What typically defines the very best Bruce Springsteen songs is how they’re able to create a harmony between accessible, catchy tunes and hard hitting lyrics about big ideas and issues that would otherwise be a bummer to listen to. It’s the kind of genius in musicality that allows something like his 1984 song “Born In The U.S.A.,” to be a major hit with its exploration about the plight of Vietnam veterans, while still unironically popping up in Republican political campaigns as a show of patriotism. Gurinder Chadha essentially hoes for a very similar effect in her latest film, Blinded By The Light, which she co-wrote with her husband and longtime collaborator, Paul Mayeda Berges, as well as Sarfraz Manzoor, who wrote the memoir that the film is based on.
It follows a young Pakistani teenager, Javed (Viveik Kalra), who lives in Luton, England during the late 80s. He lives a fairly strict and traditional life with his parents, sister, and cousin. He desires to be a writer, something his father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), does not approve of. However, when he makes friends with a Sikh schoolmate, Roops (Aaron Phagura), he hears the music of Bruce Springsteen for the first time, and it inspires him to do all the things he wouldn’t have had the courage to do previously, and to follow his dream of being a writer.
As I stated, Chadha is taking on a storytelling effect that is similar to the way Springsteen constructed his music and lyrics. On the surface, Blinded By The Light is by all accounts a standard feel-good movie in tone and structure. It’s not the kind of movie that will surprise you with any radical plot turns or experimentations with the form. However, within that accessible structure, the filmmakers explore various themes that relate to cultural identity, economic hardships, racism, and various other working class anxieties that can be connected to the works of The Boss.
In the film, we explore the effects of Margaret Thatcher’s reign at the time, and how it affected the lives of our characters and the world around them. It paints a picture that is all too relevant, with skinheads and neo-Nazis walking about, doing marches, screaming about sending foreigners back, and vandalizing and harassing minorities. The Trump era parallels are clear and obvious, but it’s done with purpose and vigor, and an understanding of what it’s like to constantly be on edge and on guard because you don’t feel welcomed.
Along with that, Chadha tackles the theme of how the cultural and generational clash creates a struggle in the lives of South Asians living in England, or any western nation, which has long been a huge part of her films like Bhaji On The Beach, Bend It Like Beckham, and Bride & Prejudice. The theming is one that is very common in stories that center on these kinds of characters, and arguably formulaic to a fault, but it helps that the filmmakers are always coming from a place of honesty and emotional truth. The dynamic between Javed and each of his family members is quickly defined, but it utilizes the kind of short cuts that many young South Asians would recognize in their own lives and families.
Under a lesser filmmaker, this would all seem kinda rote, but Chadha brings so much passion and energy to every moment, and the characters are so endearing that it’s hard not to get swept up by it. It’ll certainly be a touch overwhelmingly sweet and corny for some, but its unabashed earnestness is easily its greatest strength. The performances reflect that, from Kalra to his family played by Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Nikita Mehta, Tara Divina to other supporting players like his childhood friend played by Dean-Charles Chapman, his love interest played by Nell Williams, a helpful teacher played by Hayley Atwell, each lacking any sense of cynicism, reveling in the kind of wholesome storytelling that almost seems out of place in the year of our Lord, 2019. However, it’s exactly the kind of movie it needs to be, and it’s exactly the kind of movie we need right now. Though, it does force Springsteen lyrics into the dialogue perhaps one too many times.
Anyone who has ever connected so deeply with an artist at an impressionable age will be able to connect with Blinded By The Light, even if they aren’t of the South Asian diaspora. Moments like when Javed embarrassingly plasters Springsteen posters on the wall, and obsessing over a new Springsteen inspired look reminded me of a similar experience I had with Green Day when I was a pre-teen, even if it wasn’t quite as life changing as it was for Javed. The film beautifully touches on that awkward feeling of struggling to connect with your family, while also struggling to connect with the world around you, hoping that you can get the chance to get your voice out there. I like that it pushes more with Javed’s character, examining how his mind, despite expanding through music, also makes him lose focus on things that are more important. If Chadha’s ability to take something that seems simplistic crowd pleaser on the outside and showcase incredible nuance and delicacy and thought within that framework doesn’t perfectly capture the spirit of The Boss’ music, then I don’t know what does.