a perfectly cast Kalra, captures this moment in time perfectly as well as the unbridled joy that follows as we share our new love with the rest of the world.
There are two amazing musical moments in Blinded by the Light. The first is when Javed, accompanied by Matt’s cool father (Coogan, Tropic Thunder), serenades Eliza with “Thunder Road” in a public square. Onlookers join in, dancing and sharing the joy. Everybody is happy and smiling. This is what first love feels like. The second is when Javed and Roops hijack the school radio station, run by a chap who insists on sticking with the likes of Tiffany, Debbie Gibson, Madonna and Cutting Crew, and blast “Born to Run” throughout the entire building. It spreads to the streets of Luton where the guys, along with Eliza, run and dance and basically celebrate the freedom of youth. Of course, all of Springsteen’s music is amazing and there’s plenty of it in Blinded by the Light as the singer gave the makers access to his song catalogue.
As for the father-son aspect of Blinded by the Light, it’s something we’ve seen a lot of times. It dates all the way back to the first talkie The Jazz Singer in 1927, probably even before that. It’s the same story. Dad wants his son to stay true to his culture or join the family business. The son wants more from life; he has big dreams he wants to follow. He’s bummed that his father doesn’t understand him; Dad is too stuck in his ways or beliefs to understand his son. It’s a tale as old as time but it works in Blinded by the Light largely due to a well-written screenplay and performances from Kalra and Ghir that hit all the right beats. It, too, is part of a bigger picture, one relating to culture. The situation for Pakistanis living in the UK was very tense. White nationalists vandalized mosques and marched in the streets calling for an all-white Britain. Chadha uses this to maximum effect in Javed’s story. It’s a good counterbalance to the ecstasy he experiences when he listens to Bruce.
I’m going to take a short cut to the end and say Blinded by the Light is an absolute delight. I can’t remember the last time I felt so genuinely good after seeing a movie. I think I smiled almost the entire time it was on. It’s a celebration of great music, pride in one’s culture and family harmony. It’s funny, sweet and entertaining. It’s the feel-good movie of the summer. DON’T MISS IT!
