Inspired by the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen
Based upon the memoir Greetings From Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock 'N Roll by Sarfraz Manzoor
Screenplay Written by Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chadha & Sarfraz Manzoor
Produced and Directed by Gurinder Chadha
**** (four stars)
RATED PG 13
For each and every one of us, I am certain, there has been at least one point within our lives when a piece of art, and therefore the artist him or herself, touches our lives so seismically that we are ten able to view our lives with a certain metaphorical line in the sand: the time before we were introduced to the artist and the time afterwards as our lives have been irrevocably changed.
At the conclusion of the previous month's activities on this blogsite, I paid tribute to Writer/Producer/Director John Hughes, who own body of work did indeed perform that very irrevocable feat when I was 15 in 1984. Within the world of musical artists, I am immediately thinking of Todd Rundgren, the singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, music video pioneer and all around ahead-of-the-curve visionary whose bod f work I truly initiated myself within when I was 18 in 1987.
While I had been curious as to who he was at the time, I have to admit that when I first began listening to Rundgren's output, I was baffled and even unimpressed, although I did remain intrigued. While I do not remember exactly how or when but at some point during the summer of 1987, right before I left home for my Freshman year of college, something between the music and my spirit clicked and I found myself listening to Rundgren's most celebrated album, the double length "Something/Anything?" (released February 2, 1972) every single day. By the time I arrived upon campus, his then back catalog was being released on compact disc for the first time and I then took a deep dive into his full discography.
For a good full two years, the musical odyssey of Todd Rundgren became my personal soundtrack because, like the films of John Hughes, I discovered that as I was trying to understand myself, I was hearing music that sounded as if it was all brought to life precisely for my ears, heart and soul. Not everyone would understand his work or understand me but every time I listened, Rundgren understood me! The music helped me to articulate the world view and inner journey that I was struggling to articulate for myself as song after song felt as if this is exactly what I would say for myself. Todd Rundgren's music represented that line-in-the-sand for me, the time when I did not even know who he was and the time when my life was changed by his existence and ability to create and share his art with the world.
Now Todd Rundgren is not the only artistic figure to impact my life this greatly, for he is one of many and all of these authors, musicians and filmmakers who have changed me, enlivened me and of course, inspired me is all due to the symbiotic relationship that we all hold with the art we treasure. We formulate our personalities and overall existence with the iconography that shapes us and in turn, we communicate back to the art our gratitude every time we re-experience it, thus re-inspiring ourselves to engage with the world in ways we otherwise never would have.
Gurinder Chadha's absolutely wonderful coming-of-age film "Blinded By The Light" is fully about this exact phenomenon while also existing as a sharp cultural and generational comedy/drama, a tender and tense Father/son story, a turbulent re-examination of Margaret Thatcher's England circa the late 1980's, an earnest ode to the power of the written word (especially when encouraged by a good teacher) and a tribute to the music of Bruce Springsteen. And furthermore, it is every bit the movie that Danny's Boyle's "Yesterday" absolutely failed to be when it was released at the start of the Summer.
Set in the town of Luton, England during 1987, Gurinder Chada's "Blinded By The Light" stars Javed Khan (Viveik Kaira), a Pakistani-British teenager who lives with his Pakistani immigrant family, including his sisters Yasmeen (Tara Divina) and Shazia (Nikita Mehta) and their parents, Noor (Meera Ganatra) and the domineering Father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir).
While Javed thoroughly enjoys the (then) contemporary rock music blasting over the radio airwaves, writes diaries, poetry and lyrics for his lifelong best friend Matt's (Dean-Charles Chapman) synth rock band, and houses grand dreams of finally leaving Luton to become a writer, the dark economic realities of 1980's Thatcher's England, rampant racism towards the Pakistani community plus the overwhelming demands from his traditionalist Father threaten to bring Javed's dreams crashing to the ground.
Then, the fateful day occurs when Roops (a terrific Aaron Phagura), the one other Pakistani-British student besides Javed at school, loans Javed two cassettes, Bruce Springsteen's "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" (released June 2, 1978) and "Born In The U.S.A." (released June 4, 1984) and on one fateful dark and stormy night, just after Javed has tossed all of his poems into the trash, he places his Walkman headphones over his ears, puts a cassette inside and presses PLAY.
Javed's life is then irrevocably changed.
Feeling Bruce Springsteen's music speaking directly to his own existence in Luton, Javed is re-inspired as the songs propel Javed with a newfound energy to not only pursue writing fully, as also encouraged by his Writing instructor Ms. Clay (Haylet Atwell), he finds the bravery to act upon his crush on fellow Writing student, a social activist named Eliza (Nell Williams), and pursue his independence while also attempting to navigate his increasingly tumultuous relationship with his Father.
Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded By The Light" is a joyous, life-affirming triumph. Breezy and profound, light footed while also poignant and poetic, the film is fashioned as being not too dissimilar from a 1980's teen film but sharp enough to display its socio-politcal backdrop as a mirror to our chaotic 21st century political landscape. Chadha has created an experience that is simultaneously intimate and universal, encouraging all of us not only to recall our own formative years but our own current personal crossroads and how the art we engage ourselves with guide us through our respective journeys. And yes, again and emphatically, "Blinded By The Light" grandly succeeds where Danny Boyle's "Yesterday" disastrously failed.
For me, "Yesterday" was creatively uninspired. That is, it was uninspired beyond its truly innovative premise where we were asked to imagine a world where The Beatles completely fell out of existence except within the consciousness of the one man who does indeed remember them. The idea was brilliant. The execution was unforgivable for the sole reason that the filmmakers never performed the most obvious thing: to explore, explain or even offer an opinion on what made the music of The Beatles what it was and why a world without them would be unimaginable. It never even tried!
That glaring storytelling error is actually an even more glaring symptom of the "jukebox musical" genre as filmmakers are simply creating movies where audiences are invited to sing along with the songs we all know and love and just call it a day. With "Blinded By The Light," Gurinder Chadha has already circumvented any obstacles by always remembering, and therefore ensuring, that her film, first and foremost, had a story to tell, not exist as a forum for a bunch of songs to monkey wrench a story onto whether it made sense or not. She is exceedingly less interested in having potential audiences sing along to their favorite Bruce Springsteen songs in the theater aisles and rightly desiring having us follow Javed's story above all else. Yes, Springsteen's music is indeed the catalyst that propels the story forwards but without Javed, there is no movie at all.
But back to the catalyst of Bruce Springsteen's music anyway. In order for this film to really mean anything at all, we have to understand what Springsteen's music is and what it means to Javed, thus signifying the greater truth of the transcendent nature of art and how it soars over race, gender, generations, geographical locale and time itself in order to make the intended spiritual connection.
The initial sequence where Javed hears Springsteen's music for the first time is simplistic and downright glorious not just in presentation but in the purity and validity of what its representation of the moment when art connects with us. In a way, it was a section that reminded me very music of the outstanding synesthesia sequence in Joe Wright's "The Soloist" (2009), because, I have to admit, it displayed exactly what it feels like when music hits its direct target with me.
Chadha simply allows Springsteen's music to play, for "Dancing In The Dark" and then, "Promised Land," and as we listen, we view Javed listening and then finding the bolt-of-lightning styled connection when key Springsteen lyrics literally burst from his headphones and swirl around his head and soon exhibit themselves all over the walls of the homes in his neighborhood. The voluminous power of the music is understood, it is urgently felt and in doing so, Chadha even allows us to hear the music as if for the very first time, even for those of us in the audience who know the songs intimately.
From here, we explore Springsteen's music through Javed's journey. We have moments of unadulterated joy, as in the euphoric "Born To Run" sequence where Javed, Eliza and Roops take from their school through the streets and countryside of Luton like the truant trio in John Hughes' "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) or the rock band teens of John Carney's wondrous "Sing Street" (2016). And we also have moments of stark social/political fury as Springsteen's epic, elegiac "Jungleland" plays over a race riot between local members of the fascistic political party National Front and their protesters, including Javed's family as they try to embark on Javed's sister's wedding day. And all the while, Chadha keeps Springsteen's music as the primal, throbbing heartbeat that fuels Javed's inspiration and his ascension into a greater self-awareness as well as his pitfalls with his friends, family heritage and even his own ego.
Yes, "Blinded By The Light" follows a certain coming-of-age/teen film formula and that is just fine due to the depth Gurinder Chadha has given to the characters and the story in which they populate. She allows us to walk in the shoes of a Pakistani-British family and view the generational and societal conflicts within the family, especially how Javed and his Father, Malik each deal with the racism they encounter in their respective daily lives. And I loved how Chadha allowed her characters to ask hard questions of themselves and each other throughout while also providing no easy answers and still, she delivers nothing less than a crowd-pleaser.
What does the world, and his existence as a Father, husband and as a man, mean to Malik, deeply proud of his heritage and religion and his ability to move his family to England in pursuit of a better life, now confronted with a dark reality in which the life he has earned is now threatened due to autocratic political policies? A life in which every member of his family is employed and he demands all funds go directly to him topay the family expenses. For Javed, how do his aspirations as a writer clash with his Father's wishes for his future and can he reconcile himself to his decisions should be pursue his dreams at the expense of their relationship?
What of Javed's friendship with Matt, who is Caucasian and has existed as a selfless friend, rightfully defending Javed against racist tormentors and who now finds his loyalty possibly being tossed aside as Javed builds his own sense of resolve? What of Javed's romance with Eliza, also Caucasian? Does she love Javed for the content of his character or is she using him as a point of rebellion against her right-wing parents and what does either scenario mean for Javed's self-worth? And yes, what of Javed's love of Bruce Springsteen and what it means for his own sense of cultural identity as well as how he is perceived by others of his own race, including his family?
What a treat and treasure Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded By The Light" is. A film that is enormously entertaining while also possessing the depth necessary for us to feel something quite possibly as authentically as Javed's feels Bruce Springsteen's music. By now, this film may have already come and gone from your local theaters and if so, that is a terrible shame as this film clearly has the strength to go toe-to-cinematic-toe with the truly major releases, if only given the honest chance and opportunity to do so. Even so, what has been made is here in the world just waiting to be embraced and trust me, I think once you see it for yourselves, you certainly will do so just as I did.
Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded By The Light" is one of 2019's very best films.
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