Blinded By The Light (2019 Film)
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''Blinded by the Light'' (also known as ''Music of My Life'') is a 2019 British
comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...
film directed by
Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...
. It was inspired by the life of journalist
Sarfraz Manzoor Sarfraz Manzoor (; born 9 June 1971) is a British journalist, documentary maker, broadcaster, and screenwriter of Pakistani origin. He is a regular contributor to ''The Guardian'', presenter of documentaries on BBC Radio 4, and a cultural commen ...
and his love of the works of
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...
. Manzoor co-wrote the script with Chadha and
Paul Mayeda Berges Paul Mayeda Berges (born September 11, 1968) is an American screenwriter and director. He is known for his work on films such as 2002's ''Bend It Like Beckham''. Early and personal life Of Japanese and a "bit of Basque" ancestry,
. It is based on Manzoor's 2007 memoir ''Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N' Roll''. Set in the town of
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
in 1987 Britain, the film tells the
coming-of-age story In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or interna ...
of Javed, a
British-Pakistani British Pakistanis (; also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are Britons or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes people born in the UK who are of Pakistani descent, Pakist ...
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
teenager whose life is changed after he discovers the music of Springsteen. Viveik Kalra stars in the lead role, along with
Hayley Atwell Hayley Elizabeth Atwell (born 5 April 1982) is an English and American actress. After appearing in various West End productions, Atwell gained popularity for her roles in period dramas, appearing in the films ''Brideshead Revisited'' (2008), '' ...
,
Rob Brydon Robert Brydon Jones (; born 3 May 1965) is a Welsh actor, comedian, impressionist, presenter, singer and writer. He gained prominence for his roles in film, television and radio. He was appointed Order of the British Empire, Member of the Order ...
,
Kulvinder Ghir Kulvinder Ghir is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known as one of the cast members in the sketch show '' Goodness Gracious Me'' (1998–2015). He is also known for playing Aslam in the Yorkshire-based film '' Rita, Sue and Bob ...
and Nell Williams in supporting roles. The film premiered at the
2019 Sundance Film Festival The 2019 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 24 to February 3, 2019. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 28, 2018. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * '' Before You Know It'' by Hannah Pearl Utt * '' ...
and was released by
Entertainment One Lionsgate Canada is a Canadian entertainment company and a subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios. Based in Toronto, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition and production of films and television series. The company began on June 1, 1973 ...
in the United Kingdom on 9 August 2019, and
New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...
in the United States and other countries on 16 August 2019 via parent company
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film studio and distribution arm of the Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group division of Warner Bros., both of which are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex ...
. ''Blinded by the Light'' received positive reviews from critics, and also received nominations for Best Film and Best Actor (for Kalra) at the 2019 SIFF Awards.


Plot

In 1987, Javed Khan and his family – Pakistani migrant parents Malik and Noor and sisters Yasmeen and Shazia – live in
Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...
, England, during the
premiership of Margaret Thatcher Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 4 May 1979 when she accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to form a government, succeeding James Callaghan of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, and ended ...
. Javed likes contemporary
rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
, which Malik disapproves of. Javed writes poetry and lyrics for his best friend Matt's band, but Matt criticises Javed's work for being depressing. Javed feels out of place at his new
sixth-form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council level ...
, where he is one of two
South Asian South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
students; the other, Roops, is a fan of " The Boss". In Ms Clay's writing class, Javed develops a crush on a student activist named Eliza and becomes interested in writing as a career. Javed talks to Ms Clay after class about his poetry and diaries. During lunch, Roops approaches him and gives him two Bruce Springsteen
cassette tape The Compact Cassette, also commonly called a cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog audio, analog magnetic tape recording format for Sound recording and reproduction, audio recording and playback. Invented by L ...
s, calling Springsteen "the direct line to all that is true in this shitty world." Javed faces constant racism from his peers and neighbours, and Malik forbids him to socialise, insisting he "follow the Jews" in his college because of their success as a people. Javed is denied any opportunity to write for the school paper.
Vauxhall Motors Vauxhall Motors Limited , ;Company No. 00135767. Incorporated 12 May 1914, name changed from Vauxhall Motors Limited to General Motors UK Limited on 16 April 2008, reverted to Vauxhall Motors Limited on 18 September 2017. is a British Automoti ...
lays off much of their workforce, including Malik who had worked there for sixteen years. His mother takes on extra sewing work to pay the bills. Frustrated by racism and Malik's inability to understand him, Javed discards his poems on the night of the great storm of 1987. After listening to the Springsteen tapes, the lyrics speak to him, and he recovers his poems. At college, Javed excitedly tells Roops that Springsteen knows exactly how he feels. Inspired to continue writing, he shares his poetry with Ms Clay. A neighbour, Mr Evans, recovers one of Javed's poems that decries the National Front as 'scum'. As a
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
ex-serviceman, Mr Evans sympathizes with Javed's feelings and calls the poem brilliant, but Javed's parents are less appreciative. Javed submits a piece about Springsteen to the newspaper, which is accepted. Malik is worried about finding the money for Yasmeen's wedding. Javed takes a Saturday job with Matt's father, also a Springsteen fan, on his market stall. Matt's father helps Javed impress Eliza by serenading her with a Springsteen song. In the process, Javed upsets Matt by seeming to side with his father as he taunts Matt about his poor musical taste and his band. Javed asks out Eliza and steeling his nerves with Springsteen songs, the two enjoy a night out and kiss. Javed is inspired to write his own poems about Eliza, which she loves. Ms Clay enjoys his poems and article and arranges an unpaid internship for Javed at the ''Herald''. Malik and his wife have to sell her dowry jewellery presumably to cover his lost wages. Malik does not help his wife with the sewing even though he insists Javed and his sisters help. Javed points this out when his dad objects to him taking the unpaid work experience and his dad responds by saying his biggest mistake was moving to Britain. Javed learns of growing tensions between the Muslim community and the National Front, who have organized a march and hung a pig's head at the local
Mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...
. Eliza invites Javed to dinner with her conservative and racist parents who imply that she is only with him out of rebellion. Javed later mentions this and says he does not care if she is with him for that reason. At the ''Herald'', Javed gets paid after an article he wrote about racism is chosen for the front page and decides to use the money to buy tickets for a Springsteen concert. On the morning of his sister's wedding, while Javed runs to the shops to buy tickets, his family arrives separately at the venue and National Front members assault Malik. Upset that Javed withheld money from the family and had dishonoured Malik and the wedding, Malik tells Javed to surrender the tickets, but Javed says the tickets are his and they fight. Malik says Javed will go to a university in Luton and Javed states that Luton does not have a university and that he will go to the
University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
instead. At this, Malik rips up the tickets. Having had enough of his father, Javed pushes and stuns Malik by telling him he does not want to be his son as he wants to be more than that. At school, Eliza chastises Javed for abandoning his family on his sister's wedding day, and then for using his family as an excuse for no longer seeing her. In class, Ms Clay tells Javed that his Springsteen essay won him attendance to a lecture at
Monmouth College Monmouth College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. It enrolls 727 students in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science de ...
in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, near where Springsteen grew up. Javed initially declines, knowing his father will not allow him to go, but later changes his mind when he sees racist graffiti on their home. Malik says America is a bad place and tells Javed that if he leaves, he will not be allowed to return. Javed and Roops enjoy an inspiring trip to the States. Back home, with Javed staying with Roops, Noor tells Malik to reconcile with Javed and reminds him that he left his own family and country at a young age and that she and Malik will ultimately lose Javed should Malik refuse. When Javed is asked to read his essay at a school event, Eliza recruits Javed's family to show up in support. Instead of reading his original essay, Javed talks about being "
Blinded by the Light "Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, which first appeared on his 1973 debut album ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the Billb ...
" of Springsteen and his own dreams and being willing to abandon his friends and family along the way. He recognizes his father's struggles and the way his community has shaped him, saying he must "build a bridge to my ambitions, but not a wall between my family and me." Everyone is moved. Javed reconciles with Eliza and thanks her for inviting his family. Malik reconciles with Javed and tells him that he has read Springsteen's lyrics and admires the themes of working hard and respecting one's family. Before going to Manchester, Javed sells his Springsteen memorabilia to reclaim his mother's jewellery. As Javed leaves for university, he and Malik listen to Springsteen together.


Cast


Soundtrack

Springsteen allowed twelve of his songs to be used in the soundtrack and it features several Springsteen rarities, including the first performance of " The River", from the
No Nukes Musicians United for Safe Energy, or MUSE, is an activist group founded in 1979 by Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Bonnie Raitt, Harvey Wasserman and John Hall. The group advocates against the use of nuclear energy, forming shortly after the T ...
concerts at
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
in 1979 and an acoustic rendition of " The Promised Land" that Springsteen performed in 2014 at Washington, D.C.'s
National Mall The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institu ...
. The soundtrack also showcases a number of Springsteen's classics such as "
Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...
", "
Hungry Heart "Hungry Heart" is a rock song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, '' The River''. It was released as the album's lead single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first top-five hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at ...
" and a 1975 acoustic recording of " Thunder Road" performed at
The Roxy Theatre The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic. History The Roxy was opened on September 20, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along with ...
. The soundtrack contains a previously unreleased Springsteen song "I'll Stand by You", which was originally written for inclusion in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone''.


Track listing


Reception


Box office

''Blinded by the Light'' grossed $19.6 million worldwide. In Canada and the United States, the film was released alongside '' Where'd You Go, Bernadette'', '' 47 Meters Down: Uncaged'' and '' Good Boys'', and was projected to gross around $4 million from 2,307 cinemas in its opening weekend. It made $1.4 million on its first day, and went on to debut to $4.5 million, finishing ninth. Rival studios argued that Warner Bros. should have begun with a limited release to build audience interest, and that the film's August date was too close to that of '' Yesterday'', a film that also depicts a young
British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...
male inspired by a classic popular music act.


Critical response

On
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 261 reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus reads: "Like a life-affirming rock anthem, ''Blinded by the Light'' hits familiar chords with confidence and flair, building to a conclusion that leaves audiences cheering for an encore." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a
weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 71 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while those at
PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...
gave it an average 4.5 out of 5 stars. Johnny Oleksinski of ''
The New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'' calls it "the feel-good movie of the year". Jordan Ruimy of ''
The Playlist ''The Playlist'' is a British children's entertainment and music series presented by guest presenters, produced by Strawberry Blond TV for CBBC and first aired on 22 April 2017 and ended on 12 March 2022. The first series was narrated by Sco ...
'' calls it "one of the most joyous and exhilarating movies you will see this year". Leah Greenblatt of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...
'' calls it an ode to "the power of music". Anthony Ray Bench of ''
Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...
'' calls it "a feel-good movie that tackles a bunch of tough topics, from politics, race, family traditions, social frustrations, and romance" yet "never feels preachy or overly cheesy." Adam Chitwood of ''
Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
'' calls it "a rapturously joyous, heartfelt, and genuinely insightful film not just about The Boss, but about the personal nature and power of music." Owen Gleiberman of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' calls it "the sort of unguarded drama they used to ''make'' in the '80s — a coming-of-age tale of unabashed earnestness — but it's also a delirious and romantic
rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...
parable" that is "a more incandescent ode to the life force of
pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...
than any film ever adapted from the work of
Nick Hornby Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer. He is best known for his memoir '' Fever Pitch'' (1992) and novels ''High Fidelity'' and '' About a Boy'', all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequen ...
." Bedatri Datta Choudhury of ''Vague Visages'' says that, while "Springsteen takes the
American dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...
and helps everyone navigate through its dismantling," Chadha "makes it speak to an entirely different country and a whole new generation."


Accolades

At the 2019 SIFF Awards in the
Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...
, ''Blinded by the Light'' received nominations for Best Film (for director Gurinder Chadha) and Best Actor (for Viveik Kalra). In July 2019, Ethan Anderson of ''
/Film ''/Film'', also spelled ''SlashFilm'', is a blog that covers movie news, reviews, interviews, and trailers. It was founded by Peter Sciretta in August 2005. The site's reviews appear on Rotten Tomatoes, and as of 2024, two of its leading film cr ...
'' listed ''Blinded by the Light'' as the eighth best film of 2019 so far. A critics' survey by '' IndieWire'' listed ''Blinded by the Light'' as one of the eight best films of Summer 2019.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blinded By The Light 2019 films 2019 comedy-drama films 2010s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 2010s English-language films British coming-of-age comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films based on non-fiction books Films directed by Gurinder Chadha Films scored by A. R. Rahman New Line Cinema films Warner Bros. films Lionsgate Canada films Bruce Springsteen Films set in 1980 Films set in 1987 Films set in 1988 Films set in Luton Films set in New Jersey Films about father–son relationships Films about racism in the United Kingdom Pakistani-British culture Films about interracial romance Films shot in Bedfordshire 2010s British films 2010s American films English-language comedy-drama films