SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (Four Stars)

Sweden: Malik Bendjelloul, 2012

One of my favorite movies of the past year is a documentary by a new young Swedish filmmaker about a little-known (at least here) American musician of the ’70s. It‘s called Searching for Sugar Man — and it’s a rock ’n roll chronicle of a great singer/guitarist/songwriter about whom you’ve probably never heard, named Rodriguez.

Well, maybe that’s not quite true. The movie has been out a while, so maybe some of you have heard about Rodriguez (whose first name is Sixto) — at least  if you’ve read about the movie, or seen it, or if you come from South Africa. (The film was also a critical/audience hit and a prizewinner at Sundance). But, until the picture came out here, Rodriguez was mostly a man forgotten in his own country, a singer who had left the stage, it seemed, permanently.

Back in the early ’70s, he recorded two albums of his own songs — 1970’s “Cold Fact” and 1971’s “Coming From Reality,” both of which had memorable music and strong guitar-playing by Rodriguez, and sharp, deeply poetic, socially hip lyrics (in the Bob Dylan mode) and both of which received very favorable reviews from critics of the ‘70s. But they both flopped commercially, Rodriguez lost his recording contract (with Sussex) and his career seemed to vanish, along with Rodriguez  himself.

Except…

Except in South Africa, where bootlegs of Rodriguez’s albums began to circulate among the country‘s youthful music-lovers, where the records were eventually released by local entrepreneurs (who didn’t know where Rodriguez was either), and where the socially conscious balladeer became a superstar as big as Elvis or the Beatles, and as admired as them, or Dylan or Springsteen — and, for the youth of the country (especially the white youth), also a pop cultural symbol of resistance to racism and apartheid.

Rodriguez’s song “I Wonder” became an  anthem of the anti-apartheid generation, much as Dylan‘s “Blowin‘ in the Wind“ had been an American anthem of the anti-war movement , In South Africa, his 1970 album “Cold Fact” was one of the three most popular of the era.  (The others were “Abbey Road” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”) Without a huge hype machine, or  a publicity apparatus of any kind, with only a few pictures of the star himself circulating (accenting his charismatic Latino looks, long black hair, dark glasses, and air of gravity) he nevertheless conquered his  audience, at least in South Africa. And, in one of the most curious twists of a tale full of them, he never knew of these triumphs while they were happening.

In the void of actual information, unsubstantiated stories began to circulate about the singer and his mysterious disappearance, including urban legends that he had committed suicide on stage after his last concert, by gunshot or by setting himself on fire. But what was the truth, the cold facts? Rodriguez’s loyal fans and aficionados began increasingly to wonder, including the South African critic/music man who wrote the notes for the 1990’s release of “Coming from Reality” Stephen “Sugar Man” Segerman (his nickname comes from Rodriguez’s song “Sugar Man”) and who called in the notes for information about the pop idol’s death or fate.

Another writer, Craig Bartholomew-Strydom, began to scour the Internet, looking for clues and witnesses. Finally he found out what happened, and where Rodriquez had gone.  And Strydom and later, filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul found out what kind of person had written and sung and played those songs — and never apparently profited from them, while they were helping change a country half a world away.

Well, you may have heard or read the rest of the story by now. It’s a pretty amazing one. But, on the off-chance you haven’t heard it — and because I don’t want to stick a big fate Spoiler Alert in the middle of this review — I‘m going to stop the synopsis here.  Searching for Sugar Man is partly a fascinating mystery-detective story, and it’s far more enjoyable if some mystery remains.

I will say that I loved the movie, that it deserves all the praise it has received, and that, if you care about rock ‘n’ roll, and art, and politics, and the plight of poor people in our rich country, and if you’re curious about the mysteries of commerce and hype (or non-hype) in the United States if America (and the rest of the world), you  must see this movie. I watched it again the other night and fell in love with it all over again. What’s more amazing: I just talked to a friend who also loves the movie, and he told me he was sitting in Starbucks last morning when suddenly he heard….Well, I won’t tell you. But after you see the movie, and you should, you’ll be able to guess. Long live rock. And folk rock. And the anti-Apartheid youth of South Africa. And Motor City. And Rodriguez. And Searching for Sugar Man. Do you want to know what really happened half a world away? See the show.

Be Sociable, Share!

• 
•