An unknown singer in America. A household name in South Africa. A drudge working for a living in America. A prince that people in South Africa are crazy about. In Detroit in the 1970s he was just a carpenter fixing other people's roofs. But from the 1990s to contemporary South Africa, the dozens of concerts he held were full, and people lined up frantically to ask him for autographs.
He looked like any homeless bum. But when he picked up the guitar and sang into the microphone on stage, he was full of confidence and ease.
He has only sold a handful of six albums in the United States, most of which were bought by acquaintances. In South Africa, his record sales even surpassed The Rolling Stones, reaching a jaw-dropping 500,000.
The film begins with Rodriguez singing -- a bit of a young Bob Dylan -- but more of an ascetic. A poet who rebelled against a cruel and unjust system with his only guitar and singing. A wise man who told people that they have the right to be angry with this society.
But such a voice could not resonate in the country where music is extremely utilitarian, so a pirated copy spread his singing to South Africa, took root, and became the spiritual relief and sustenance of contemporary young people in South Africa. Just as every revolution needs timely singing to inspire, just like the influence of the Beatles' "Hey, Jude" on the streets of Prague, Rodriguez's music was suffering from the pain of apartheid at that time. South Africa is like a pacemaker. Young people listen to his songs, find a breath of nourishment from the dead, and feel a sense of freedom. Most of Rodriguez's songs express his feelings directly, with a certain narrative and deep meaning. The music style has the characteristics of that era and a bit of its own style. From the singing, you can hear Rodriguez's attitude towards things. The perception is more sincere. "If a person lives sincerely, he must live in a faraway place." For South Africans, this person lives on the other side of the Atlantic.
Therefore, the South Africans who are no longer bound by the shackles are determined to find the spiritual teacher who once guided them, even if there is a clue, because he is a complete mystery to them.
On a snowy winter morning, the camera was aimed at the window of a house in a Detroit slum, like a ritual, without background music, Rodriguez just slowly raised the glass and stuck his head out. He has a calm and calm attitude on his face. Compared with the few photos that have survived, he has not changed much, but the wasting of time and the beating of life have left deep imprints on his face and hands. He was shy and left only a few words. Years and fate gave him a down-to-earth spirit and a wise and calm bearing, which enabled him to face fame and fortune calmly and soberly, even if he knew that his popularity in South Africa could be compared to that of Elvis Presley. , Even after being invited to give a concert in South Africa, he can still calmly return to the home where he has lived for 40 years and live his own life, simple and low-key.
Rodriguez thanked South Africa for allowing him to find a place, perhaps not only in South Africa, but he has become a symbol, a symbol of resistance and relief for those living in hardship.
Perhaps most people who have watched this film are only amazed at Rodriguez's great role in the South African revolution, but ignore that the film has been trying to tell us that he has also deeply influenced the people around him. His daughter mentioned that Although his father was poor, he would do his best to take them to the literary and artistic places where the upper class only went, because he firmly believed that material scarcity did not mean spiritual poverty. On the contrary, he was the kind of spiritual rich that people often say. That's why some people can be called artists, while others can only be singers at best.
Time is like quicksand, so many things have been buried, but those things that survive the corrosiveness of time make people realize a feeling of tragic and solemnity. When the elderly Rodriguez walks alone on the streets of Detroit after the snow, the withered and time-honored scenery of the streets and alleys of the Motor City seems to inject an unspeakable feeling into the camera, and he still walks in his Familiar place, silent and lonely, but peaceful.
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