Best Documentaries, Oscars 2013: Searching for Sugar Man
The 2013 Oscars, scheduled for February 24, are right around the corner. Contenders like ‘Lincoln’ and ‘Les Miserables’ have already been watched, discussed and popularised. The lesser known nominees, however, are just as worthy of viewing and praising. In particular, behind the glitz and glamour of A-list celebrities receiving accolades are the non-celebrity protagonists of real life narratives: Those whose stories are told through documentaries. Over the next few weeks, until the Oscars, we have a look at the five nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category.
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I was wrong. Searching for Sugar Man does share some structural resemblances with these documentaries, but its dissimilarities are what made it a butterfly from all those caterpillars – the film metamorphoses in its rich content with a mysterious cocoon encompassing it.
The mystery of “who is sugar man?” starts the film on an inquisitive note, which truly heightened my interest amidst the self-inflicted frustration for not doing some research before watching it (which eventually turned out to be a right decision). You will find yourselves asking all kinds of question in the process, but only by the end of the film, will you realise how benefitting this prying was in the appreciation of the film; the power of withholding information has been put to good use.
Song from the soundtrack: "Sugar Man"
[audio https://i.dawn.com/2013/02/sugar-man.mp3]
Sugar man is a Mexican-American singer-songwriter from Detroit whose albums went under the racks unnoticed. But his bootleg copies that found their way to South Africa caused a raving storm, mainly because of his powerful lyrics that spoke of authoritarianism and urban decay. For young, liberal and disillusioned Africans who opposed apartheid in the 70s, that was like a call to revolt. His odes became their bible of revolution.
Song from the soundtrack: "This Is Not A Song, It's An Outburst: Or, The Establishment Blues"
[audio https://i.dawn.com/2013/02/this-is-not-a-song-its-an-outburst-or-the-establishment-blues.mp3]
His music kicked started an ‘anti-establishment’ movement and served a national self-analysis purpose in the country. The government’s ban on his songs only intensified his rebellious appeal, and that was how the album became, according to the interviewees, more popular than Elvis Presley’s and The Beatles.
Always hiding behind his shades and sugar man identity, this atypical singer was the representation of enigma, which prompted his fans to start the dig on his history, background and inspiration. But there was none.
Then came the rumor of his suicide; a conspicuous suicide that does not go well with his low-profile identity at all. "It was probably the most grotesque suicide in rock history," recounted Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman, a diehard sugar fan.
Just imagine the desperation of these fans who could never seem to find anything more than his name. They really want to know him, but there is no place to start. The helplessness, the despair, and the dashed hopes when they heard about his suicide – which left nothing to seek.
In some of the interviews later, we also see director Bendjelloul’s subtle attempt at baring the cutthroat American music industry. Sugar man’s failure to takeoff is by itself, very telling of how talent often turns out to be the most neglected factor to stardom.
But what really sustained my interest throughout the film were actually the ingenious compositions of this sugar man (spoiler alert: and also the promise of a twist). He sang his songs with a conviction that would infiltrate your mind, opening it up to the messages behind every of his ditties. It might sound like a laid-back country voice, best described as a cross between Bob Dylan and Bill Withers, but it expressed powerful and contagious emotions, especially when accompanied with his introspective lyrics.
The film has been criticised for omitting details like his fame in Australia and other countries, but that was not the point, because as long as you don’t know the sugar man, you belong to the category this documentary is intended for.
More than anything else, we should be watching the documentary for this quiet genius who wrote some of the most impactful songs of the 70s, not for his rutted road to recognition or his intriguing death rumors, but for this esoteric figure who chose to put his music before his name and career, he who we called the sugar man.
Watch this space for the next Oscar nominated Best Documentary Feature this year: The Gatekeepers
View Dawn.com’s review of the five Best Documentary Features, Oscars 2013 here.
The author is an Intern at Dawn.com from Singapore who likes to write on films, books and music.