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 (083119)
In a summer season that’s already celebrated the music of The Beatles through
fantasy (in June’s “Yesterday”), it seems only natural to make way for Bruce
Springsteen and his working class perspective for “Blinded by the Light,” a tale
of fandom in the 1980s and something of a bio-pic for writer Sarfraz Manzoor,
whose book, “Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll,” has
inspired the screenplay. The film isn’t explicitly a jukebox musical working
through Springsteen’s ample discography, but it certainly threatens to become
one. Co-writer/director Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) is making a
coming-of-age drama, but guitar spirit often takes command of the feature, which
is even more of an audience-pleaser than “Yesterday,” even while working with
far more sobering tunes. “Blinded by the Light” doesn’t know when to quit, but
it’s loaded with charm and always attentive to heart, offering viewers the ride
of life in motion, backed by the rock poetry of The Boss.
The year is 1987, and Javed (Viveik Kalra) is a young Pakistani man who’s been
raised in a strict family, dealing with authority issues from his father, Malik
(Kulvinder Ghir), who demands respect. Javed dreams of college, but he’s
committed to a life of servitude, reluctantly working on a future as an
accountant, living up to Malik’s expectations. When Javed meets a Sikh named
Roops (Aaron Phagura), he’s introduced to the miracle of Bruce Springsteen, who
writes about the common man and his struggles to make it through a life he
doesn’t want. Responding to such truth, Javed becomes a Springsteen superfan,
living his life for The Boss, with this passion driving his personal poetry,
impressing his teacher, Ms. Clay (Hayley Atwell). With Springsteen altering his
DNA, Javed fights for his future, finding liberation a difficult sell for Malik,
who pushes traditional Pakistani values and aspirations on his son, causing
tremendous friction in the house.
While “Blinded by the Light” is a deeply personal story, it also represents a
slice of history. It’s set in England during Thatcher’s reign, with the nation
succumbing to the ravages of unemployment, creating a depression that’s
reignited the National Front, a neo-Nazi organization that’s determined to drive
perceived enemies, including Pakistanis, out. Jobs are drying up, hope is
dissipating, and Javed is trapped in a domestic situation he no longer has the
patience for, facing a life where he has zero control over his personal
expression, even being groomed for an arranged marriage. It’s this collision of
household disturbance and national alarm that drives the plot of “Blinded by the
Light,” finding Javed positively lost, in need of direction.
Such confidence is offered through the music of Bruce Springsteen, with Roops
gifting his friend a pair of cassettes for maximum Walkman salvation. The
soundtrack is filled with songs from The Boss, with Chadha showing little
hesitation when it comes to equating Springsteen’s songwriting with Javed’s
awakening, periodically using printed lyrics to underline the connection
generated between the artist and the meek soul about to explode. “Blinded by the
Light” strives to be jubilant, inching toward corniness perhaps one too many
times, but it’s a definite heart-on-sleeve production push, reaching peak
euphoria with a mid-movie presentation of “Born to Run,” watching Javed and
Roops commandeer a college radio station to play the forbidden track, sprinting
out into the world singing the song at the top of their lungs. This joy inspires
song and dance, with Chadha capturing the exorcism of complacency in the lead
character, and also indulging some musical number itches with Springsteen’s
beloved hit.
There’s a lot on the film’s plate, as “Blinded by the Light” deals with Javed’s
success as a writer, time with his first girlfriend (Nell Williams), and
complications with his neighborhood buddy (Dean-Charles Chapman), who’s a New
Wave kid. The endeavor extends to nearly two hours in length, and the
stretchmarks show, leaving the feature somewhat plodding as it deals with all
supporting characters, including the central crisis of culture and age between
Javed and his stern father. Chadha loves this community, and she’s very careful
to draw parallels between the crisis of far-right racism in the 1980s and the
world we live in today, making it difficult for her to trim down a picture that
needs it. While it almost runs out of gas, “Blinded by the Light” is clearly the
work of an impassioned and aware helmer who’s trying to do something positive
with the material, offering sunshine to moviegoers who may need the boost these
days. She gives Springsteen all the adulation, but the saga of Manzoor’s
enlightenment is the true inspiration, working to secure the grand arc of sonic
and creative stimulation the writer experienced thanks to The Boss.
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