Blair Loveday
In 2012 an incredible documentary was released.
It told the story of a musical megastar who didn’t know he was a megastar. That might sound like the premise of a mockumentary, but not only is it real, it’s a cracking documentary.
Rodriguez was a rock star in South Africa in the 70’s with some success in other countries like Australia and Aotearoa. The only issue was, he didn’t know that. He suddenly seemed to have disappeared from the world. Rumours about his death included some graphic stage suicides.
As the documentary goes on, we suddenly discover that not only was this not the case, he was still alive. After his albums sold poorly in the states he went back to a normal blue collar life.
When we meet Rodriguez, he is working in building demolition. Here we discover a content man who is as shy as he is modest. He still plays guitar in his own time, and still works a hard physical job. His discomfort at being interviewed makes the life he has lived clear.
The story then follows him to doing a short sold out tour in South Africa. Here this humble everyman comes face to face with crowds of adoring fans. It’s absolutely bananas. He’s everything we wish our superstars could be. Everyday people who brought joy to so many.
Everything about this documentary is incredible. The shots of the beautiful South African landscapes where his fans sit are then flipped to the intense sprawling Detroit’s where Rodriquez lives in his modest home. We met everyone from adoring fans and journalists, to one of his colleagues where they just know him as their normal workmate. In one short documentary we get so many phases of a fascinating story to meet this incredible man.
Thee special features on the Blu-ray include a live performance of his song Sugarman and a behind the scenes video. The performance of Sugarman shows just how talented he still is, and the behind the scenes video is almost as fascinating as the documentary itself.
If you haven’t seen this documentary before then you owe it to yourself to pick this Bluray up. If you have, it’s still a worthy investment. I can say for myself his is one I will return to, regularly.
