Everyone has that one artistic hero, the person who inspires, moves and motivates them, and has helped them through the most difficult times in their lives. Often, this individual takes the form of a musician, a figure that makes use of the universal language of music to tell their story and inspire the lives of their listeners. I have been very open about the fact that Bruce Springsteen is one of my most beloved idols, someone who I have looked up to since I heard those striking opening chords of “Born in the USA” when I was too young to even understand the resonance music can have, and when the artist’s words pierced through the saccharine state of music that I had been exposed to at that point, forever changing the way I felt about art in general. I credit Springsteen with a lot – his work taught me to appreciate music beyond simply the realm of background noise or a pleasant distraction, as well as being someone who quite literally was there for me in a very difficult time (I speak about this at length in my review for Thunder Road, another sweet and sentimental independent film that uses his music as a way of commenting on human nature). Springsteen is one of the few musicians who hold almost universal resonance – regardless of where you are in the world, you can always find devotees to the music of The Boss, whose brilliant musical prowess and meaningful messages pervade the different backgrounds of his fans worldwide, of which he has multitudes – and how else can a working-class folk-rock musician from New Jersey be met with the most genuine and heartfelt adulation no matter where he is in the world? This brings us to Blinded by the Light, a film that serves as one of the many artistic love-letters to Springsteen, a beautiful and poetic comedy about family and individuality that provides the audience with the most heartfelt of stories, and a fitting tribute to an artist who has changed hearts, minds and even the occasional life through his music.

Blinded by the Light is based on the true story of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor, here renamed Javed Khan (Ronak Singh Chadha Berges). Now a successful journalist, the film takes us back to his younger days, when he was an insecure but passionate young man living in working-class Luton, a small town in the South of England, where he has always felt out of place. The child of Pakistani immigrants, Javed is caught between worlds – he is forced to abide by the strict rules of his culture, remaining firmly within the traditions and under the stranglehold of his father (Kulvinder Ghir), who means well and works exceptionally hard for his family, but doesn’t understand there is more to life than one’s cultural behaviour, and deviation from what its considered normal is not a betrayal of one’s ethnicity, but rather an adaptation to a changing world. Javed doesn’t seem himself as strictly Pakistani – he was born and raised in Britain, and is proudly a citizen of a country that seems to have something against this pride, as the rise of racist nationalism puts Javed and his family at odds with neo-Nazis and white supremacists, who relish in terrorizing the people who don’t fit in with their ideal version of the nation. Javed’s mental (and later physical) escape comes in the discovery of none other than Bruce Springsteen, whose music quite literally changes the life of our young protagonist – now no longer weighed down by the burden of his culture, and with the confidence to stand tall and proclaim himself as being worthy of the same life as his more privileged colleagues. It is an uphill battle for Javed, who faces innumerable adversaries, all of which seem intent on dragging him down. Yet, he persists and finds himself inspired by the music of Springsteen, who finally brings some meaning into the life of a young man who so desperately needed it.

Blinded by the Light is by no means a unique film – in all honesty, it is quite conventional and occupies the same familiar territory we see from these kinds of films every year. A heartwarming, feel-good film about a young underdog navigating a world hostile to him, defying his family’s myopic view of what he should aim to be, which comes into conflict with his much larger aspirations. For good measure, it is normally set in a working-class town and features a lot of familiar music that foregrounds the internal struggle of the protagonist, as well as the triumphant accomplishment of his own self-actualization. We get so many of these films on an annual basis, yet there is something about them that makes so them effortlessly compelling and allows them to flourish further and soar higher than absolutely anything else. Predictability and sentimentality can be both a film’s biggest downfall, or its most extraordinary merit, and with Blinded by the Light, it is the latter that applies, and we just can’t resist the charms of this film, which turn it from an otherwise trite and cliched comedy into one of the year’s most joyful and relentlessly lovable expressions of life and its little idiosyncrasies that make it unexpected but still thoroughly thrilling. It is a quaint film and one that could have been executed with some further precision, but it is doubtful Blinded by the Light was made to be a towering masterpiece of contemporary storytelling, but something a lot more meaningful than it will likely be given credit for based on its twee exterior.

Music is something that needs to be acknowledged as something more than just a form of entertainment – if it was, why have so many individuals dedicated their lives to the medium, especially when musicians are a dime a dozen nowadays, and the potential to actually flourish to some form of recognition is near impossible without some blend of special talent and extraordinary tenacity. The reason is because music speaks to all of us – regardless of the language or message contained within it, we can all relate to the almost visceral experience of hearing a song, and if it is successful, it may just satiate the psychological desire we have that can only be accomplished through the unspeakably powerful nature of music. Blinded by the Light is a film built on the premise that music is much more than what it appears – everyone who has ever had the sensation of being struck by any piece of music in a way that speaks less to our taste and more to our soul will find something in this film speaks to them – I’m sure everyone can recall one particular song that really changed our perspective of what music actually is. Like the main character in Blinded by the Light soon realizes, music possesses the ability to open us up to a world of possibility, where the membrane between the artist and his or her listener is entirely dismantled, as we engage in the intimate experience of being in direct contact with their artistry as they convey deeply moving messages that may, even if just for a moment, create the idea that they are speaking to us, and no one else. Anyone who has ever found meaning in a song that made them see the world in a different way will absolutely adore Blinded by the Light, which is not just adulation towards a musical iconoclast like Springsteen, but a beautiful, blissful celebration of the tendency of music to change our perspective and not only alter the way we see the world, but also how we navigate its treacherous challenges. I can’t remember the last time a film presented us with the cathartic and life-changing might of a good song as much as this, and regardless of who your musical heroes are, Blinded by the Light shows just how much they can mean to us, especially in our formative years.

Much like other films of this ilk, Blinded by the Light is not satisfied to just remain a film about celebrating music – it would be quite dull to be given a protagonist who goes through life without facing any challenges, whether large or small. For Javed, it is his culture that stands in his way of reaching his full potential – he does not necessarily dislike his background, but rather wishes to dismantle the expectations imposed on him by decades of traditions, and whether faced with the disdain of xenophobic compatriots, or the cynical, one-dimensional opinions of his father, whose word reigns supreme over the life of his son, Javed struggles to reconcile the past with the present, having to come to terms with the fact that his upbringing, while far from harrowing or uncomfortable, has unfortunately set him further back than his peers, who seem to have an advantage just through their lack of the same challenges. This makes his journey all the more compelling, because the audience can feel everything Javed goes through – the frustration at his familial limits, his fear at being the target of violence by disgruntled strangers, and his triumphant joy at eventually realizing that despite how conditioned we are to one cultural background, there is absolutely nothing stopping us from breaking free and liberating ourselves from wherever we find ourselves. Blinded by the Light is a film that means a whole lot more than it is willing to state, and its portrayal of culture is sensitive but not saccharine – it serves as a love-letter to family just as much as it is a film about leaving behind traditions that impinge upon our aspirations, and the fierce independence that comes with realizing that you can do absolutely everything with hard work, self-confidence and a great deal of tenacity.

Blinded by the Light is by no means a perfect film – some of the moments do fall flat (there is a bewildering scene towards the middle of the film, when Javed hears Springsteen for the first time, and meanders through the streets in the middle of the night, that tries to be profound, but rather ends up being almost parodic) and it doesn’t have the narrative hook that allows this to extend further than a conventional coming-of-age story. Yet, it is a sweet and sentimental film, and one that serves the purpose of being a celebration, not only of music, but of individuality and embracing one’s own dreams, not as something we just aspire to, but should be working towards, because everyone deserves the sensation of realizing their own worth and getting to the place they want to be. It is a film that doesn’t only focus on the brilliance of Bruce Springsteen, but music in general – as demonstrated throughout the film, regardless of the kind of music, the feeling of being moved by it is like no other. It is a funny, heartfelt exercise in nostalgia and the romanticism of music, and it may not be particularly serious and it may falter in some parts, but it doesn’t change that this film means a lot, perhaps even more than it is willing to demonstrate, and much like the music of the legendary songwriter at its  core, it sometimes hits you a lot harder than you thought it would, and whatever meaning you can derive from this film is absolutely worth celebrating.