Malik Bendjelloul’s sprawling documentary about a mysterious
musician and his undiscovered fame twists and turns through folk legends and
social revolution but what rises to the surface is a story not of grandiose
mysticism but of simple humanity and humbling dignity.
Hopping
between continents we are introduced to the parallel worlds of hot sunny South
Africa and damp motor city Detroit. Through Steve “Sugar” Segerman we are told
of the Legend of Rodriguez, a famous enigma who inspired a whole generation of
Afrikaans before ending his life in spectacular fashion. We cut to Detroit where various characters tell of a reclusive musician who never
faced his crowd; a star who shone bright only for his promise to go unnoticed. After
this puzzling intro we set our focus on apartheid South Africa. Through interviews
with members of a once subversive Afrikaans-musical-movement, Rodriguez’ story
grows even juicier. He is pronounced as a cultural martyr whose tracks were
physically scratched from radio station LPs but still found their way to
soundtrack the white voice against apartheid; an artist who was considered a peer
of Dylan and who sold half a million records on the way. But who was this
elusive character and which story of his demise was true? What truths will
Sugar find behind all this smoke and mirrors?
It’s
difficult to see how a tale so shrouded in mystery will ever play out but when
we inevitably meet Rodiguez and the smoke does clear it seems something far
simpler is at work. The early flirtations with detective capers and money
grabbing record labels seem to disappear and instead we are presented not with
some fabled unicorn but simply with a remarkable human being. one of those
people who seem to carry an air of electricity; who- as Rodriguez’ co-worker
puts it- cut through the bullshit and rise above the mundane; a striking
exception to that old rule that one should never meet one’s heroes. From here
all that’s left to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
While the final third is full of
wonder there is something tragic about it too, the story plays out not so long
ago but it feels like an artefact of a different time. A time before our insatiable
hunt for information ground this sort of mystery out of the world. But still the
magic of the film is not this bizarre fluke of almost parallel universes but
the remarkable man at their centre; this humble gent and gifted artist who
became more than a man to the people of South Africa and somehow never had to let
them down; a life affirming example that sometimes the fact is better than the
fiction and, every once in a while, the man is greater than the myth.
