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!...
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