Thursday, January 31, 2013

Searching for Sugar Man

The Rio Theatre has been showing quite a few Oscar nominated films recently and Searching for Sugar Man was just one of them. This documentary answers what happened to the mysterious Rodriguez. Before watching this documentary I had only ever heard the song Sugar Man, but I had never really looked up who sung it, Searching for Sugar Man answers that.

Back in the early 70s Rodriguez released 2 albums which were huge flops. But during a time in South Africa where people were suffering and wanting to stand up to their government they found something in Rodriguez's songs. His "Bob Dylan-esque" songs resonated with South Africans who used his songs to find the courage to fight back. In turn Rodriguez had become the Elvis of South Africa. Over half a million copies of Rodriguez's albums were sold in South Africa, yet no one in America even knew who he was. Because no one knew who he was rumours were spread that he had killed himself on tour. But after years and years 2 fans who just want to know who and where Rodriguez came from. This film follows their story and answers just who Sixto Rodriguez is.

Searching for Sugar Man is a must see for anyone who thinks of themselves as music lovers or who loves a great little detective piece. But if you haven't heard of Sixto Rodriguez go out and watch this film or buy his albums that is if you can find them.

No comments:

Post a Comment