Village Vidiot

Thousands of brief movie reviews from decades of film watching from a guy who loves the cinema.

Menu
  • About
Menu

Searching for Sugarman

Posted on April 4, 2012November 12, 2020 by Village Vidiot

  “Searching for Sugarman,” April 4, 2013 (2012), DVD.    This review is dedicated to the memory of Roger Ebert who died yesterday: on your work, one thumb very up!. Sixto Rodriguez’s two albums came and went from the music scene during the early 1970s without making a ripple here. With Dylan-esque lyrics, pacing like Tim Hardin, and a voice reminiscent of Tim Buckley, he was one urban, working-class poet among many. His two albums, however, became major hits in South Africa for 25 years and served as anthems of disaffection among white, and especially Afrikaans, youth. Rodriguez disappeared back to Detroit where he worked gutting and rehabbing buildings. This film chronicles the search by several white South African journalists and fans to find out what became of Rodriguez. It has recreated his life and career as a musician but has not appreciably changed him from the simple, politically engaged man of that distressed city he was before. There is a very surreal quality to this film similar to “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. How can this be real?. Is Christopher Guest really just pulling our leg with a film more contrived and better staged than “Spinal Tap?” Won the Oscar in 2013 for Best Documentary. We have tickets to see him in Somerville next Friday night. [Enjoyed the show. His old stuff mixed with covers of rock and pop standards. He’s either very frail or almost blind. He was in good voice. Glad we saw the show]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Red, White and Blue
  • Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
  • Lovers Rock
  • Mangrove
  • Mank

Recent Comments

  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story
  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story
  • Village Vidiot on A Time to Kill
  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story
  • Village Vidiot on Marriage Story

Archives

Categories

  • Film Reviews

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org
© 2021 Village Vidiot | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes