A Movie “Searching for Sugar Man” 8/18/12

August 19, 2012

It is a very touching and interesting movie. In 1968, two producers went to a downtown Detroit bar to meet an unknown artist, a charismatic Mexican-American singer-songwriter named Rodriguez, who had attracted locals with his mysterious presence, soulful melodies and lyrics. They were immediately touched by this singer, and believed they had found a musical folk hero. This discovery led the recording and they produced “Cold Fact” with Rodriguez. Unfortunately Cold Fact was a commercial disaster and marked the end of Rodriguez’s career. Rodriguez went into obscurity again, and finally disappeared from the public eyes. This kind of stories fit into many artists, but not for Rodriguez. He was bigger than this normality. Somehow “Cold Fact” found the way to survive in South Africa which was so isolated from the world as the Apartheid tightened. Rodriguez’s anti-government lyrics were well-received by a whole generation of disaffected South Africans. But Rodriguez never knew this success. The album went Platinum in next 2 decades in South Africa. This movie story is to search this mysterious musician, Rodriguez, by music industry people in South Africa because no one knew who this music hero was. Finally South Africa and US got connected and they revealed the mystery. I am moved by Rodriguez’ life style. This is a “MUST” movie!