SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN, directed by Malik Bendjelloul, is a documentary about two South African music fans who search for the singer/songwriter Rodriguez.
There was a rumour going around South Africa that Rodriguez had committed suicide on stage at the end of a concert out of the despair he felt about the failure of his musical career.
During the apartheid era in South Africa Rodriguez was very popular. The film claims that his songs gave South Africans awareness that they could complain against their government. Dissent was harshly dealt with by South African authorities but the anti-establishment songs of Rodriguez condoned protest against injustice and oppression.
South Africans loved his music however very little was known about him. Stephen Segerman and Craig Strydom decided they would try to get to the bottom of his story.
A website was set up to promote the search and, to their great amazement they were contacted by his daughter who asked them, “What do you want to know about my father?”
We hear some interviews from Motown record producers and promoters who compare him to Bob Dylan. With some great songs and his wonderful voice they couldn’t understand why he failed to become popular in America.
These and other interviews are interwoven with the beautiful songs of Rodriguez, some very attractive animations, and some shots of South Africa, as well as some seedier and decrepit parts of Detroit.
A chain of events leads to Rodriguez telling his disbelieving building and construction employer about his former music career and how he was going to take some time off work to do a concert tour of South Africa.
There is some amazing footage from his first concert in South Africa where the band opens with the introduction to “I Wonder” for ten minutes as Rodriguez receives a standing ovation. In his prime, Rodriguez was bigger than Elvis in South Africa.
The documentary does not mention the success he had earlier in Australia and New Zealand, but it is still a wonderful tale of South Africa rediscovering Rodriguez and of Rodriguez discovering how popular he is, and had been, in South Africa.
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN is playing Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction and the Dendy Newtown Cinemas.
© Mark Pigott
21st October, 2012
Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews- SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN, Rodriguez, Malik Bendjelloul, Stephen Segerman, Craig Strydom, Sydney Arts Guide, Mark Pigott