Blinded by the Light (4½ Stars)

This is a film that snuck up on me unawares. Usually I hear about upcoming big films months in advance, either by word of mouth or by seeing trailers in the cinema. I knew nothing about "Blinded by the Light" until two weeks ago. That's when a friend of mine in England mentioned it as a musical about the songs of Bruce Springsteen.

Based on that description alone I wouldn't have gone to see it. I don't like Bruce Springsteen's music. I wouldn't say I dislike it either, I've just never bothered listening to it. The only Bruce Springsteen song I could name was "Born in the USA". I knew the song "Blinded by the Light", because it was a big hit for Manfred Mann's Earth Band, but I didn't know that Bruce Springsteen had written it. That's how disinterested and uninformed I was.

Further research told me that the film is set in Thatcherite Britain. Interesting. And it's a true story. That's it! I had to see it. Those are two selling points that I can't resist. I've always had a weakness for true stories, especially if they're stories that take place in recent history, since World War Two. And I've always been fascinated by the period of Margaret Thatcher's rule from 1979 to 1990. I missed those years entirely, because I was living in Germany. They were times of turmoil and social unrest, but also years of cultural developments. I was an outsider looking in, and it wasn't until the Thatcherite years were over that I realised what I'd missed.

The film is based on the autobiography of the journalist Sarfraz Manzoor, who is called Javed Khan in the film. In 1987 he's 16 years old, and he's feeling pressure from all sides. His Pakistani father has traditional family values that he wants to impress on his son, but Javed feels more British than Pakistani. Racism was stronger in the 1980's than it is today, so he wasn't able to fit in with British society. Even though there was a growing Pakistani community in the drab industrial town of Luton, he was the only Moslem in his sixth form college. A fellow student at school, a Sikh called Roops, introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, which changes his life. He feels like the songs are written for him in his circumstances.

I can recognise so much of British, or rather English culture in the film. I felt at home while watching it. At the same time elements of nostalgia are thrown into the film, starting with the Rubik's Cube in the opening scene. This is England. This is 1980's England. It was a tough time, it was a miserable time, but looking on it from afar it was also a beautiful time.

The film itself is beautiful. On the surface it seems disjointed, with elements of comedy coming directly after political tragedies and high school scenes, but it's a true story, so that's what I expect. Life doesn't follow neat character arcs, and it doesn't always have happy endings, but in this film there's a happy ending. That's the closest I'll get to giving a spoiler.