By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 5 cats
Director: Malik Bendjelloul
Country: sweden, united_kingdom
Year: 2012
Running time: 86
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125608/combined
Thom says: “Yes, I’d read all the raves but somehow I had my doubts but 10 minutes into this charmer I was hooked. Rodriguez was an early-70s rock/folk singer from Detroit who released two albums that were monumental bombs and he faded off the face-of-the-map. But unbeknown to him and all his collaborators he had become a decade-spanning success in South Africa. Undoubtedly because South Africa was at that time such a hated nation due to their heinous Apartheid policy, the connection was never made to the American failure, until a huge fan decided to search for the lost singer. Many people had told him that Rodriguez had committed suicide during a concert. What the researcher discovers is the basis for this heartwarming, ever- fascinating, and superb documentary. If I had to make a criticism it might be that I never really felt I got to know Rodriguez, maybe through no fault of the filmmakers, but I still wondered. Must be in the thick of it for the Oscar, as an automatic crowd-pleaser. Not to be missed. Even some of the music sounded interesting. 5 cats”
Pete says: “Great review. Rodriguez is clearly a man hard to get to know–intensely private, devoted to his family, accepting of his
apparent fate, modest–not a typical show biz type. I bought a Rodriguez CD with much of the music from the film. Look into it also. I think you will enjoy it. He was the Detroit Dylan.”