If you went to see much music in England in the early nineties chances are you stumbled across a Super Furry Animals show. Throughout my teenage years I was lucky enough to see the bonkers Welsh band more times than I can count, each show involving weirder costumes and a more wonderful experience. It was always evident that frontman Gruff Rhys was incredibly creative and the variety of projects he has been involved in have always piqued my interest. If you aren’t familiar with him or the band I highly recommend you check them out.

Now he has dipped his toes into the documentary pool and, as usual, it’s with his own unique spin.

Throwing any kind of documentary convention aside, Rhys bulldozes his way into filmmaking with a project that is equal parts science fiction escapade, musical, western, and ethnographic odyssey.

In the 70s, a poncho-clad singer called Rene Griffiths mesmerised the young Gruff by appearing on television singing Latin love songs, in Welsh. Griffiths’ sensational thrust into Gruff’s world ignited the memory within his family of a legendary horse race that concluded with a death and the family splitting in two. While half remained in Wales, the other half headed for the promise of a new Welsh utopia, free from the persecution of the English, in Patagonia, in South America.

Intrigued by the family legend and link to Patagonia, Rhys begins to investigate the possibility of family on the other side of the world. With immense delight, the revelation comes that Rene Griffiths is a long lost uncle, and a quest is begun.

Rhys’ journey through South America to find Rene Griffiths is the backbone of Seperado!. The personal nature of the search for his childhood hero takes him on a heartfelt and often hilarious treasure hunt to unlikely places and encounters. The landscape of his South American travels serves as a beautiful backdrop as we bounce between the various locations of Brazil, Argentina and Chile. I say “bounce” because, rather than wasting time constructing scenes to explain travel or transition, Rhys teleports between locations using his Power Rangers helmet.

With Rhys speaking his native Welsh, there is a strange ability to transcend language barriers as he visits the various communities whose inhabitants have tried to maintain a link to their culture by learning Welsh in one form or another. The lost-in-translation conversations are beautifully weird, and not remotely out of place. You also get the sense that Rhys sees no problem in managing the bizarre mixed nature of understanding within the conversations which, as a native Welsh-speaker, seems commonplace in his life. The most noted example of this comes in his scenes with the fantastic Tony Da Gatorra, video repair man-cum-musical inventor extraordinare. Gatorra has invented the “Gatorra”, an instrument which appears to be a percussion guitar and which is the stuff of childhood fantasy. Not being able to speak a word to each other, the two spend time making music in a studio together before performing a live show to a very confused audience. (I believe the album is coming out soon.)

Using scraps of clues, Rhys moves throughout South America, gradually finding more evidence of the elusive Griffiths. Arriving at one village determined to preserve its roots, Rhys finds that the residents have ‘Welsh-themed’ their village, and even he is slightly taken back by the bizarre experience. Welcoming him with extreme enthusiasm, a show is promptly organised and his performance in front of a group of aged locals is hilarious; the camera is, thankfully, pointed towards their reactions throughout.

In Seperado!, Gruff Rhys has created a love letter to Wales and Welsh culture. His national pride resonates throughout the journey. Super Furry Animals have always felt like they managed to be as imaginative and unusual as possible without ever skirting into the territory of being pretentious, and Separado! has the same feeling. Gruff’s wonder at everything he encounters is a delight to watch: each experiment with visual form plays like someone having a lot of fun, and that feeling is shared when you watch it.

It is always wonderful to see someone mess with the boundaries of documentary (if they exist at all), and Separado!’s hotchpotch nature isn’t trying to be anything; it just is. The kaleidoscopic nature of the film and lack of cohesion when it comes to style is an asset, largely because it feels so genuine in its intention.

Watching Separado! is a wonderful experience, and one that you have to let lead you through its oddities, as they are a huge asset to the story. It’s a film that I will definitely be looking out for on DVD, as I can imagine it’ll be a new experience with every repeat viewing. Underneath the whizzbang bizarre nature is an endearing and sweet film and both are equally a lot of fun.

Seperado! just began it’s theatrical run in the UK. The trailer is below and you can find out more at the official website here.