Blinded By The Light Film Review

The film is called Blinded By The Light which is directed by Gurinder Chadha. The film was released in August 2019 and is a drama,comedy,young adult musical. The film was a low budget film of $15 million and is based on a true story of the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his love for Bruce Springsteen's music. The role of Javed Khan (the protagonist) is played by actor Viveik Kalra and is based around his life as a teenage boy from a Pakistani-Muslim household who's trying to find his identity despite his father's demands and expectations and succeeds through the use of Bruce Springsteen's music. 

Javed is a teenage boy who enjoys writing poems as his passion however Javed comes from a Pakistani household therefore his father has very high expectations of him and expected him to go into a more STEM subject such as maths or economics however Javed secretly picked English as one of his A level subjects where he recevies a lot of support from his English teacher Ms Clay who encourages him to continue writing by submitting his writing into contests and offers him work experiences. During his A level English lessons Javed meets Eliza who becomes his girlfriend, who also supports him in his passion for writing. Not only that Javed's neighbour Mr Evans also shows support for Javed's writing after Javed's writing got caught in the wind when he tried to throw it away and landed near his front door. The film also reveals certain matters in society such as racism where in one of the scenes we see British citizens protesting against Pakistani immigrants which interupts Yasmeen's wedding. In addition, the film also portrays the struggles of a working class family, due to Javed's father losing his job and constantly attempting to find a new one but struggling and Javed's mum having to manage to pay the bills through sewing clothes. 

Gurinder Chadha is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her work focuses on the lives of Indians living in England and how they reconcile their converging traditional and modern cultures. Gurinder Chadha worked on many hit films such as "Bend It Like Beckham" and "Bride and Prejudice." Gurinder's films are mostly romantic comedies involving inter racial couples and featuring Indian and Pakistani cultures and how the younger generation subvert their parents expectations and stereotypes. 

The mise-en-scene of the characters reflects the 1980s such as Javed taking inspiration of Bruce Springsteen's fashion with the denim jacket look. As well as Javed's childhood best friend Matt who's hair reflects the 1980s and the jacket which was a popular style that we also see Matt's dad wearing a colourful jacket. In addition, we also hear a lot of Bruce Springsteen's music throughout the film which makes it a musical. Bruce's music acts as an inspiration for Javed and he becomes his idol throughout the film. 

Ms Clay was a character that stood out for me as since the beginning she has supported Javed with his passion for writing and in my opinion encouraged him the most into pursuing a career in writing. She would offer work experience opportunities, enter his poems into contests allowing his writing to recieve the recgonition she believed it deserved. 

The film reveals problems in society such as racism towards Javed's family and Pakistani immigrants in general which is historically correct as Pakistani immigrants and individuals from many different cultures were affected by racism due to certain British citizens. In addition, the film also portrays the struggles of a working class family and how difficult it is to make ends meet that Javed's mum had to work all day and night in order to be able to pay for the bills since Javed's father lost his job. 

I believe the meaning of the film is very significant as it explores certain cultures that i believe the media does not usually represent and the struggles of racism and working class. In addition the film is a feel good film which will always ensure the audience is left with a good feeling. I believe the film is very creative and informative yet still manages to entertain an audience depsite the portrayal of the social realism.