Hi everyone : ) I quite recently hit the 100 000 view mark on this blog. How fantastic is that? : ) I wonder if you have any films/documentaries/series that you want to see in this blog? That needs reviewing? Or that simply needs a larger audience? All kinds of contact with my readers/viewers is always interesting to me. See you around!
Time for a documentary! It has been quite some time since. Every once in a while I go to the cinema. I had heard about this piece quite a while ago but I cant remember in what context. The story behind it got me quite interested and I didn't walk home disappointed. This is probably the most fascinating life story I have ever seen captured on a screen. The documentary investigates the life of Sixto Rodriguez, a manual laborer in the 70's Detroit who spends his time off work singing in your average shabby bar. One night he is discovered by a record company and gets to record two albums none of which is deemed successfull. Even though the label is very surprised and thought Rodriguez would be a big star they have no other option than to drop him. Rodriguez goes back to dreaming and tearing down buildings in line with his work. For reasons unknown, his records somehow made it to South Africa where he was picked up by the Africaans musicians. The records themselves had close to zero information on them and seeing as he wasn't in the newspapers a mystique formed around him. Rumours that he commited suicide on stage circulated and then became known as truth as time passed, the only thing that wasn't clear was how he did it. Some claimed he lit himself on fire, some say he shot himself in the head. Rodriguez was nonetheless most likely the biggest artist in South Africa during the 70's, bigger the The Beatles, and was incredibly popular even in the decades to come. He was quite political in lyrics and made the unofficial anthems for the anti-apartheid movement that arose in the 80's. The actual documentary begins when two people meet up to investigate what really happened to Rodriguez, who he was and if he really killed himself. I want to keep my actual impressions for myself simply because I feel like there is almost impossible not to spoil anything. The only thing I'd like to add is the question; Why didn't he make it bigger?
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