Searching For Sugar Man

Yesterday evening I saw the movie Searching For Sugar Man, which was directed by the Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul. I had been intrigued by the hard-to-believe story of a down-and-out musician from Detroit, barely known in America, who nevertheless managed to be immensely popular in the Apartheid-era South Africa of the early 1970s. In fact Sixto Rodriguez managed to sell 1/2 million albums in the White-South African market of about 5 1/2 million people.

As the movie unfolds, we are told of Rodriguez' drug-use; his peripatetic existence; and his bizarre on-stage habit of singing with his back to the crowd. Having heard his songs, I must admit that his melodic voice does make him sound a bit like John Denver( strung out on drugs). And there is a deep melancholy about his lyrics. Two questions immediately came to mind: why didn't he make a move to California, where his folk-sound would have found a ready audience? And why didn't Americans catch on to his unique sound? Had he been under-marketed by the record companies? Or maybe, as a Mexican-American, was he "too ethnic" for the mainstream market? These questions linger.

Apparently, Rodriguez was totally unaware of his South African success and did not see a penny from royalties sent to his American record-label, Sussex Records. He therefore had to continue to work as a manual-laborer to pay the bills. But the story of Rodriguez doesn't end there. After being tracked down by his South African fans, he finally made a tour of South Africa in '98 and sold out six concerts. The concert-scenes in the movie are the movie's most poignant moments. Very moving! Very touching!

Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady

About six weeks ago, I watched the movie "The Iron Lady" starring Meryl Streep. I was going to blog about the movie and Maggie Thatcher, the person, but I got distracted. So, better late than never, here it is:

                                                       The Movie
The acting in this movie is superb. Meryl Streep morphs into Maggie Thatcher, and gets everything right: the shrill voice, the accent, the mannerisms, the steely determination, the intense glare. There is a scene where she's hectoring one of her senior Govt officials for misspelling "committee" in a Govt paper. This scene alone is worth the price of admission! Jim Broadbent is superb as Sir Denis Thatcher.

                                            Maggie Thatcher, the person

Love her or hate her, you can't fault her for lack of trying. In stuffy England, no-one from her lower middle-class background could have climbed to the heights that she did without her steely determination. Americans -- who might be unfamiliar with England's (still) rigid class-system -- might think that she was a feminist icon. She was no such thing. I believe most women hated her, and still do! But inspite of her modest origins, she managed to climb her way to the top of the "greasy pole" (the British political system).

                                                  Thatcherism

Something had to be done to stop Britain's industrial decline. Only the discovery of North Sea oil had saved Britain from begging money from the IMF (in '76). Thatcherism, despite all its faults, was the only way to re-position Britain's economy into the modern era. Had to be done, and there she was to  lead the charge! A weaker politician would have caved in over the Falklands Islands. Not Maggie! She wouldn't stand for any of that nonsense!

                                        Relations With African Countries

It was under her clock that Zimbabwe would achieve independence in 1980. The Zimbabwean Govt has always claimed that they have warmer relations with the Conservatives than with the Labour party. I tend to agree. In the 80s she would tussle with the other Commonwealth leaders over South Africa. I think that -- like everyone else in the British political Establishment -- she was simply looking out for British interests above everything else. Can't fault her for that.
                                                            


                                                   

Che Guevara and Regulated Free Markets

I finished watching the movie "Che" yesterday. It was about four and half hours long, and was worth every minute. Damien Bechir is superb as Fidel Castro, and I think Benicio Del Toro was well-cast in the leading role. I think that the 60s revolutionaries really missed a golden opportunity to reshape the world to be as humane as possible. If only they'd allowed regulated market forces to co-exist side-by-side with all the positive dictates of left-wing ideology.

Free schooling, free health-care, women's rights, WITH regulated free-markets and democracy, might have made the rest of the world look like a poorer version of Scandinavia, rather than a scarier version of Miami, as it is now with its Neo-Liberal dogma.

District 9

Watched "District 9" last week. What a weird and strange movie! But a bloody, good one at that! The movie title harks back to Apartheid South Africa, when the residents of a "coloured" area (called District 6), were forcibly moved to make way for white residents.

The analogy today would probably be the millions of [mostly] Zimbabweans who live - and eke out a living - in the dusty townships of South Africa. My heart bleeds! having said that, this is a good movie, and I can't wait for the sequel.

W

Just watched the movie, "W", on DVD. In a way I was missing that old bastard, George W. Bush, and I had to satisfy a craving. Josh Brolin is superb as George Bush, and Jeffery Wright and Thandiwe Newton are both well-cast as Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice respectively. Richard Dreyfuss really pulls off the best performance as Dick Cheney. If you are too old to watch horror movies, but enjoy seeing real-life evil up-close, then this is the movie for you. One note: Thandiwe newton was born in Zambia to a Zimbabwean mother and English father, and so we Zimbabweans claim her as one of our own.