Blindsided by Blinded by the Light

Blinded by the Light (2019)

Blinded by the Light is incredible. This is a fresh take on the current trend of making movies built around music from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Instead of following the life of a musician, which has officially been overdone in the past few years, it follows the life of a Pakistan-British high school student who is trying to find his way in the world. As his family struggles with racism and the recession in the 1980s, Javed finds an escape through the lyrics and passion of Bruce Springsteen. Javed, played wonderfully by newcomer Viveik Kalra, related to the pure soul of Springsteen’s songs and used it as fuel to rediscover himself. Of every movie I have seen this year, Javed faces the most real conflict and stakes. Unlike every other movie involving music, the problems are not created by the main character’s selfishness or addictions. Javed simply is dealt the bad hand of being in a land with Nazis marching down the streets, where factories and plants are closing due to poor national economics (sounds oddly familiar), and he has to overcome this to follow his passion. Unfortunately that passion also goes against his family’s traditions and he hits wall after wall trying to chase his dream. Regardless of how bleak this review seems, there is a constant flicker of hope, and Kalra captures it perfectly. At no point do you stop believing (even though that is a Journey song and not a Springsteen song). Every moment of this movie is necessary and every scene serves the greater story. Nothing seems out of place and it is all beautifully shot. Even the manner in which the songs are integrated, by putting key lyrics on the screen, makes them seem like a character in their own right. I don’t like to use clichés like “Feel good movie” but I felt really good throughout and after this movie. I truly loved Blinded by the Light and strongly recommend it. I give Blinded by the Light 28 out of 28 miles per hour that is the average maximum running speed of tramps like us, cause baby we were born to run.