WILD ROSE (15)
IN 1984, Bruce Springsteen raged against his sense of isolation and alienation in the lyrics to Dancing In The Dark. He crafted a pop classic from heartfelt self-analysis – “I’m just tired and bored with myself”; “There’s a joke here somewhere and it’s on me” – searching for a glimmer of hope in the fug because as he notes in the chorus “You can’t start a fire without a spark”.
Blinded By The Light harnesses that raw energy as a toe-tapping soundtrack to one downtrodden British Pakistani teenager’s self-awakening beneath the bright lights of 1980s Luton.
Adapted from Sarfraz Mansoor’s memoir Greetings From Bury Park, director Gurinder Chadha’s uplifting coming-of-age comedy is composed to familiar emotional beats including an exuberant sprint through town to the insistent thrum of Born To Run.
It’s uplifting fare with a killer soundtrack of Springsteen’s greatest hits, which provides a brisk tempo to the war of words between the teenage protagonist and his father, who sternly rebukes: “You will always be Pakistani, you will never be British!”
At a time when far-right politics seem to be striking a chord across Europe with disenfranchised voters, the intolerance and division projected through Chadha’s lens is uncomfortably relevant.
Sixteen-year-old Javed (Viveik Kalra) enters sixth form with a mounting sense of dread.
He indulges his love of music by penning lyrics for best friend and neighbour Matt (Dean-Charles
Chapman), who is in a band.
However, any dreams of writing full-time, which are fanned by teacher Ms Clay (Hayley Atwell), must be extinguished to be a dutiful son to his seamstress mother Noor (Meera Ganatra), and father Malik (Kulvinder Ghir), who works on the production line of the local Vauxhall car plant.
When Malik is unexpectedly made redundant, tensions within the family ★★★★★
UPLIFTING drama. Rose-Lynn Harlan (Jessie Buckley) is released from prison and returns home to rebuild the shattered trust of her eightyear-old daughter and five-year-old son. RoseLynn’s purse-lipped mother Marion (Julie Walters) fears her daughter will abandon the children to chase impossible dreams of becoming a country music singer in Nashville. Regardless, Rose-Lynn earns money as a cleaning lady for businesswoman Susannah (Sophie Okonedo). The well-to-do homeowner is dazzled by Rose-Lynn’s musical talent and suggests they crowd-fund the journey to America.
■ Download/stream now and available from August 19 on DVD. home explode and the pressure intensifies on Javed to marry and settle down when what he really wants to do is “kiss a girl and get out of this dump”.
Classmate Eliza (Nell Williams) allows Javed to fulfil the first part of that dream but an escape from Luton seems frustratingly out of reach until fellow sixth former Roops (Aaron Phagura) loans Javed his Springsteen cassettes.
The lyrics inspire the teenager to