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Blinded by the Light

The music of Bruce Springsteen Inspires a teenager to go on a coming of age journey. In 1987 during the austere days of Thatcher's Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
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Hey, I'm Musty

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Musty’s Review Score

Oh, My Heart

★★★★★

Chadha writes an emotional, fist pumping adventure that makes us truly think about the world around us through the eyes of a British Pakistani Muslim Teen. A contender for my favourite movie of 2019

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Everything you need to know about

Blinded by the Light

Ratings

What makes Blinded by the Light so incredibly powerful and meaningful to audiences is that the message behind it is inspirational and powerful: music can cross boundaries and inspire us in ways we cannot foresee. Equally crucial to the impact of the film is the unfortunate parallels it is drawing in our current political climate, especially here in the United States with the rise of racism and Neo-Nazi couple with a conservative regime. Despite taking place over 30 years ago, it is all too relevant today and allowing those parallels to be drawn, also allows the audience to fully embrace the overwhelming sense of joy and hope that the film brings.
Practically bursting with its love for Springsteen, the movie builds past its formulaic story when it captures the euphoria of singing a song you love.
This is one of the most joyous and exhilarating movies you will see this year and because there is so much passion flowing out from the music, screenplay, and acting, you totally forgive the film when it strays into the predictable and even a little bit of corniness.
Comedy from “Beckham” director looks like a crowd-pleaser.

Movie Info

Synopsis

Inspired by a true story, based on Sarfraz Manzoor’s acclaimed memoir Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll, Blinded by the Light tells the story of Javed (Viveik Kalra), a British teen of Pakistani descent growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father. But when a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in the powerful lyrics. As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.

After Credits Scene

N/A

Year

2019

Duration

1:57

BBFC Age Rating

12A

Genres

Director

Gurinder Chadha

Starring

Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra

Review Date

July 17, 2019

Content Rating

Find out how suitable this movie is for a healthy and positive lifestyle. Learn more about Content Rating

Representation

8

Great diverse cast of South Asian origin and British Actors.

Positive Messages

8

Encourages you to follow your career dreams. To not waver in your morals, even when you’re upset

Consumerism

4

Characters work hard to make ends meet. A character gets a job to pay for concert tickets and cassette tapes

Language

2

fairly clean, there is some racism, but these can be used as discussion points with younger audiences on racism and discrimination. There is some minor profanity in a foreign language but if you can understand that language, then you’ve probably heard those words your whole life

Violence

2

There is some racism and immature pranks. there is a fist fight that gets a little bloody but it is shown to represent the era of modern history this was set in

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

2

Drinking is shown to represent the values a character holds while at the same time demonstrating another set of characters morals. Characters are in a bar but having soft drinks.

Sex

2

There is some kissing, its quite innocent. A young lad is shown topless from time to time. a character is hinted at being physically intimate with women.

Total Score

8

You should be ok with watching this in a family environment. The bad language, racism and violence are all justified and are great discussion topics for kids and young adults. The kissing is kept to a minimal, approx 3 scenes.

Blinded by the Light Review

The importance of representation isn’t to speak exclusively to one crowd but to demonstrate that deep down, we all deal with the same issues and problems, regardless of ability, race, gender, religion or any of the other attributes that are used to divide us. Blinded by the Light isn’t just about a young boy discovering his identity as a British Pakistani Muslim, it goes beyond that and depicts a coming of age struggle between parent and child.

Springsteen’s soundtrack works as a baseline around Javed’s transition from boy to man, through the pursuit of him achieving his dream, which beautifully represents mid 80’s Britain as this bleak and hopeless space that is being held together with prayers and dreams of better tomorrows.

My favourite part is the moment Springsteen’s music is introduced, mirroring a similar reaction to mine, at a similar age to an unknown band, The Airborne Toxic Event, who were also greatly inspired by The Boss. Lyrics flash on screen while a storm brews outside, energy radiates from the screen while I’m on Fire rings in your ears. The magic of Cinema never felt more alive to me than it did in those few brief minutes.

The final 30 minutes of the movie had me physically crying, an honour held by a select few, the most touching aspects were in relation to the cultural heritage of the characters and felt very close to home.

Overall, this movie hits the spot if you’re looking for a feelgood film to break up the week but please don’t miss the opportunity to watch this in the cinema where you can truly experience the movie at its best.

This might be my favourite movie of 2019, a year when Godzilla and Avengers released spectacular blockbusters. Makes you laugh, cry and truly think about the world around us in this fist pumping adventure through the eyes of a British Pakistani Muslim Teen

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Blinded by the Light

The music of Bruce Springsteen Inspires a teenager to go on a coming of age journey. In 1987 during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, a teenager learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the music of Bruce Springsteen.