[TRAILER] SA's local Afro-Saxon Dylan is nobody's fool
July 29, 2010
By THANDIWE MTHETHWA
Fool In A Bubble
Director: Joshua Sternlicht
Cast: Syd Kitchen, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon's Graceland band.
Runing Time: 84 minutes
Rating: *****
Fool in a Bubble is definitely not for sissies. Then again, neither is being an Afro-sax musician in a country that does not appreciate your talent.
Brooklyn, New York-based independent film-maker Joshua Sternlicht looks through the eyes of maestro minstrel/ singer/ songwriter/ poet Syd Kitchen.
His highs, lows, him opting not to use the ticket to the UK he bought in 1969 and the underlying wounds that propelled him to alcoholism.
The doccie opens with a question that we often ask ourselves: "What keeps me walking down this road when there are no f***ing lights on?"
For Kitchen, the love he has for his country and his craft are reason enough. Peeling through the layers of Kitchen's identity gives a real perspective of a white South African who embraces the ideology of a rainbow nation.
He dances with traditional dancers on Durban's pavements, plays his horse pipe for vendors at Warwick Junction who dance along, and he is honoured for playing at Splashy Fen for 20 years.
However, when he is invited to record an album with musicians from Paul Simon's Graceland in New York, he is unknown.
For him, his cult-like status has bred stigma, identity conflict, financial, physical and psychological challenges.
Back home, he is involved in a car accident and breaks four of his ribs. Out of frustration he embarks on an alcohol binge, until a close friend intervenes.
This breaks down the cage of his personal struggles and reveals the anger and hurt of the rape that happened when he was five.
The journey to self-transformation begins, the drinking stops and he opens his heart to love. On his second trip to New York - for the launch of the album Fool in a Bubble - he is surprised when he is reunited with his brother, who lives in the UK and last played with him 32 years ago. They collaborate on the hit Midnight. He also plays with folk legend Pete Seeger and cements a career in New York - and this time to a full house.
It is amazing how Sternlicht takes the life of the 57-year-old white Afro-Saxon and examines its various facets through a colourfully woven story. You don't have to be a music fan to enjoy it but if you need a reason to fall in love with South Africa again, this is it - the good music is a bonus.
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