Blinded by the Light is a 2019 British comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha. It was inspired by the life of journalist Sarfraz Manzoor and his love of the works of Bruce Springsteen. Manzoor co-wrote the script, with Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. It is based on Manzoor’s memoir Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N’ Roll. Set in the town of Luton in 1987 Thatcherite Britain, the film tells the coming-of-age story of Javed, a British-Pakistani Muslim teenager whose life is changed after he discovers the music of Springsteen. Viveik Kalra stars in the lead role, along with Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir and Nell Williams in supporting roles.

In 1987, Javed Khan and his family – Pakistani immigrant parents Malik and Noor, and sisters Yasmeen and Shazia – live in Luton, England. Javed likes contemporary rock music, which Malik disapproves of. Javed writes poetry and lyrics for his best friend Matt’s band, but Matt critiques Javed’s work for being depressing. Javed feels out of place at his new school, where he is one of two South Asian students; the other, Roops, is a fan of “The Boss”. In Ms. Clay’s writing class, Javed develops a crush on a student activist named Eliza and becomes interested in the writing assignments. Javed talks to Ms. Clay after class about his poetry and diaries. During lunch Roops approaches him and gives him two Bruce Springsteen cassette tapes, calling Springsteen “the direct line to all that is true in this shitty world.” Javed faces constant racism from his peers and neighbours, and Malik forbids him to socialise, insisting he “follow the Jews” in his school because of their success as a people.

Javed is rejected as a writer by the school paper. At the same time, Vauxhall Motors lays off Malik. Frustrated by racism and Malik’s inability to understand him, Javed discards his poems on the night of the Great Storm of 1987. After listening to the Springsteen tapes, the lyrics immediately speak to him, and he recovers his poems. At school, Javed excitedly tells Roops that Springsteen knows exactly how he feels. Inspired to continue writing, he submits his poetry to Ms. Clay. A neighbour, Mr. Evans, recovers one of Javed’s poems that decries the National Front, who are planning a local march. As a World War II veteran, Mr. Evans sympathizes with Javed’s feelings and calls the poem brilliant, but Javed’s parents are less appreciative. Javed submits a piece about Springsteen to the newspaper. Meanwhile, Malik becomes aggravated over mounting bills and Yasmeen’s upcoming wedding. Javed takes a job with Matt’s father, also a Springsteen fan, at his flea market. Matt’s father helps Javed impress Eliza by singing Springsteen songs.

Javed asks out Eliza, steeling his nerves with Springsteen songs. The two kiss, and Javed gives Eliza a poem, which she loves. Ms. Clay enjoys his poems and arranges an unpaid internship at the Herald. Javed and Roops lock themselves in the school radio station and play Springsteen, briefly getting in trouble. Amid more racist intimidation, Eliza invites Javed to meet her parents; Javed tries to hide his discomfort. At the Herald, Javed gets paid after an article he wrote about racism is chosen for the front page. Javed uses the money to buy tickets for a Springsteen concert on Yasmeen’s wedding day. Before his parents arrive at the wedding, National Front members assault Malik. Upset that Javed withheld money from the family, Malik rips up the tickets. Javed stuns his parents by telling them he does not want to be their son.

At school, Eliza chastises Javed for abandoning his family and using them as an excuse to stop seeing her. In class, Ms. Clay tells Javed his Springsteen essay won him attendance to a lecture at Monmouth College in New Jersey, near where Springsteen grew up. Javed initially declines, knowing his father will disallow him, but changes his mind. Malik tells Javed that if he leaves, he will not be allowed to return. Javed and Roops take the trip to the States. It inspires Javed to write something new. Back home, Noor tells Malik to reconcile with Javed and reminds him that he left his own family and country at a young age. Eliza recruits Javed’s family to show up in support when he reads his winning essay. Instead of reading his essay, Javed talks about how “Blinded By The Light” mirrors his father’s troubles. Everyone is moved. He reconciles with Eliza and thanks her for inviting his family. Malik reconciles with Javed and tells him that he has listened to Springsteen and admires the themes of working hard and respecting one’s family. As Javed leaves for university, he and Malik listen to Springsteen together.

A feel good coming of age movie that has some awesome music courtesy of The Boss, this was really fun to watch. I enjoyed it a lot. 8.5 outta 10!

Lords of Chaos is a 2018 true crime horror-thriller film directed by Jonas Åkerlund and written by Dennis Magnusson and Åkerlund. Adapted from the 1998 book of the same name, the film is a semi-fictionalised account of the early 1990s Norwegian black metal scene told from the perspective of Mayhem co-founder Euronymous. It stars Rory Culkin as Euronymous, Emory Cohen as Varg Vikernes, Jack Kilmer as Dead, Valter Skarsgård as Bård Guldvik “Faust” Eithun and Sky Ferreira as Ann-Marit.

In the 1980s, a young guitarist called Euronymous forms a black metal band called Mayhem, the first of the genre in their country of Norway, with Necrobutcher on bass, and Manheim on drums. Manheim leaves and is soon replaced by new drummer Hellhammer and they recruit a new vocalist from Sweden called Dead, who exhibits self-destructive behavior, which he portrays during their live shows by cutting himself and bleeding on the audience, and throwing pig heads at the “posers”. At a show filmed by their friend Metalion, the band meets a fan named Kristian, whom Euronymous initially looks down on.

While home alone, Dead uses his personal knife to cut his arms and throat, and then uses Euronymous’ shotgun to shoot himself in the forehead, leaving behind a suicide note. Euronymous returns home and finds the body but instead of calling the police, he takes photos of the body and moves the knife and shotgun around. After Dead’s body is taken away, Euronymous gives necklaces to the other band members which he claims are pieces of Dead’s skull; this disgusts Necrobutcher, prompting him to leave the band. Soon after, Euronymous starts his own black metal record label and opens a record shop called Helvete (“Hell” ), which becomes a social hub for black-metallers like Metalion, Fenriz of Darkthrone, Faust of Emperor, and Kristian (who is now calling himself Varg Vikernes) of Burzum. They become known as the “Black Circle”. After being mocked by an ego-driven Euronymous, Varg uses his anti-Christian beliefs as motivation to burn down a local church. When challenged by Varg concerning his status as the leader of the Black Circle, Euronymous burns down a church with Faust and Varg accompanying.

Euronymous recruits Varg as bassist, a guitarist called Blackthorn and a Hungarian vocalist, Attila Csihar, to record Mayhem’s first album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. A power dispute between Varg and Euronymous arises. After a wave of church burnings begins, Faust brutally kills a gay man, leading police to link black-metallers to the crimes. Helvete is raided and shut down by the police, and Varg is short term loans for students uk arrested as prime suspect because of an interview with a Bergen newspaper in which he claimed to have been the one who burned the churches and killed the gay man. He is soon released for lack of evidence. Varg meets with Euronymous and tells him that he is leaving Mayhem and that he is going to start his own record label. Euronymous reveals that the “skull piece” necklaces were fakes, and that he never intended anyone to actually follow through on his angry rhetoric, which infuriates Varg.

In anger, Euronymous rants to a peer about wanting to kill Varg, but later calms down and sends him a contract to release the rights for his music back to him. Varg, having heard that Euronymous was making death threats against him, travels to Oslo in the early morning of August 10 to confront him. Telling Euronymous he wants to sign the contract, he enters his apartment and, after a brief conversation, stabs him. Euronymous pleads for his life, but Varg follows him through the apartment to the stairwell outside and stabs him to death. The next day, the news of Euronymous’ murder spreads throughout Norway and Varg is soon arrested. He is sent to prison for a maximum of 21 years, guilty of both the murder of Euronymous and the burning of several churches. In a voice-over, Euronymous tells the audience not to feel sorry for him, that he enjoyed his life and invented a new sub-genre of metal.

Although it isn’t very true to original events – there is no real Ann-Marit, Dead didn’t kill and hang cats though he did chase them,  the Live in Jessheim scene jumps to Dead’s suicide, given a whole year had passed in between both events and Dead and Euronymous’ subsequent falling out and animosity was never portrayed apart from one scene in which Euronymous mockingly waves a shotgun in front of Dead and suggests he shoots himself andThe time Dead stabbed Euronymous was never portrayed in the film – it is still interesting to see the Norwegian Black Metal scene story, which has fascinated me to no end. I give the film a 7.5 outta 10!