“When you listen to Bruce’s music, you are no longer a loser. You’re a character in an epic poem… about losers.” – John Stewart.
Rylan’s Score: 5 / 5 Unbiased Boss Chants
In 1987, Javed (Vivek Kaira) is an awkward teenage boy who dreams of leaving the small town of Luton, England to become a writer. He doesn’t bother sharing this with his family though – Javed’s parents migrated to Luton from Pakistan more than 16 years ago for a better life, and becoming a writer isn’t quite what Javed’s father, Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), had envisioned. He wants his family to maintain his Pakistani culture and doesn’t allow Javed much of a life outside school, or work, and when Malik loses his job, Javed’s limited income becomes even more vital. A frustrated Javed meets Roops (Aaron Pughara) who hands him two cassette tapes to listen to and advises: “Bruce is a direct line to all that is shitty in this world”. Javed plays his first song and suddenly his world is so much bigger than the stifling reality of life in Luton – for he has awoken in the almighty promised land of E-Street.
I mean, essentially this film was made for me, but I’m sure any Bruce fan will tell you that. Director Gurinder Chadha (Bend it like Beckham) couldn’t have captured our love affair with Bruce’s music any better. It’s mollifying seeing Javed deal with the pushback you get when you come out of the Bruce closet; the puzzling looks from friends who don’t understand why you can’t shut up about a 70 year old dude from New Jersey – the “you know there’s lots of good stuff out there these days don’t ya?” people – the frustration of arguing with a Bruce hater that Born in the USA is in fact an anti-war protest song instead of a Pro-US anthem… I’ve been through it all man!
But the most important thing Bruce does: he emboldens you and dares you to dream. As Javed experiences for himself, Springsteen’s lyrics capture your imagination as if he’s writing purely for your own struggles. Juxtaposed against issues that we’ve all witnessed or experienced (teenage angst, family troubles, racism, and the overall feeling of not belonging) it’s so fitting that instead of another Rocket Man or Bohemian Rhapsody setting out the glitz and glamour of stardom, Springsteen’s film is about a Pakistani teenager from Luton finding out that maybe he’s not so different and lost as he thought.
Sure, Bruce fans may get the most from this film, but does that mean the people who tap along to his music on the steering wheel won’t enjoy themselves? Hell no. Even putting aside the music, it’s a heart-warming coming of age tale of a boy in a society that’s failing him both socially and economically. It’s also impossible not to draw comparisons to certain other parts of the globe which we are witnessing right now. Anyway, try not smiling while he belts out Thunder Road to his crush!
Springsteen’s famous quote “no one wins, unless everyone wins” is fitting here and if it were up to me, there’d be ten Blinded by the Light films scattered from different era’s across the globe. For die-hards like Javed and me, some music will come and go, but there’s only one boss we’ll listen to. Rating, (and this was always coming): 5/5… Bruuuuuuuuuuce!
Rylan Dawson, On The Screen
Australian Release Date 24th October
