Film Review: Blinded by the Light

At last a musical movie with more magic than Yesterday (Boyle 2019), more authenticity than Bohemian Rhapsody (Singer 2018) and more teenage angsty universality than Rocketman (Fletcher 2019). But a movie isn’t great because it’s better than other movies. Movies are great for how they make you feel, or more accurately IF they make you feel.

The recent spate of rock-sploitation films were — none of them, bad. Not at all. But for me, they were simultaneously flat and brimming over with equal parts predictable dialogue and unfulfilled potential. A tragedy when given the source material. Blinded by the Light, directed by Gurinder Chadha (who also gave us Bend it Like Beckham (1989) and Paris Je T’aime (2007) treads familiar territory, but with so much heart and credibility, the result is joyful. The result is genuine. The result is… jubilant.

With the film’s focus firmly planted not on Springsteen’s music, but on Javed, the film’s sweet protagonist, (played with boyish disquietness and earnestness by Viveik Kalra), the narrative is allowed to broaden past fan adulation to showcase a wider scope. Racial tensions, the lasting effects of economic depression, and brutal nationalism are juxtaposed with the transformative power of music, the importance of mentors and tender first love.

Based on a true story and the book Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll by Sarfraz Manzoor, Blinded by the Light though set in the 80s, is relevant today for its representation of intergenerational strife and the destructive effects of pervasive racism. With Brexit looming, the rise of nationalism and caged brown-skinned children on our own borders — the lyrics Springsteen wrote with such sincerity in the 1970s, are all too relevant today.

Writer Safraz Manzoor with Bruce, 1993