As I sat down with my movie companion to watch this film, I realized the pattern of my recent movies–all focused on music. Yet all three of those films approach the subject differently. Rocketman was a direct sort of biopic using Elton’s John music to loosely tell his story. Yesterday used the Beatles music to tell Jack’s story — the story of a struggling artist who did not realize love was right in front of him. And Blinded by the Light tells a different story: this is about how the music speaks to Javed. I think this is what I most identify with of the three films: how we identify with music in our lives.
I cannot speak for everyone, but I certainly know those songs that evoke particularly feelings in me. Usually I heard that song during a powerful time in my life — time of change, of love, of loss, of heartbreak, of growth. And that’s what I loved about this movie: it nails the power of music with our emotions.
I found this drafted post sitting on the site here. What’s above is what I wrote a year ago. It’s been too long to add to that; capturing my thoughts is about how a movie makes me feel when I see it – – – or in the week following. A year later? No. I’ll just leave this as is.
-Jana, September 2020