Blinded by the Light Review

Inspired by the youth of Sarfraz Manzoor and the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen Blinded by the Light – is a coming-of-age story that has been promoted as the ‘feel-good’ film of the summer.

Javed (Viveik Kalra) is a British-Pakistani teen who wants to leave his home town of Luton to escape his overbearing father (Kulvinder Ghir.) Javed has a passion for writing which goes against his dad’s philosophy of simply working hard and don’t get distracted.

At college Javed gets exposed to the music of Bruce Springsteen and it immediately gives him the confidence to make friends, find a girlfriend, stand up for himself and inspires his writing. But it also puts him on a collision course with his father.

Blinded by the Light was directed and co-written by Gurinder Chadha who is best known for making Bend it Like Beckham. Most of Chadha’s films have looked at the culture clash of people from South Asian backgrounds growing up in Britain. She has a found a sweet spot of making films that are personal to her and have mainstream appeal. And she manages it’s again with Blinded by the Light.

Out of all Chandha’s films since Bend it Like Beckham, Blinded by the Light is the most like her big hit. Both films follow teenage protagonists who want to pursue a passion that their traditional families disapprove of. Bend it Like Beckham focused on football, Blinded by the Light was about writing and music. There are also some big differences between the films. The family in Bend it Like Beckham were Indian, Sikh, and middle-class, Javed’s family in Blinded by the Light were Pakistani, Muslim, and financially struggling.

Blinded by the Light was a period piece – it was set in 1987. Because of this Blinded by the Light had a broader scope to Bend it Like Beckham. The core of the story is Javed’s relationship with his father but there were more plot strains. There were the family’s financial struggles after Javed’s dad loses his job, Javed’s relationship with Eliza (Nell Williams), and being encouraged by Miss Clay (Hayley Atwell), the English teacher. This works fine for Blinded by the Light because it is looking at how Javed changes over the course of a year. However, at times Blinded by the Light does overextend itself like when Javed goes to a dayclub with his younger sister (Mikita Mehta.)

There was also a universality to Blinded by the Light. Many audience members could relate to the conflict between Javed and his father. Javed’s father wants what he thinks is best for his son – i.e. do well at school so he can get a good job, even though their ideals clash. Javed grows in confidence as a character – he is a teenager and his actions and selfishness could be interpreted as teenage rebellion. Any family could feel for the family’s money struggles and a powerful scene in the film was when Javed’s father broke down in tears – feeling he has failed his family.

The late ‘80s setting allows Blinded by the Light to address some wider issues. This was a time of political and economic tensions. The National Front were throwing their weight around and intimidating the Pakistani community, politics is especially polarised, there are job losses in the car industry, and the English teacher stated there were no jobs for graduates. This ends up making Blinded by the Light a more topical film considering what the Brexit vote has done to the UK. There was a striking imagine where Javed stands next to an election poster saying ‘Uniting the Country’ just at a time when a violent and racist confrontation has happened.

Blinded by the Light is a drama that touches on some heavy subjects, yet there were still moments of humour and joy. As well as looking at bad aspects of the ’80s there were also positives. The film wanted to celebrate the music, culture, and fashion at this time. There were joyous moments through Springsteen’s music. Javed gets a whole market to sing to Eliza and the sequence when Javed and his friend, Roops (Aaron Phagura) hijack the school radio station could have fitted in a ’80s teen film.

Chadha is known for being a comedy director and there were some jokes in the film. Scenes where Javed and his family have to push the family car and one of Javed’s sister wearing goggles when cutting onions felt like they were based on personal anecdotes.

Blinded by the Light thematically was similar to An Education. Both films were based on autobiography, had a period setting, and had an English teacher inspiring a student to find his voice and follow their passion.

Blinded by the Light is that it does live up to its billing as a feel-good film. It was able to balance out its darker and serious subject moments with hope and joy. And it’s hard to go wrong with a soundtrack provided by The Boss.