The Success and Disaster of Searching for Sugar Man - Movie Review Example

According to Naughton, Pete In early 2006, Malik Bendjelloul as an ambitious maker of documentary vacated his post in the Swedish state TV and headed to Africa to find relevant materials that would help him build his first feature (N.p.). The journey led him all the way to Cape Town, where a store owner narrated to him the story of one Sixto Rodriguez. Rodriguez was one of the leading singers of Mexican-American origins who had experienced very successful early stage of his career. The major drive was due to the way his first albums found their way into the booming United States Market. Consequently, it was at that time when the wave of apartheid was sweeping across South African, a factor that enabled Rodriquez's songs to gain an audience, ultimately making him very famous. He turned out to be one of the leading role models for a great generation of songwriters not just in South Africa but also within the region (Naughton, Pete N.p). After failing to be seen in the spotlight for a while, most of the faithful followers of Rodriquez started presuming that he had passed on, but after the discovery made by Craig Bartholomew in the late 90s, Bendjelloul saw an opportunity to grab with two hands. The result was a combined experience hence the reason why this deliverable will focus on discussing the accomplishment and catastrophe for Sugar Man.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

According to Naughton, Pete (N.p.) as a winner of the Oscars for the Best Documentary in 2013 among other accolades, Bendjellouls work achieved an unmatched feat that had never seen before. Although he made this amount of success, the documentary did not prevent Bendjelloul from committing suicide, a reality check that has caused a significant boundary of wonder. However, some things have stood out when technical abilities of the film are taken into consideration. It ranges from its shiny cinematography to how intelligently editing of the movie occurred. The other factor that stood out in the film was the sweet soundtrack by Rodriquez. Philosophically, the documentary had one of the best animations because of how the use of segues surfaced in various portions of the story. The movie showed the great shots showing Cape Town and the city of Detroit, in Michigan.

However, it is due to the story's beating which was able to elevate it from just a passion project to a unique piece. This story consisted of one of the greatest songwriters of his generation, according to the one who got the privilege of working with him. However, contrarily, he is known to have spent most of his time living in absurd poverty and some elements of obscurity for a greater portion of his life. Contrarily, without his consent, his songs had got the feat of being darlings to a wide range of audiences in a distant place on another continent altogether. If fact, when Strydom, one of the greatest South African musicians, carried out the heartfelt interview he could not hide the reality of how impactful Rodriquez's songs had become in the country. The impact was felt much on the population who are left leaning during those days and even today.

Most music professionals argued that only an adamant writer of fiction stories could have achieved that feat of a moving plotline. Besides, the film can put down one of the greatest celluloid: a realistic fairy tale of music, and oppression and success nature. However, this did not spare from attracting icing some critiques from voicing their concerns regarding the documentary. They argued that how it's framing, showed the omission of the fact that Rodriguez had a relating cult of followers in Australia and even in the New Zealand; however, this was quite a minor complaint. The error was evident because, the focus should have been broadened to create a space for another strand, which could have detracted from the produced film. Instead, the recognition and acknowledgment of Bendjelloul are due to his ability to determinedly go through the story, and he received it: and for going to leave the audience with one of the greatest accounts of the 20th Century as the leading music heroes of the generation.

Conclusion

Finally, the film Searching for Sugar Man can tell the incredible real-life story of Rodriguez, one of the most renowned rock icons of the 70s. They found Rodriguez in one of the bars in Detroit during the late 60s and a pair of producers who could not help but get attracted to his smoothening melodies and lyrics, which they considered to be prophetic. According to "Searching for Sugar Man," they then decided to record a single album, which made them believe that, it would ensure that Rodriguez's reputation became one of the leading recording artists of the 20th century (N.p.). The album bombed and hence leading to the disappearance of the singer into the obscurity although there were increased rumors of possible suicide while on stage. However, after the discovery of the bootleg in the apartheid-torn South Africa, the few decades that followed successfully helped in transforming Rodriguez into some phenomenon.

Works Cited

Naughton, Pete. "The Triumph And Tragedy Of Searching For Sugar Man". Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.

"Searching For Sugar Man". Rottentomatoes.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.