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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Searching for Sugar Man and Great Movies about Musicians

My favorite movie of the past two years is Searching for Sugar Man, about a Mexican-American singer from Detroit that, to this viewer, was more suspenseful than any thriller. The recipient of an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, the movie sets out to solve the mystery of Rodriguez, who released two critically acclaimed albums that went nowhere in the U.S. and who was rumored to have killed himself onstage in the 1970s. The music of Rodriguez, interspersed throughout the film, is frequently haunting and beautiful, as is this movie filled with jaw-dropping twists: it's an emotionally charged and deeply satisfying experience, as are many movies about musicians.

Some of my favorite movies about musicians include Amadeus, in which second-rate composer Salieri rails against the unfairness of Mozart's other-worldly gifts, and The Clash, Westway to the World, in which Joe Strummer says, apropos of  Mick Jones, who was kicked out of the group for chronic lateness and more, that some things, such as talent, are worth waiting for.

Do you have a favorite movie about a musician or musicians? Below is a list of just a few available through the library.

2 comments:

Claire said...

Cool post! I like the movie Selena--I've always been fascinated by the conflict between the propulsion of social assimilation and the pull of cultural tradition that seems to inevitably act on immigrant families regardless of time or place. There are so many fantastic books and films that capture that tension, and I think Selena is one.

Anonymous said...

For some reason I still don't understand, we watched That Thing You Do! in my middle school English class which I enjoyed despite being about a fictional group. Same for Dreamgirls *cough the Supremes cough*

I also loved the musical Jersey Boys.

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