In a small, working-class town in England, a boy discovers the music that will change his entire world. Javed (Viveik Kalra; Beecham House) is a 16 year old that writes poems in his diary and is told by his immigrant parents to study to become a doctor, lawyer, or estate agent. His goals in life change when a friend introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen. This is the late 80s when Bruce is no longer popular with the synth pop-loving teenagers, but his lyrics about blue-collar life strike a chord with Javed and inspire him to pursue his love of writing.
To Javed, Bruce’s music doesn’t just sound great, it’s a revelation. No scene communicates this better than when Javed inadvertently serenades a girl from his class. While working at a clothing shop, he turns on his Walkman and notices the girl from his class he likes in the distance. He stares at her and starts singing along to the Springsteen song as he slowly walks towards her, transfixed and seemingly unaware of his very public display of affection. What follows is a disarmingly sweet explosion of emotion as Javed continues to sing and others join in and start dancing. The music, like his first love, is an overwhelming torrent of feeling that he carries him forward. That director Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) can take a trite act like singing to someone and turn it into an act of pure, uninhibited passion is a testament to her strengths as a director and the deeply affecting link between Javed and the music.
Despite her background in narrative filmmaking, Chadha pulls from prominent music video techniques. When Javed first hears Bruce’s music, there are lyrics onscreen that float around his head, emphasizing his connection to the meaning behind the songs, not just an appreciation for their sound. As Javed listens, Chadha uses projections of images and lyrics onto building walls to show his total immersion in the music. It’s not an original visual, but it is effective as Javed touches words on the walls in earnest kinship.
Most of Javed’s story is predictable, but the sincerity of it all is enough to distract from its familiarity. It’s again the story of traditional parents with a child that wants to do something outside the norm, therein creating a rift in his family. Javed’s dad is stern, prescriptive, Javed says “In my house, only my dad is allowed to have an opinion.”, and disapproves of his music and writing. Javed instead finds support from his English teacher at school who encourages him to express his voice. At first, it seems like he is going to be obnoxious with how overeager he is, but that fear quickly dissipates with his charm. He and his friend love Bruce Springsteen to such an exorbitant degree that it’s impossible not to enjoy watching characters so genuinely passionate about something. Blinded by the Light tells a conventional narrative, but does so with enough unrestrained emotion and engrossing idealism to make Springsteen himself proud.
4/5 stars.