British Films Surprise Me

Over the last month I was fortunate to see two British films at one of our local movie theaters; Yesterday, a Danny Boyle film and Blinded By the Light, directed by Gurinder Chadha.  Boyle has directed some terrific films including Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Trainspotting (1996) and 127 Hours (2010).  Chadha directed Bend it Like Beckham (2002), a delightful film about women’s soccer in the UK starring an unknown actress Kieira Knightly who went on to star in Pirates of the Caribbean (2003).   Boyle is known for his unique visual style including the use of dutch tilt shots and Chadha likes to explore the lives of Indians living in England. 

I was pleasantly surprised by Yesterday and Blinded by the Light for different reasons.  Yesterday begins with a struggling musician (Jack Malik) and his long-suffering manger (Ellie Appleton) that believes in him in spite of multiple set backs and his inability to make it big.  One night he tells Ellie he’s had it and is quitting the music scene and gets on his bicycle to ride home when the power goes out across the globe for thirteen seconds.  When the power is restored Malik is hit by a bus (and survives).  The power outage has caused an inexplicable change in history including the Beatles never existing.   When Jack gets out of the hospital he discovers that he’s the only one who knows about the Beatles and he decides to cut an album using classic Beatles songs.  Jack is discovered by Ed Sheeran, a famous musical artist from Britain and he becomes increasingly unhappy knowing he’s a fake who has stolen the songs of the most famous musical group to have ever existed.  The story is predictable except for a scene between Jack and Ellie in a hotel room.  After a night of heavy drinking they make out.  This leads to the moment where they are going to sleep together.  In that moment of passion Ellie says no to Jack because she doesn’t want to be a one-night stand for him.  This moment of virtue eventually leads to the third act where they get married and have two kids, living happily ever after.  Sounds a lot like courtship to me!

In Blinded by the Light the main character Javed is an awkward Pakistani sixteen-year-old living in Britain in the late 1980’s.  His family life is tense as he navigates the traditions of Pakistani life and living with teen angst while trying to figure out his place in the world through his poetry.  A delightful Pakistani friend introduces him to Bruce Springsteen’s music and this begins a journey of self-discovery as he finds his voice and his place in the world.  Again, I found the movie fairly predictable as he rebels against his parents, especially his domineering father who thinks his artistic endeavors are trite and impractical.  He has rebellious classmates and supportive teachers who remind him to follow his dreams no matter what others think.  This sets up a surprisingly emotional ending that reinforces the importance of our roots and never forgetting where we’ve come from and to honor our parents.  The proverbial wisdom in this moment caught me off guard as I was waiting for Javed to tell his father off and walk into the sunset reminding the audience that life is all about me.  The ending could have come off as sentimental and preachy but Javed was such an endearing character that it came across as sincere and inspiring.

Blinded by the Light has an 88% positive rating from Rotten Tomatoes with no sex, no foul language and very little violence.  Reviewers loved the story, the performances and were moved by the ending.  This is a powerful reminder to me to stay true to my stories and to tell them honestly and not apologize for the Biblical life lessons.  If you’re an up and coming storyteller I’d encourage you to see these films as well as Because of Grácia.  All three films will hopefully inspire you to tell truthful stories, with memorable characters and storylines that make you want to do the right thing.  

                                                                                                                                                director tom