Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Neera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nikita Mehta, Nell Williams, Tara Divina, Rob Brydon, Frankie Fox, Hayley Atwell, Sally Phillips.

For anyone who was a teenager during the 1980s it can seem that the labelled term of Generation X is perhaps more acute than other, the era of decline, few opportunities, spiralling unemployment, the world no longer an oyster, instead it was the dead end to which the feeling of alienation, guilt, rage and regret were all summed up as the keepers of the social flux, in which society changed and they had no choice but to rebel and move away from the expected dreams of their parents before them.

Coming off the back of the hippie movement and the sexual revolution was always going to come back to haunt the generation of teenagers who saw the great shift in politics and the decline of attitudes, and yet through music there was arguably a salvation that appeared to which had not been felt before or since. The post war era may have brought the Beatles, The Stones, The Who to the forefront of the public’s thoughts, the seventies may have been immersed in the diverse attitudes of Punk, Pop and the first wave of the Progressive, but the 1980s was a time, for those who lived it as teenagers, as one of music truly speaking to them, not just as a reason to defy, but to embrace, to see that their life could be different.

In Blinded By The Light, inspired by the young life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and the music of Bruce Springsteen, the dichotomy of being Pakistani and living in Britain during the hangover years of unsightly and despicable nationalism is brought to the forefront of the audience’s attention as Javed, a 16 year old from Luton, almost imprisoned by dedication to his parents, his religion and the weight of expectation, is given a chance to see life through the eyes of a modern poet, the music of the one they call The Boss.

Regardless of whether you like, love, or even understand the lyrics of Bruce Springsteen, what comes across in the film is a timely reminder that we should be doing everything we can to put art of any kind into the minds and hearts of all those who are on the verge of their teenage years, that they need to know that whilst we may have forgotten what first ailed us as we hit those ill-tempered years, we should find ways to make their passage easier. By infusing music and poetry, writing down the emotions we face, we can find ways to survive the change and rebel against the expectation of others to whom their hearts are steeped in the darkness.

The film is incredibly balanced, from a view point of a Muslim lad growing up in a time of great intolerance and the faces of hate, it has no equal and with Viveik Kalra as the central character Javed giving a sumptuous performance and the excellent Kulvinder Ghir as his proud father let down by his own aspirations and realisations, the pull of family is one that could lead to disaster, and yet is given a new lease of life as they both come to terms with how the other man thinks.

With great support from Dean-Charles Chapman as Matt, Aaron Phagura as Roops, Nell Williams as Eliza and Hayley Atwell as Javed’s sixth form tutor Ms. Clay, and immersed in a soundtrack that includes the some of the finest songs written by Bruce Springsteen, Blinded By The Light is a film begging to be seen and truly understood, regardless of whether The Boss lights your own personal fire, it is a story that resonates across musical taste and the divisions between generations; beautiful and dynamic in every way.

Ian D. Hall