Blinded by the Light is a coming-of-age British-Pakastini teenager’s tale based around the lyrics and music of Bruce Springsteen.
Javed (Viveik Kalra) leads the film which is based on The Guardian journalist Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir, Greetings from Bury Park.
It is set in Luton 1987 during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain and has similar themes to Sing Street. There are the typical teenage problems of finding a girlfriend, falling out with his best friend and then he reaches crisis point with his father, who kicks him out of the house.
Javed longs to leave the dull Luton town and pursue a career in writing. Fortunately, he is mentored and encouraged by his English teacher, who sees talent in his work.
The movie title comes from Springsteen’s song ‘Blinded by the Light’ which was made famous by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. I can easily forgive the cheezy musical-like moments, but if I’m being honest sometimes these went on a little too long.
The film tackles racism head-on – you might be surprised by the crap they had to put up with (like I was). It was tough to watch the father battle long-term unemployment.
But ultimately, Blinded by the Light is a joyous film about Javed fighting to find his place and voice, with lots of foot-tapping moments.
4 stars.
Blinded by the Light has a release date in Australia 24 October 2019.
About Blinded by the Light
Set in 1987, during the austere days of Thatcher’s Britain, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT is a joyous, coming-of-age story about a teenager who learns to live life, understand his family and find his own voice through the words and music of Bruce Springsteen.
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