Has there ever been a more incredible true story told at the movies than this one?
It has been 11 hours since I saw Searching For Sugar Man at Derby Quad last night and my head is still in a spin.
In fact, I'm wondering if the story of Rodriguez was just one of those elaborate night-time dreams which keep going off at bizarre tangents.
Nope, just checked. I was in the cinema and the story is true.
In which case, this is the best documentary of the year and a rare event in the world of everyfilm - a 10/10 movie.
Forgive me for only telling a bit of the story of Rodriguez because I don't want to spoil it for those who have not seen Malik Bendjelloul's film.
In the early 1970s, Rodriguez was a singer in Detroit who had a sound not dissimilar to Bob Dylan.
He was, however, such a mysterious character that he would often stand with his back to his live audiences when he played.
Record producers were rapt by him to the point that they released two albums in the US - and they completely flopped.
Cut to South Africa, which, at the time, was under the boot of the apartheid regime.
While black people suffered appallingly, there were many whites who also dissented and seized on protest music which summed up their cause.
Somehow, possibly through a cassette being smuggled into the country, the work of Rodriguez captured the nation.
In fact, hard as it is to believe, he became bigger than the likes of the Rolling Stones or, even Elvis.
However, because South Africa was cut off from the rest of the world, the fact that he was a huge celebrity there was unknown to the singer himself.
Then news filtered through to South Africa that their mysterious hero had killed himself on stage. There were even rumours than he had set light to himself or shot himself in front of an audience.
The effect of this was to make him even more famous in South Africa to the point that his songs are still sung to very young children who grow up knowing all of the words.
Cut again to 1997 and a journalist and a jeweller's quest to search out more of the background to Rodriguez (one of his songs was Searching For Sugar Man, which I am playing now on Spotify).
For the sake of spoilers, I shall write no more but, suffice to say, this is just the beginning of the story.
Benjelloul's film interviews the fans in South Africa as well as those closest to the enigma of Rodriguez.
It is complemented by songs from Rodriguez, which I have to say are so good, I intend to go out an buy an album as soon as possible.
In the meantime, if you can go out and watch this film - it will inspire as well as possibly force a tear.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 10/10
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