THE TRUTH IS ALMOST ALWAYS STRANGER THAN FICTION... "SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN"

It’s funny, when you get multiple movie buffs together; generally there are as many opinions as there are people – if not more. We do tend to be an emotional lot. But when I talked to various different movie buff friends of mine, they all concurred on one point. The best film of 2013 so far was without a shadow of a doubt Searching For Sugar Man. Admissions that I had not got round to it yet were met with unfeigned amazement tinged with horror – and I claim to be some sort of amateur expert! I got the message pretty quick – I also got a tad annoyed because I’m an Aries. And while I’m all for taking direction and advice, we are, as a zodiac sign, generally more comfortable telling OTHER people what to do. Hence the blog. Ehm. However, never let it be said that I ignore advice and refuse to take direction so I dutifully set off on my quest to find sugar man this week. My, oh my… I was not disappointed.

Searching for Sugar Man is the story of Rodriguez. There’s a strong possibility you never heard of him. Unless, that is, you come from South Africa. Rodriguez is an American signer who released two albums in the ‘60s, was a complete flop as far as anyone knew, and sort of vanished into the ether. His songs were highly political, almost Dylan-esque and anti-establishment. The spirit of the sixties at its best, topped off with real musical talent. Most of the world went on to forget Rodriguez completely. Except one very unlikely country… In South Africa, at the time almost a pariah country because of the apartheid regime, Rodriguez became the voice of the revolution, of the entire anti-establishment movement. He was bigger than Elvis and everyone  who was anyone owned his records. The thing was though; no one had ever seen him live. No one even knew his full name. The record sleeves were very cagey when it came to information and there were outrageous reports circulating that he was dead – most of  the urban legends pointed to some form of suicide, the most popular story being that he had set fire to himself on stage.  A couple of South African fans, however, were not content to let things go. They wanted, no needed, to discover the truth behind all this legend, even though it may lie thousands of miles away. The road would be frustrating and full of obstacles…  But when they finally got to the bottom of the mystery… The truth would truly prove stranger than anything any screenwriter could dream up…

I love the way the style of this documentary fits in so well with the wonderful story it tells. It seems, on the surface, your common or garden “talking heads” type documentary with scenic shots and a little animation thrown in here and there to jazz things up a bit. You don’t explain a lot from it. You definitely don’t expect to be completely blown away, swept off your feet, shaken to the core type results. Yet, what you need to understand is, that this documentary is not “plain” per se. It simply rids itself of all unnecessary frills and bows. It just, says it like it is. Pretty much the way Rodriguez did in his songs. The simplicity of the documentary makes you concentrate on the message, the story and this is what draws you in. And the story is such a strong one that you know what? You don’t need the frills. You don’t even miss them. And THAT is one in the eye for some more “commercial” production if I ever saw one.

I am so grateful to this documentary. No, I really am. Firstly, the music – almost exclusively original songs by Rodriguez – is AMAZING. Why this man never became an icon of his age is beyond me. And ironically, these days it’s almost impossible to find an actual album so, this film is actually the largest collection of his songs you can probably find. Mind you, I’m sure this film will have a soundtrack released, right? Right? God I need to check on that actually. But apart from the music – though I find it truly difficult to set the music aside all together, you will also get to know about a truly extraordinary artist. The kind of person I am genuinely relieved to know still exists. If you think I’m simply bending over backwards to not give spoilers, by the way, you are wrong. I’m just… Staying true to the story. The mystery needs to stay. You need to take the journey yourself. Well… What are you waiting for? Start walking!...