The protagonist Rodriguez of "Looking for the Sugar Man" is more well-known in South Africa than the Rolling Stones. He was in the last century. "Cold Fact" and "Coming From Reality" released in the 1970s once achieved more than 500,000 sales in this country with a population of only 40 million. However, South African fans who can read countless reports about the Rolling Stones cannot get any information about Rodriguez. The only thing they have is the song itself and an unclear album cover. This triggered their endless reverie, which led to countless rumors-some people said that he committed suicide by overdose in prison, and others said that he poured gasoline on himself on stage and set fire to himself. In fact, Rodriguez has no idea about his brilliant record in South Africa. As an outdated singer who has been terminated by the company for decades, his true identity is a decorator in Detroit. It wasn't until Cape Town's record store owner Stephen and music journalist Craig embarked on a journey to find Rodriguez by coincidence, that this inhuman legend gradually surfaced...
Limited by the lack of video data, the film is all composed of memories and interviews of people involved in the incident, old photos, and old newspapers. As a result, the winner of the 85th Oscar for Best Documentary Film "Looking for the Little Sugar Man" has become a complete film. Films born on the editing stage without any button. However, the film’s sense of presence has been greatly enhanced by the director’s flexible application of sound effects. For example, in the opening interview, it matched the two interviewees’ memories of the scenes inside and outside the bar when they first met Rodriguez, and the background "Freighter behind", "noisy bar" and "guitar protruding from the smoke wall" also sounded in the sound. The recurring driving scenes, the simple technique of "longitudinal movement on the field", connects Cape Town and Detroit, the 70s and the world today, and highlights the film's "seeking" atmosphere. Chinese music fans who grew up in the era of piracy will surely resonate with this: in a relatively isolated distribution system, only a passionate music review article is required, supplemented by audiovisual distributors (that is, the favorite of pirated disc producers), Some unpopular music was “discovered” again, and received a more enthusiastic response in the new country. The most typical example is Lacrimosa; however, with the popularity of the Internet and English, the popularity of sugar people has become popular. I am afraid that the unknown legend will die with the physical record. In this sense, "Looking for the Sugar Man" is not only a tribute to Rodriguez, the musical hermit, but also a remembrance of the past.
On the other hand, the various stages of Rodriguez’s life are completed by the "horizontal movement", that is, a few paragraphs of his "walking alone": as from the 6th minute, the single figure in the animation is only young and vigorous. Goz walked through the streets of Detroit. The camera followed his steps from right to left through record shops, bars and Mexican grocery stores in middle-class neighborhoods in slums, and then turned to the contemporary Detroit Olympic Steel Company. Emphasized the element of "Detroit" and the meaning behind it: the working class, ethnic minorities, large companies-the empty and lonely cold night of Detroit fits perfectly with the immediate killing of the city after its bankruptcy. Then in the 52nd minute, when Rodriguez recalled the end of his music career and returned to work as a worker, the camera then turned to his aging trek in the snow; the Rodriguez family arrived in the 63rd minute. During the South Africa tour, the director used an animation to show them walking towards the stadium after getting off the plane; finally, after the "search for the sugar man" was over, Rodriguez of "American zero, South Africa Hero" moved forward again when the spring blossoms On the streets of Detroit. The four walks not only point to the changes of times and space, and completely merge Rodriguez and Detroit, but also metaphors that no matter how the situation changes, the singer and wise man will always be indomitable.
Why did he gain such a huge influence in South Africa, an unknown person of American citizenship? In my humble opinion, this is somewhat inseparable from Rodriguez’s Mexican identity-racial discrimination was still very serious in the United States in the 1970s, but "Rodriguez" is a Mexican surname. The audience who knows the American music scene knows that blacks have black music, and whites have white music. In the old age, both of them are in good condition, but Rodriguez played folk rock exclusively for whites. On the other hand, in terms of music culture, it can be said to be quite incompatible with the Detroit where he was born. Jack White, who was also born in Detroit, once said frankly in another documentary "It might get loud": "In my house In that neighborhood full of Mexicans, playing guitar is the most embarrassing thing you can do-hip hop, DJs and rappers are popular there. There are no piano shops or record stores, and playing instruments is not awesome at all. No one likes rock music and blues."
The style and interest incompatible with the surrounding atmosphere, the dim, cold, smoky creative environment, and the poor material conditions of the working-class minority have contributed to the indifference, alienation, cynicism, and resignation that pervade every note of Rodriguez’s works. Independence. I think, compared to the love-loving Elvis and the indulgent Rolling Stone, this kind of work is obviously more in line with the social reality of South Africa (as for Bob Dylan, who is closest to Rodriguez, his poetic The lyrics to South African listeners are obviously a bit obscure). In South Africa, whites, who account for 13% of the total population, suppress the “minorities” who are actually the majority (in contrast, Hispanics are also “minorities of the majority” in the United States), regardless of railroads, public toilets or Schools, neighborhoods, and the whole society are implementing the apartheid policy in all directions. Millions of blacks are forced to stay away from cities and can only engage in high-risk jobs such as miners. This has led to continuous domestic and international struggles. Condemned. By 1989, South Africa, in crisis, was already in a state of anarchy. Until Mandela came to power in 1994, a quarter of the country's population still lived in extreme poverty. Nearly half of the people had no electricity, and civil war could break out at any time.
Under such circumstances, Rodriguez’s music not only expresses South Africans’ own emotions, but also represents their yearning for a free world. As the film introduces, the South African government’s speech control measures are extremely strict and media coverage is prohibited. Any news of dissent at home and abroad. Due to the infamous apartheid measures, South Africa has suffered severe international sanctions, which prevented domestic musicians from performing abroad and foreign bands to tour, making South Africa an isolated island. South Africans who are accustomed to military martial law and spy surveillance not only have difficulty understanding the outside world, but even a considerable number of people do not realize that the status quo should be changed by efforts - and Rodriguez's work just gives them a channel for venting. . "Anti-establishment blues" made South Africans realize that the "system" is not everything, and "set it off" encouraged them to turn off the TV and reject the aggressive president on the show. As Rodriguez's masterpiece "Searching for the sugar man" implies "drug use", the relevant department scraped the track on the record thoroughly with a knife, making it impossible to play it in public. This actually adds luster to Rodriguez's legend-after all, there is an old saying, "If you want to promote something, the best way is to ban it", but the sugar man has affected generations of young people.
The director firmly adheres to the main line of "searching for the sugar man" and focuses on dramatic prominence. Therefore, he did not explain too much about the American recording industry, South African politics, and Detroit's background as an industrial city, but only where it blends with the plot. Infiltrate it-for example, in the 30th minute interview with the record store owner, you can see Mandela's head on the record shelf. At first glance, this approach seems to greatly increase the narrative density of the film and make the content fuller, but it actually misleads the audience. Although the producer in the film repeatedly emphasized in the interview that Rodriguez’s album only sold six in the United States (this paragraph is indeed extremely sensational), he was criticized for his popularity in Australia and New Zealand, touring and even launching a live album. Not to mention, it is inevitable that there will be suspicions of deliberately concealing the key to enhance sensationalism.
In addition, after the director introduced the history of the South African people against apartheid through a data video, he quickly cut into interviews with several practitioners in the South African music industry. Their narration closely revolves around Rodriguez’s tremendous influence among the white middle class in South Africa, which makes it easy for many viewers to link the two things (the director thought it was intentional) and mistakenly believed that Rodri Goz’s music fan group, the middle-class white students, is the main cause of social change, and Rodriguez’s works are like chants for them-but this is not in line with the facts. The real core of the "Legend of Rodriguez" is actually what the record store owner pointed out in the 23rd minute: it has affected many South African musicians. This is obviously a matter of politics, but more of a cultural level.
However, it is undeniable that despite the lack of depth and even realism, "Looking for the Sugar Man" is still quite successful in shaping Rodriguez. The first half of the film depicts the fierceness and enthusiasm of his prosperous time. After going through a suggestive scene-the elderly Rodriguez opens the window in the bright spring light (48th minute)-afterwards, Suddenly turned to the peace and indifference that he saw through Hong Chen. Rodriguez's lyrics are plain and powerful, and there are too many philosophies behind his concise language, which has nothing to do with his background in the working class, low fame and wealth, and pursuit of spiritual enjoyment. As his daughter and colleagues recalled, even though Rodriguez spent most of his life as a worker, he never limited himself to the identity of a "worker". He wears a tuxedo to do 8 to 10 hours of dirty work and takes an extremely serious attitude towards everything; he is keen on reading and often takes his three daughters to the museum (it is worth noting that the artist mentioned by his daughter first) Among them is Delacroix), and has maintained the habit of playing guitar and watching performances; he is also keen to participate in protests and marches, and is willing to wave the flag for the disadvantaged groups who cannot speak up. The boring work of workers did not affect the rich spiritual life. He even tried to run for mayor.
Music is indeed a product, and its sales can explain the musician's "performance" to a certain extent; music is also a career, and "popularity" is probably the ideal of most musicians; but music is even more of a spirit , An art and a way of life, its "value" must not be simply measured by money-especially in a consumer society, when culture and art enter the market, "popularity" is often the same as "quality". Two different things. On the other hand, material abundance is not a substitute for spiritual pleasure. Let's make a somewhat arbitrary conclusion: People often indulge in material comparisons when they are mentally insatiable and unable to pursue. There are many ways to realize the value of life, and luxury cars and luxury houses are just one of them. However, in our glitzy age, people who are striving for it will always inexplicably believe that their choice is the most legitimate, and they will naturally laugh and be satisfied with their wives and children. Hot kang-heads "have no ambitions" and cannot understand what kind of pursuit is "willing to lay down their lives for a super-utilitarian cause".
The reason why mankind advances is largely due to the pursuit of material abundance; but over-expansion of desires is often the source of the degeneration of human nature. At the 50th minute of the film, when the director asked "What do you think about the fact that you have never received news from South Africa-and this incident could have completely changed your life, and is likely to change in a good direction?", Facing the camera, Rodriguez calmly replied: "I don't know if this will make my life better."-After witnessing too many talented musicians destroying themselves in the wine forest , I have to say that it is a good thing to escape the materialistic and intriguing Vanity Fair. Rodriguez is obviously pure, pure enough to give him such an opening remark to a stadium to show his godly music fans: "Thank you for keeping me alive." The soul of the musician is ultimately entrusted in the work. When the value of the work is re-excavated, it is also the day when the soul is recognized; the compensation beyond this is not very important.
Interestingly, although the film repeatedly emphasizes Rodriguez’s working-class attributes, most of his South African music fans are from a well-educated middle class-this makes people have to think about "civilian culture" and "elite culture". "Between, is there really a strict boundary? Obviously, the so-called "culture", especially "art", should not be a "top-down" propaganda material, but a "bottom-up" "sent with feelings." The low-level civilians may lack knowledge and intelligence, but they have the fertile soil for "feeling"; it is the various Detroit bars in the film that create the vivid vitality of Rodriguez's works. Adorno was worried that the representative of popular culture-pop music-would make people's minds simpler with repetitive beats and concise melody, but fortunately there are creators like Rodriguez. After all, art must be rooted in life. Du Fu, Liu Zongyuan and others also realized the true meaning of life after being far away from the flashy power center—the identity of singers, poets, and thinkers is exactly along this line The way of seeing through goes back and forth, perhaps ancient and modern, China and foreign countries, nothing else.
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