Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 58 minutes
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Quick Impressions:
Writer/director Gurinder Chadha is pretty well known for her 2002 hit Bend It like Beckham, but I didn’t know until writing this review that she also co-wrote and directed one of my favorite holiday movies, What’s Cooking, this amazing ensemble piece about a bunch of diverse families in the same neighborhood, each gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving. What’s Cooking is a movie I’ve dropped in on in progress so many times. If that movie is on TV, I can never not watch it. My mother always used to joke, “Oh look! Your movie is on!” I love it inordinately. Seriously, it is so compelling. Imagine if Robert Altman made a Thanksgiving special. There are like 150 main characters, and no telling how many side dishes! If What’s Cooking comes on TV, I cannot look away. No matter what, I always drop what I’m doing and finish watching it. Since I usually join it in progress, I had no idea that Gurinder Chadha was the creative genius behind it until now.
So apparently when we decided to watch Blinded by the Light, I was already a huge fan of the director’s work without even realizing it. (She’s also responsible for the “Quais de Seine” part of Paris, je t’aime, another favorite film of mine. And it’s worth noting that her husband Paul Mayeda Berges is her co-writer on all of these projects, including Blinded by the Light.)
So many movies came out in a blazing burst in mid-August that we’re still trying to catch up on them all. Blinded by the Light is one I’ve wanted to see ever since the trailer caught my eye back in May. I had heard lots of positive buzz about it after Sundance, but when I saw the trailer myself, I knew I had to see the film.
The Good:
As you’ve probably already heard, Blinded by the Light is a crowd pleaser, a seeming throwback to the days when the point of movies was to entertain you, and it was okay to enjoy them and to feel good about learning a positive message from them. (It almost has the sensibilities of an actual 80s movie, like a mashup of The Breakfast Club and Footloose.) Blinded by the Light is definitely the movie for you if you ever leave a theater resentful that you had to choose between mindless fare featuring senseless escapsism on the one hand and punishing projects that insist you despair about our senseless society on the other. Blinded by the Light gives you permission to feel good even as it reminds you that good is not the way everyone always feels. In fact, it insists that you feel good. The message is very much, “Life is hard and full of suffering. Now let’s all sing together!”
Blinded by the Light is uplifting and well-acted with tons of heart and an authentic vibe. (What is an “authentic vibe,” you may ask? I mean that we’re getting a story about a Pakistani teen living in 1980s England that’s at least partially grounded in reality. The movie is based on Sarfraz Manzoor’s memoir Greetings from Bury Park. So we’re getting someone’s real voice and true(ish) story.)
Despite its deliberate flights of fancy–one moment seems like it’s ripped directly from a Mentos commercial!–this film felt very real to me. My family is not from Pakistan, and I never lived in Luton (or anywhere else in Britain), but I definitely spent much of my young life as a Walkman fanatic. Headphones are so great for drowning out everything else in your noisy, chaotic home. (I don’t really do that, anymore, of course. For one thing, all of my Walkmans are now broken. (I was rough on them. They usually lasted a month tops.) Also while a Walkman is great for drowning out adult authority figures, escaping into headphones to tune out your children is generally frowned upon. Plus if you ask my family, I’ve apparently developed the superpower of being able to tune people out without a Walkman.)
The escaping into a Walkman aspect of the film rang very true to me. I’m sure even now, teens and tweens relate to the idea of escaping into music. But the Walkman specifically brought back a lot of memories for me. The belt clip, the headphones, the way the cassette door opens, the clicking of the buttons. This grounding in visual and aural detail gives the story a vivid realism. Through the gateway of the familiar Walkman (even more familiar to me than the Springsteen lyrics) I felt like I was in Luton in the 1980s living with my Pakistani parents and wanting more.
What this film does best is give us so much specific detail that its protagonist ironically begins to seem like an everyman in a universal struggle. The richer and more detailed Javed’s particular world is, the more and more clearly we see how familiar his inner conflicts and desires are. This story is about one real person, so it feels like it’s about everyone. This phenomenon is fitting since
Blinded by the Light tells the story of how one immigrant boy in Luton feels so strongly connected to the message in Bruce Springsteen’s music.
I find the way Javed’s life slowly begins to turn into a musical extremely intriguing. He’s finding such meaning in this American music. But perhaps the impulse to turn his life into a musical has something to do with his background. I remember an Indian friend of mine explaining that almost every Indian movie involves elaborate musical numbers, no matter how serious the subject. I haven’t personally watched enough Indian movies to know how true this is. And I’m not sure if Pakistani movies work that way, too. I may be entirely off base, but I can’t help but wonder. As the music changes Javed, does he change the way others hear the music, too? Certainly he wants to bring the wonder of Springsteen’s music into everyone’s life. But perhaps he is part of that wonder. (I don’t know enough about Pakistani culture to make any actual claims here, but I’m curious.)
Certainly Javed succeeded in introducing me to Springsteen. Though I know the names of his most popular songs, I never listened to Springsteen as a child, with the exception of “Dancing in the Dark.” (I was extremely familiar with that song because the video is one of the first big things Courtney Cox did, and I have always loved trivia.) Even without being a Springsteen fan, I loved the music in the film and particularly enjoyed the visually elegant method of highlighting the lyrics.
As a writer plagued with self-doubt at every moment of my existence, I also appreciated the encouragement to write and the repeated emphasis on the value of sharing a story that no one else can. (I wish Hayley Atwell would come to my house and give me a rousing lecture every time I’m feeling down. The cast in this movie is also great! I’ll get to that in a minute!)
What I loved best about the movie, though, was Javed’s family life, what was going on outside the bubble of his headphones. Watching the struggles of his family and their friends as they try to adapt to a new country (where many people pointedly don’t want them) is gripping. (I say “adapt to a new country,” yet we know Javed’s father has been at his job for sixteen years, so it’s not like they arrived yesterday. The film also highlights how difficult it is to assimilate into another society without giving up essential elements of your cultural heritage. This doesn’t happen overnight.) We see, too, how difficult life was for a great number of people in Thatcher’s Britain of 1987. (The implicit correlation to the present day is not exactly subtle.) I would gladly watch this movie even if Javed never listened to a single Bruce Springsteen song or made any personal discoveries. His world is so fascinating. (While Javed is working his way through Springsteen’s entire catalog, his father is quietly giving a 24/7 performance of Death of a Salesman!)
Kulvinder Ghir gives one of the strongest performances in the film as Javed’s father, an increasingly tragic and misunderstood figure. His performance is full of such quiet pathos. I love watching him try to project strength and stability as he feels his dignity and value as a husband, father, and provider being chipped away by circumstance. (As I watched, I remembered a moment from my own time in high school when one of my classmates remarked casually to another, “Your dad works in a convenience store? I thought you said he was a doctor.” The intensity of the other girl’s emotion was painful to witness as she suddenly sobbed, “He is!” I thought, It must be so hard to give up everything and move to another country! Both girls were casual friends from my Latin class, but I could not think of anything helpful to say. She was so distressed and embarrassed and angry. I never know helpful things to say.) What happens to Ghir’s character could happen to anyone. He plays this so well, making us understand the father even though the story belongs to the son.
Also good is Meera Ganatra as Javed’s mother. Ganatra expresses so much in her heavy silences. Ganatra and Ghir work especially well together. A couple of their shared scenes are the most heart-breaking, gripping moments of the movie.
Viveik Kalra is also pretty great as Javed himself. Kalra emotes exceptionally and plays Javed well through all his varied emotions. Aaron Phagura is fantastic as Javed’s charismatic friend Roops. And Nell Williams brings a lot of needed depth to Eliza, even though I think the character is pretty thin.
Hayley Atwell is a strong addition to the cast as the highly motivational English teacher. Dean-Charles Chapman gets a nice moment late in the film as Javed’s childhood friend Matt.
I also liked Nitika Mehta as Javed’s sister Shazia (who has tons of personality). We could probably see an equally interesting movie entirely from her point of view. Meanwhile, I wish we saw more of Tara Divina as their other sister Yasmeen.
I know my mother would like this movie because she loves Rob Brydon (from Gavin & Stacey, Would I Lie to You and everything else she watches on Acorn). She’s also a fan of Sally Phillips (who is hilarious on her favorite show Miranda but is probably better known to most Americans as Shazza from the Bridget Jones movies). Both have small(ish) but enjoyable supporting roles in Blinded by the Light.
David Hayman also makes a really nice addition to the cast as Javed’s neighbor Mr. Evans.
Actually, one of my favorite elements of the movie is the Mr. Evans character. The film focuses on Javed’s discovery of Springsteen, of course, but the world in which he lives when he makes this discovery is also on full display. We’re given a very critical view of Thatcher’s 1987 Britain, complete with staggering unemployment and regular National Front Marches (in which seemingly radical British citizens take to the streets to complain about and sometimes physically abuse immigrants). (I say “seemingly” because I’m not British and don’t know much about that movement at that time. I’m not suggesting that the film is falsely depicting the behavior of the NF members, just admitting that most of what I know about them comes from this film.) Clearly the Mr. Evans character shows us that not all old, white, British people are hateful and racist. The character may also hint that things aren’t necessarily great economically for veterans. But what I love about Mr. Evans is that he’s so much like a familiar trope seen in films like this one. How often is there a mysterious older figure of a different ethnicity who shows up to provide encouragement and guidance, then fades away again? Traditionally, this character is black, Asian, somehow Other. This time he’s still the mysterious Other, but he’s white, an interesting twist on a familiar trope and perhaps pointed commentary that the western world is changing.
Best Scene:
Javed’s parents kind of steal the movie for me. I absolutely love the scene when the mother is blackening the father’s hair. That scene makes the movie for me. Nothing Javed does is nearly so raw and moving.
Best Scene Visually:
Quite striking is the scene when Javed first listens to Springsteen’s music, and lyrics start appearing everywhere during the storm. More powerful is the scene in the pawn shop (or maybe jewelry store). Another great (if pointed) visual is the Thatcher billboard at a key moment on Javed’s sister’s wedding day.
Best Action Sequence:
The crazy antics in the school radio station are entertaining and hijack the movie with their zany, youthful fun.
But what I will remember more is the scene of “weeing” through the mail slot. What an amazing scene!
I suppose what’s most powerful is the juxtaposition of these two worlds. Javed is discovering Springsteen and having a typical 1980s teen adventure, but also all around him, the real world promises hardship and humiliation.
The Negatives:
This movie is delightful, but it’s a little too long. I think the narrative tension slackens a bit in the latter half of the film. Several times, I thought to myself, “This character is becoming too self-focused. What was charming is growing intolerable, insufferable!” I realize that the film is fully aware of this and is trying to set up the character’s eventual self realization and emotional growth. But gosh, this process takes so long!
For a while, I wondered, “Where is he getting all of this free time, and why don’t there ever seem to be consequences?” His mother is working twenty-three hours a day (and she spends the free hour pawning her belongings). Meanwhile, Javed’s life has turned into a Mentos commercial. (Why do I keep banging on about that Mentos commercial? See the movie! It makes an impression!)
I found so many of Javed’s choices late in the film alienating and frustrating. I was on the verge of not even liking him anymore. I changed my mind in the closing credits when I learned this is based on a true story. Obviously he loves his parents. Look how he portrays them! When I realized the person who doesn’t seem to understand his parents is the same person revealing them so beautifully to us, then my impression of what I had seen changed.
But learning the true story did nothing to lessen my concerns about the Eliza character. I love her look and find the performance of Nell Williams charming, but she almost seems too good to be true. Her parents are hilarious in a horrible kind of way. But the entire thing is so stereotypical. (It’s easy to think along with her awful parents that perhaps they have Eliza’s number and this romance is doomed. But then she has more character and more genuine passion than we might fear and her parents might hope.) I wanted to learn more about the real Eliza after the movie. To my disappointment, I discovered that there is no real Eliza. That part of the story was made up for the film, to make it a better movie. I’m sure, of course, that many Eliza types did and do exist in real life. But as we watch the movie, it’s frustrating not to get as rich and detailed and unique a background for Eliza as we get for Javed. He seems like he is someone. She seems like she could be anyone, so she kind of seems like no one. And as it turns out, she’s isn’t anyone. That’s disappointing. (The reaction of her parents did remind me a bit of Hasan Minhaj’s story about his high school girlfriend. Maybe she is based on someone’s real girlfriend, just not the girlfriend of the author of the memoir. Then again, Minhaj’s story was actually more detailed and nuanced–because it was true–and felt more real and unique. Maybe they should have used his story.)
Honestly the more I think about the film, the more I like it. Some distance makes me realize that Javed thinks he’s living the American dream, that the music is changing him, but it’s actually sort of a mutual synthesis which touches and enriches both his own journey and the Western culture in which he’s participating. I still think it drags a bit, though, and the Mentos commercial high school fantasy is hard to cheer for in the face of the reality outside the headphones.
Overall:
Blinded by the Light is a cool movie, and I’m positive my older son and daughter will like it. As it opened, I thought, “You know, some weekend we should have a marathon of 80s high school movies and compare the ones made then to the ones set then.” I still think that would be fun. The film contains some excellent performances, has valuable things to say about family and growing up, and is definitely a good introduction to the music of Bruce Springsteen. I kind of want to watch a spin-off about Javed’s parents, though. I think his dad needs to put on some headphones and take an audio course in 20th century American drama.