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randall 
"I like to watch."
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 Posted - 01/11/2013 : 23:58:27
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My favorite doc from Sundance 2012 has just been nommed for Best Doc. Here's what I said about a year ago:
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN***** (World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize for its Celebration of the Artistic Spirit) The star of the festival for me. In 1970, a singer-songwriter who went by the single name Rodriguez released an album on A&M/Sussex called COLD FACT. It died. No airplay, no sales, nothing. The next year he tried again with COMING FROM REALITY. Same story, and Rodriguez slipped into oblivion -- I had never heard of him before seeing this film, and I paid attention back then � except for one place. Somebody had brought over a bootleg copy on a visit to South Africa, and soon it was being traded around so much that a distributor began to import Lps. Strictly by word of mouth, Rodriguez became the musical voice of a generation straining against the yoke of apartheid; one interviewee says you could tell a lot about a person by his record collection, but everybody owned ABBEY ROAD, BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, and COLD FACT. (The government added fuel to the fire by forcing the distributor to cut scratches on COLD FACT�s opening track, �Sugar Man,� rendering the song unplayable, because of perceived drug references.) The mysterious Rodriguez offered no biographical information, made no other recordings, and, after an Australian tour in 1981, was never heard from again. But in the meantime, South Africa utterly changed with his songs as nationwide themes of freedom and justice, frequently played in public by courageous cover bands. He became a legend, complete with the attendant fables: he killed himself by self-immolation at the end of a concert, etc. The filmmakers, ardent fans, decided to investigate and find out how Rodriguez really died. From here on I can say no more, except that if this were a novel, you�d probably dismiss the plot as implausible. Few movies have touched me as deeply and joyously as this one did. It fully earns its award for �celebration of the artistic spirit.� I bought Rodriguez�s two albums, which meant so much to South Africa, while standing in line waiting for the following film, and they�re both wonderful. Do not miss this one. |
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BaftaBaby
"Always entranced by cinema."
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Posted - 01/12/2013 : 14:21:05
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quote:
Originally posted by randall
My favorite doc from Sundance 2012 has just been nommed for Best Doc. Here's what I said about a year ago:
SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN***** (World Cinema Audience Award: Documentary, World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize for its Celebration of the Artistic Spirit)
...
Few movies have touched me as deeply and joyously as this one did. It fully earns its award for �celebration of the artistic spirit.� I bought Rodriguez�s two albums, which meant so much to South Africa, while standing in line waiting for the following film, and they�re both wonderful. Do not miss this one.
Right on, randall! Surely one of the things that makes this film so wonderful is not merely the almost literally incredible story of one man, but the light it shines on the largely untold tales of power and manipulation.
At one point someone [best not to reveal who] is asked about the financial implications of the record sales. The reply: "Maybe someone else got rich."
There's a section early on in the film when the voice in your head keeps refraining that this whole thing just might be one of those doco hoaxes.
But the more the film rolls, the stronger becomes the case for its truth. Which, of course, is deliberate.
Swedish Malik Bendjelloul - a former child actor from a media family - has been directing documentaries and music vids, mostly for Swedish t.v. He uses some interesting techniques to raise the film above a typical talking heads 3rd party recountings which punctuate the intriguing archive footage and stills. Nothing particularly new there.
But he also structures the film so that the search becomes our search for the man and his truth. By the end, unless we conclude that a whole bunch of people in several countries have planned a senseless, highly unlikely conspiracy, there's no doubting this amazing story. And, of course, there's the music.
Whether it's your bag or not, you've got to acknowledge the guy's talent.
I do think the first part goes on too long - ok, ok, we get the extended set-up and why it's important. But there's enough to keep us watching as the whole shebang takes off and we choose to stay on board for the ride.
Yes, I do still have a few questions about editorial/film-making choices ... apart from former Motown CEO Clarence Avant, how come the film's dominated by white people? Wouldn't it have been great to have some black/hispanic voices - something - I dunno what - involving Nelson Mandela?
Personally, I'd have liked more about what exactly IS the situation in the music business and those who regulate it, all those processes, those piggies in the trough, those various chains of command ... what IS that stuff that can deprive a deserving artist of his/her recompense - both financial and critical acclaim. What does that say about the theories of hard work and talent will out; or about the realities of using dodgy business practices to sell amorphous art.
Sure, you can argue that's not the province of this film. But it invites such analysis with the flickering bits of match-lights it shines in the cave of questions. For me there might have been a deeper relation between the story of Rodriguez and today's music biz.
See the trailer here on the official US site.
More importantly, do see the film if you can.
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randall
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 01/12/2013 : 20:13:02
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| I hear ya loud & clear, Baffy, esp. the music-biz undertones. But heck, crooks have run that biz since the days of payola [which are not over]. Agreed that the real thief in this story is in fact interviewed on camera, perhaps unwisely so. But let's let those who haven't had the pleasure just wash in without too much knowledge [as long as ya don't watch 60 MINUTES, dammit!], cuz 00.00% knowledge was what I had when I saw this beautiful doc almost exactly one year ago. Don't reveal the surprising ending, folks: it would have been thrown out of Louis B. Mayer's office as unbelievable! |
Edited by - randall on 01/12/2013 20:17:39 |
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Searching For Sugar Man
