Blinded by the Light

Blinded by the Light (2019)
Biopic / Feelgood / Humour / Music
Theme: Gala Films
Country: United Kingdom
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Screenplay: Paul Mayeda Berges, Gurinder Chandra, Sarfraz Manzoor
Starring: Meera Ganatra, Kulvinder Ghir, Viveik Kalra
Production: Jamal Daniel, Gurinder Chadha, Jane Barclay / Bend It Films
Duration: 115 min
Rating: 12
    Language: English
    Subtitles: Swedish, Finnish
    Distribution: SF Film Finland
    Print source: SF Film Finland
    Cinematography: Ben Smithard
    Editing: Justin Krish
In collaboration with: British Embassy Helsinki.
    Based on the book “Greetings From Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll” by Sarfraz Manzoor
    Inspired by the words and music of Bruce Springsteen
    Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Jaana Wiik / Nicklas Källén.
    Helsinki International Film Festival (HIFF) Love & Anarchy.
    Opening gala hosted by Anna Möttölä and Pekka Lanerva.
    Video greeting from Gurinder Chadha.
    Viewed at Bio Rex, Helsinki, 19 Sep 2019.

HIFF: Ian Freer (Empire Online): "Sensitive poetry-writing teen Javed (Viveik Kalra) faces racism in the streets and strictness in the home from his disciplinarian father (Kulvinder Ghir). Yet his life is transformed when he is introduced by new buddy Roops (Aaron Phagura) to the music of Bruce Springsteen. Soon after, a world of writing, love and optimism opens up for him."

"Combining both the universality and specificity of Springsteen’s music, Blinded By The Light is an exuberant anthem to the importance of music, the need to be seen and the hope of new possibilities." Ian Freer, Empire Online

HIFF: Owen Gleiberman (Variety): "In Gurinder Chadha’s best movie since Bend It Like Beckham, a Pakistani British teenager gets jolted alive by the music of Bruce Springsteen."

"Blinded by the Light takes you to that place where pop can be everything: the promise of a life you don’t have yet, but the music says that you can get it. Javed starts to write, and proudly (more poetry, and an article for the school paper), and what’s going on is that he’s realizing he wants to be a writer. Bruce’s lyrics – which didn’t need to be scrawled across the screen, but so be it – touch the darkness, yet they’re also about a religious promise: that you can escape. And find yourself. That’s just what Javed does, and the speech he gives after winning a writing award is a total blow-you-away moment."

"It’s about family and forgiveness, about the glory of rock ‘n’ roll, and about realizing that even a tramp like him can walk in the sun." Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Pekka Lanerva (HIFF): "Aina välillä elokuvat yllättävät. Kuluvan vuoden suurimpiin yllättäjiin lukeutuu englantilaisen Gurinder Chadhan vaatimattomalla budjetilla toteuttama Blinded by the Light. Samalla ohjaaja lunastaa erinomaisen varhaistyönsä, Bend it Like Beckhamin (R&A 2002), nostattamat odotukset. Tämän vuoden Sundance-festivaalin yleisöä riemastuttanut musikaalikomedia koki tammikuisena lauantai-iltana indie-unelmien täyttymyksen: täyteen pakattu festarinäytös, innostunut yleisö, hillitön pöhinä ja huippuarvostelut. Seurasi isojen firmojen hintakisa, jonka voittajaksi nousi näyttävällä 15 miljoonan tarjouksella Warner, joka levittää elokuvan maailmalle."

"Elokuva kertoo englantilaisessa Lutonin lähiössä 1980-luvulla kasvaneen pakistanilaisperheen runopojan Javedin (Viveik Kalra) tarinan. Tapa, jolla tarina kerrotaan, on syy, miksi elokuvasta on tullut yleisön rakastama hitti: Javedin tunteisiin pureudutaan Bruce Springsteenin periamerikkalaisten, valkoisen työväenluokan kokemuspiiristä kumpuavien kappaleiden avulla. Kuulostaa kaukaa haetulta, mutta elokuvan taustalla on tositarina ja toimittaja Sarfraz Manzoorin muistelmateos Greetings from Bury Park."

"Blinded by the Light on kertomus unelmista ja toivosta. Koska ne ovat myös Springsteenin kappaleiden tärkeimmät rakennuspalikat, ratkaisu toimii erinomaisesti. Ja koska kyseessä on musikaali, on perinteinen brittiläinen keittiörealismi kaukana, samoin Springsteenin lyriikoiden tummemmat sävyt. Arkirealismin sijaan Blinded by the Light keskittyy tunteiden todellisuuteen."

"Elokuvalla on ehkä naiivi, mutta tärkeä sanoma pop-musiikin kyvystä ylittää kulttuurirajoja, laajentaa kokemusmaailmaa ja avartaa maailmankuvaa. Se antaa toivoa Javedille, jonka elämää varjostaa Thatcherin vuosien epätoivoisuus: irtisanomiset, työttömyys ja köyhyys sekä rasismin ja nationalismin nousu. Koska nämä asiat ovat jälleen surullisen ajankohtaisia, viestiin on helppo samastua juuri nyt." Pekka Lanerva

AA: An engrossing popular movie, a growing-up story of a Pakistani teenager in England in 1987, a story about racism and unemployment, a love story, a film about the Bruce Springsteen experience.

I have loved Gurinder Chadha's work since Bhaji on the Beach and Bend It Like Beckham. In Blinded by the Light she is at her most life-affirming, while also facing serious issues of social injustice.

Stylistically, it's a difficult mix of satire, comedy, romance, musical, social realism, and youth psychology. It's also about a cultural clash and a generation clash in Javed's Pakistani family and Eliza's British family. It's a classic Oedipal drama both for Javed and Eliza. The drama is serious but told with a sense of humour by Chadha.

It could be a mess, but the dissonant and conflicting elements are brought together by Chadha with sunny assurance and conviction.

Chadha paints a vibrant and colourful picture of British teenage life in the 1980s. Music is all-important: acts like Pet Shop Boys ("It's a Sin") Human League ("Dont' You Want Me") and a-ha ("The Sun Always Shines on T.V.") are heard.

At the core of the movie is a true story of growing up with the music of Bruce Springsteen. As a tale of fandom it has been compared with Nick Hornby film adaptations. The distinction of Blinded by the Light is in its profound and original grasp of many senses of fandom.

For Javed, the music of Bruce Springsteen is an inspiration to self-discovery, self-assurance,  confidence and courage. It is also an inspiration in his personal calling as a writer and a poet. It's about the most fundamental things: me and existence. Me and love. Me and society. The music encourages him to realize his full potential. It also enables him to grow up into his first love.

These are the simplest and greatest things. Chadha has the courage of naivety, in the positive sense of Goethe and Schiller, of seeing things purely and directly.

The film is not naive in the sense of ignoring reality. The full scale of racism is present, from ubiquitous slightings to physical insults and brutal violence at a National Front rally. Unemployment hits the family hard when the Vauxhall car plant in Luton is closed. When Javed meets Eliza's parents, we observe a withering spectacle of British class society.

When Javed discovers Bruce Springsteen his friends tell him that he is passé, a fad of the previous generation. But 30 years on Springsteen is still great.

Other themes of the film are unfortunately also still topical, including racism and Nazism. I love Chadha's sunny fighting spirit and the final credo of Javed's speech: "No one wins unless everyone wins".