Review of Searching for Sugar Man (2012) by Rainer K — 25 Feb 2013
This is probably my favourite type of documentary. The search for long forgotten traces and hints to come to a conclusion that seems stranger than fiction.
Searching for Sugar Man is essentially that although it cheated a bit. Cheating in so far, that it retells a search that has already took place in South Africa/USA and was successful by the hands of Stephen "Sugar" Segerman and Craig Bartholomew.
Sixto Rodriguez, a musician whose career never took off in the early 70s (for reasons inexplicable for music executives who worked with him) but who has become for famous than Elvis in South Africa.
Sounds odd? It is. And, I'm still not sure, if this isn't some sort of Banksy 2.0 trick. The music is cool at least. This guy sounds a bit like Bob Dylan, with even more critical texts and a smooth voice.
It's uplifting, has one big twist in it and doesn't really offer a big message. In this case, the light nature of the film fits perfectly, and in times when documentaries deal mostly with war and financial crisis and health, Searching for Sugar Man is a nice change of pace.
It has my vote and my recommendation.
This review of Searching for Sugar Man (2012) was written by Rainer K on 25 Feb 2013.
Searching for Sugar Man has generally received very positive reviews.
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