Searching for the Sugarman is a fascinating film that drew me in from the word go. It's well shot, the soundtrack is amazing, the people involved in this film are all likeable and the film as a whole draws you into its world with ease.
The film does something that earns it praise: it makes me want to know more about this man Rodriguez, it makes want to know his story from start to finish, to hear his music, to know where he's been and what he did, the film shows all this but it still leaves me wanting more.
The film treats the mystery man Rodriguez like some sort of folk legend and sells the fact that no one knew anything about this man other than that he was an amazing musician.
The film emphasises that Rodriguez was a champion in South Africa during the days of Apartheid. His music made him a household name to the people. He played his part in a revolution.
His music drew people to him but they knew nothing about the man behind the music. They wanted to know this man but Apartheid's influence made that impossible. They had one record and even then the government scratched up the vinyls simply to block off that one song.
And then things get interesting, well more interesting. The film basically says that Rodriguez is dead via suicide, specifically by setting himself on fire on stage when a performance was going south, or at least that's what the rumours say.
In an amazing plot twist (yes a plot twist in a documentary based on reality) it turns out Rodriguez is alive and well living an ordinary life. That's right, the man this film made a legend is still alive.
Rodriguez as it turns out is a simply man with a wife and kids, does menial labour and whilst the music scene passed him over he holds no grudge and just sees it as a fun part of his life from a long time ago. Heck he doesn't even know about how a big star he is in South Africa!
There is the moment when Rodriguez and his daughters disembarked from their plane at the Cape Town airport, there on the strange invitation to play there after years of considering himself washed up as a musician. As they were walking on the tarmac, they saw group of limousines and naturally thought they were for some dignitary and they tried to get out of the way. They were wrong, those limos, and the reporters and fans, were for them. In the animated sequence, you can get the sheer astonishment going through Rodriguez's mind at seeing a long dead artistic dream has come spectacularly true after all.
To be honest the film is amazingly heartwarming and one of the last bits in the film has the line American Zero South African Hero. And that one line says it all.
And that right there is proof of this films quality it tells us everything we need to know and leaves us wanting to know more. When a film does something like that nothing needs to be said and those that disagree nothing can be said to change their minds.
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