By Geordie Gray
We finally have our first look at Gurinder Chadhaâs latest Bruce Springsteen-inspired film, Blinded by the Light. Based on Sarfraz Manzooorâs 2008 memoir Greetings from Bury Park.
The film follows the story of Javed, a 16-year-old Pakistani Boy living in 1980âs England during a time of racial and economic turmoil. Javed writes poetry as a way to escape the prejudice of his hometown and the limitations put on him by his traditional father. When a classmate introduces him to the music of Bruce Springsteen, Javed finds solace from his working-class life in Springsteenâs powerful lyrics.
Gurinda Chadha is best known for her generation-defining films Bend It Like Beckham and Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging. If her previous outputs are anything to go off, this is destined to be a perfect movie. Check out the trailer below.
Watch: Blinded by the Light Trailer
Back in March, Bruce Springsteen and the world of film collided once more when it was revealed that Springsteen inspired a Star Wars plot. Father-son screenwriting team Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan behind Solo: A Star Wars Story revealed that The Boss inspired the relationship between a young Han Solo and his parents.
âWe had both read Springsteenâs biography right around when we were working on it,â said Jonathan Kasdan. âItâs amazing. And we were touched by his relationship wwith his father. And we thought that it was a different kind of attitude to have aabout a parent than weâve seen in Star Wars. And we thought that would be cool.â
ISSpringsteenâs book, he reveals that there was often an undercurrent of tension between him and his father, finding it difficult to bond with him. The Kasdans said that they aimed to install that conflict within the story.
âHe is so vague on what his real history is,â Lawrence said about Solo. âAnd he knows he was alienated from his father. He idolized him! And when his father took him up to that ship and let him sit there, he was thrilled. But it was one of the few moments of connections between them.â
In Born To Run, Springsteen details his at times tough upbringing and difficult relationship with his parents, that eventually went on to inspire songs like âAdam Raised a Cainâ and âIndependence Dayâ.