It´s better not to know too much about this film before you watch it. I won´t tell too much. It´s kind of a dream and I didn´t know whether it was a fairy tale in disguise of a documentary film or a documentary of a fairy tale. The late Sixties and early Seventies were days of miracles and wonder. And then: all those turning points and different versions of the story. One can say it´s about success in music business and how it works. Maybe it´s about the importance of one´s name and ethnical background. Cy Twombly hides in his shell, but what about a soul singer who refuses to be seen? To a journalist it´s very difficult to talk to a person who has no ego. Please repeat your question so I can hear it in my head. The mist entered the bar and we could only see his shoulder and his back. He kept his mystery. It´s a story about integrity and a story about the most grotesque suicide in rock history. Kind of detective story as well. And a thriller. It´s a story about freedom, how you keep it, how you lose it, and as art as a transformation of everyday life. It´s a political story. Every revolution needs a hymn. Sometimes it´s just a word that gives you permission to free your mind. In this case: establishment. It´s about money in many ways. Did you know this old indian wisdom, which says the camera steals the soul? This wandering spirit, he was born for the purpose to spook in your mind. I got my fingers crossed and I knock on wood.
Sugar man,
won´t you hurry
´cos I´m tired of these scenes.
For a blue coin
won´t you bring back
all those colors
to my dreams
Malik Bendjelloul: Searching For Sugar Man, 2012
