What should we be talking about when we talk about the 2013 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, Finding Sugar Man? I think many people will blurt out two words without hesitation: "Legend!"
The beginning of the film casts a mysterious veil on this legend. Guided verbally by two record producers, we made our way through the fog of late 1960s Detroit into a smoky bar, where we heard first the strumming of the guitar, then the singing, and in one corner we finally found the singer, but couldn't see his face because he was singing with his back to the audience. Even in the old photos that followed, his face was always hidden behind dark glasses and long hair. Contrary to the vagueness of his face, this man's talent was clearly and unanimously affirmed by the interviewees. He was known as a wise man, a poet, a prophet, and only Bob Dylan could match the "writer" singer of that era.
However, the Mexican-born singer-songwriter named Rodriguez was not known for it. In the United States, no one had heard of him at all, two albums sold only a handful, and his musical career ended. It's a real mystery, one that still baffles his producers to this day.
I'm afraid no one could have predicted that Rodriguez's musical life miraculously blossomed thousands of miles away in South Africa, making his legend come true without him knowing it. He did not know that his records had sold at least 500,000 copies in South Africa. He did not know that his music enlightened young white South Africans and became the "hymn" of the anti-apartheid movement. an era. And South Africans are equally ignorant of their idol, and in order to match his legend, they even tailored two ways to die for him: on stage, finish the last song calmly and tenderly, and then Get a pistol, pull the trigger to the head, or set yourself on fire with gasoline.
So, who is Rodriguez? With ignited curiosity, two South Africans finally embarked on the road to find "Little Sugar Man", and in terms of the process and results of the search, its legendary character has not diminished. They first traced the record company's cash, checked all the place names that appeared in the lyrics one by one, and established a "find sugar man" website. It wasn't until ten years later that they waited until Rodriguez's daughter posted on the website. Message: My dad is still alive, in Detroit.
Rodriguez is not only alive, but a construction maintenance worker. The news shook the whole of South Africa, and he was invited to give a concert in South Africa. The concert was a success, and Rodriguez was treated with unprecedented enthusiasm. And after all this is over, he still chooses to be himself, to Detroit, to go back to his old life: living in an old apartment and continuing his previous job.
In the first half of this interview-based documentary, people talk about a legendary artist, but in the second half, we see a real person: in the face of sudden fame and fortune, he is flattered and keeps his true colors. And what is this person's daily life like? Why was his wife ignored? How did he become who he is now? These questions were easily let go by the director, preventing us from going deep into the life and heart of the protagonist. Obviously, this shortcoming is related to the fact that the director Malik Bendjellu focuses on rendering the film's legendary color and inspirational effect so that he has no time to care. And the way of interviews also seems to limit the expressiveness of the film. We might as well enter Rodriguez's life more vividly through a personal report in Rolling Stone magazine.
Because this film won the Oscar, he has finally become a recognized superstar after 40 years of obscurity. Wherever he goes, fans flock to him, and his singing career is booming. He will travel the world with his songs; Smoking marijuana, both to relax and to relieve the pain of glaucoma that made him nearly blind; he has a girlfriend named Bonnie; he's rich but still and intends to live forever since the early 1970s In the house he started living in, he didn't have a computer or a car, and he didn't plan to buy one. He lived a spartan life and gave most of his money to friends and family.
With the idea of bringing artists back to people and legends back to everyday life, I've always been moved by the Detroit street scenes that pop up from time to time in the film. With Rodriguez's music, this street is sometimes wet with rain, sometimes lit by lightning, sometimes twilight, sometimes snow-covered, let's stare at this street, the man who walks alone on the street, this man The poetry that all this exudes makes our hearts soft, melts into water, and flows quietly for a while in the long river of life. (column)
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