Blinded by the Light - The Film

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Inspired by the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen. #BlindedByTheLightMovie – in theaters August 14.

A post shared by Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) on May 2, 2019 at 9:22am PDT

From writer/director/producer Gurinder Chadha (“Bend It Like Beckham”) comes the inspirational drama “Blinded by the Light,” set to the music and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen’s timeless songs.

“Blinded by the Light” tells the story of Javed (Viveik Kalra) a British teen of Pakistani descent, growing up in the town of Luton, England, in 1987. Amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times, he writes poetry as a means to escape the intolerance of his hometown and the inflexibility of his traditional father. But when a classmate introduces him to the music of “the Boss,” Javed sees parallels to his working-class life in Springsteen’s powerful lyrics.

As Javed discovers a cathartic outlet for his own pent-up dreams, he also begins to find the courage to express himself in his own unique voice.

Based on Sarfraz Manzoor’s acclaimed memoir Greetings from Bury Park, “Blinded by the Light” is a joyful story of courage, love, hope, family and the unique ability of music to lift the human spirit.

Chadha directed and produced the film, which was written by Manzoor, Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. The story is underscored by the music and poetic lyrics of Springsteen, who gave Chadha his blessing from the film’s inception.

“Blinded by the Light” stars Viveik Kalra, Hayley Atwell, Rob Brydon, Kulvinder Ghir, Nell Williams, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Aaron Phagura. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Sarfraz Manzoor, Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. Jane Barclay, Chadha, and Jamal Daniel produced the film. Paul Mayeda Berges, Hannah Leader, Tory Metzger, Tracy Nurse, Stephen Spence, Peter Touche, and Renee Witt served as executive producers.

Chadha’s behind-the-scenes creative team included director of photography Ben Smithard, production designer Nick Ellis, editor Justin Krish, and costume designer Annie Hardinge.

The original score music is by A.R. Rahman. A presentation of New Line Cinema, “Blinded by the Light” is slated for release on August 14, 2019 and will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Inspired by Sarfraz Manzoor's Greetings from Bury Park 

ABOUT GREETINGS FROM BURY PARK

The inspiration for the smash Sundance hit, soon to be a major motion picture, “Blinded by the Light”: The acclaimed memoir about the power of Bruce Springsteen’s music on a young Pakistani boy growing up in Britain in the 1970s. 

A Candid Bruce Springsteen on CBS Sunday Morning

by Gregg Chadwick

Today on CBS Sunday morning, Bruce Springsteen spoke candidly about his upcoming autobiography, Born to Run, in a conversation with reporter Anthony Mason. Below is the full video and a few highlights from the interview. Full story can be found at: Bruce Springsteen,"I'm still in love with playing." Thanks to CBS Sunday Morning for this insightful glimpse into the man and his art.

Bruce Springsteen has been singing about his own life and times for more than 40 years. Now’s he’s written about them as well. Here is our own music man, Anthony Mason:

In the final dates of his international tour that ended this past week, Bruce Springsteen played one four-hour gig after another. How can he keep doing that? “I’m conditioned to do it from many, many years of experience. Don’t try it at home, kids!” he warned.

It’s the one arena where the singer, who turns 67 next week, can control the clock: “You’re looking for a particular moment, and then when you catch that, it feels so good sometimes. 

“Then time disappears, you know?”

“Where do you think your drive came from?” Mason asked.

“I believe every artist had someone who told them that they weren’t worth dirt and someone who told them that they were the second coming of the baby Jesus, and they believed ‘em both,” Springsteen replied.

“And that’s the fuel that starts the fire.”

For Springsteen, the fire started in Freehold, New Jersey, on the block around the St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church.

“Home was right up here,” the singer pointed out to Mason. “My house was here, church was there, nun’s convent, priest’s rectory. My aunt’s house was there. My other aunt’s house was right next to her.”

“The grinding power of this ruined place would never leave me,” he writes in “Born to Run,” his new autobiography, published by Simon & Schuster (a division of CBS). 

Doug and Adele Springsteen’s son found both comfort and fear there. His mother, a legal secretary, rented him his first guitar. His father, who worked at Ford, was an angry man.

“He loved me,” Springsteen writes, “but he couldn’t stand me.”

Mason joined Springsteen on a surprise visit to the school at St. Rose of Lima. He is beloved here now. It was different when he was in class.

“I’m gettin’ the willies,” he said, walking into a classroom.

“Did I read they called you ‘Springy’?” Mason asked.

“Yes. That is correct, my friend. Amongst many other things.”

“How did you do when you were here?”

“Not particularly well, you know. I didn’t fit in the box so well.”

Long after he moved away, Springsteen would drive back at times to Freehold: “I may still cruise through every once in a while.”

“What are you looking for when you do?”

“Well, they say you’re looking to make things all right again, you know? And of course, there’s no going back, you know?”

The long-haired guitar slinger who earned his stripes in the bars of Asbury Park, was signed to Columbia Records at just 22.

His first two albums did not sell well, so he poured his soul into a new song called “Born to Run”:

Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run by BruceSpringsteenVEVO on YouTube

“Well, I was trying to make the greatest record you’d ever heard. The record that after you heard it, you didn’t have to hear another record, you know?”

“Born to Run” launched Bruce Springsteen. The album’s now-iconic cover also featured sax player Clarence Clemons, Bruce’s mythic sidekick. The big man’s imposing presence came to symbolize the brotherhood of the E Street Band.

Mason asked, “How would you describe your relationship with Clarence?”

45 PHOTOS

Images of Bruce Springsteen

“It was very primal,” he replied. “It was just, ‘Oh, you’re, you’re some missing part of me. You’re some dream I’m having. He was this huge force, you know? While at the same time being very fragile and very dependent himself, which is maybe what the two of us had in common. We were both kind of insecure down inside. And we both felt kind of fragile and unsure of ourselves. But when we were together we felt really powerful.

“We were very different people, you know? Clarence lived fast and loose and wild and wide-open, you know? And I tended to be a little more conservative.”

“You said offstage, you couldn’t be friends.”

“I couldn’t because it would ruin my life!” Springsteen laughed. “But Clarence could be Clarence excellently. He was very good at it.”

Until Clemons’ health went into a long decline. In 2011 he suffered a stroke and died days later. “Losing Clarence,” Springsteen writes, “was like losing the rain.”

“And it happened very quick and suddenly. And it was quite devastating,” he said.

“When something like that, that as you say kind of came magically to begin with, goes away, you’ve got to be sitting there going, ‘How do I replace this?’” Mason asked.

Full story can be found at: Bruce Springsteen,"I'm still in love with playing."
Buy the book here: Born to Run

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A Tribute to Gandolfini

by Gregg Chadwick

Yesterday in Coventry, Bruce Springsteen dedicated a live full-album performance of Born to Run to the recently-departed actor James Gandolfini. Born to Run is a cinematic album that conjures up the noirish romance of New York and New Jersey seen through the eyes of a youthful protagonist. Unspoken desires and Jersey lowlifes haunt this character as he roams a landscape of broken dreams from the break of day until the dark morning hours. Gandolfini's characters seemed to embody this endless search for something more, something bigger, something more real.  Gandolfini will be deeply missed.





Video: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Play Meeting Across The River for James Gandolfini in Coventry on June 20, 2013

Little Steven and James Gandolfini on April 7, 2002, during a Hard Rock Cafe Presents "Little Steven's Underground Garage" radio show at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York.
photo by Kevin Mazur / Wire Image

 

Video: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Play Backstreets  for James Gandolfini in Coventry on June 20, 2013

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band @ Glastonbury June 27, 2009

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Blast Through Badlands Today (June 27, 2009) at the Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK

"For the ones who had a notion
And a notion deep inside
It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...."


Letter from the late great Joe Strummer extolling Springsteen's virtues

Bruce Springsteen - Born To Run
Uploaded by Saklas. - Explore more music videos.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Born to Run - Today (June 27, 2009) at the Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK
(New Zealand flag at 2:15 - praying you're safe persiankiwi)

Bruce Springsteen Dancing In The Dark
Uploaded by Saklas.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- Dancing in the Dark - Today (June 27, 2009) at the Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK

Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days
Uploaded by Saklas. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- Glory Days - Today (June 27, 2009) at the Glastonbury Music Festival in the UK


(For those who care all videos are pro-shot.)
Thanks BBC!