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K-pop’s organization of idolized women takes the climax in this engaging documentary that emphasizes the individuality of members.
By Natalia Winkelman
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Four young superstars shine brightly in “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky,” a brief but endearing advent from the idolized K-pop women’s group. The documentary (on Netflix) arrives just under two weeks after the release of Blackpink’s deyet album. and his triiete to artists is in the cynical aspect of his industry, it’s less of an instigating profile than a behind-the-scenes appearance for fans of the band (also known as Blinks) old and new.
Director Caroline Suh combines naturalistic photographs of the organization with separate interviews with its members: Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé. They are a foreign ensemble: Jisoo and Jennie were born and raised in South Korea, Lisa is Thai and Rosé is New Zealand, and as Suh lines from their young lives, allows their unique personalities and styles to focus.
This emphasis on individuality is valuable when you oppose a corporate fame of music for turning your artists into a shiny product. Suh opened the documentary in 2016, the day YG Entertainment, the monolith of South Korean music, presented Blackpink at a press conference. furiously writing to the nervous women who have been fighting for this moment since YG recruited them for its extensive pop conservatory years earlier.
Along with the clips of their recitals, the women evoke the rigor of their formation: long days, scathing reviews, competitive atmosphere. Jennie laments leaving the house so young; Rosé diplomatically says that the era “was not a very satisfied atmosphere. “In its moments, the documentary draws a line from Blackpink’s Difficult Lives as apprentices of tension and loneliness that they now face as global celebrities, forced to perform ies with their makeup artist or personal Pilates instructor.
It’s a shame that those moments of complication are rare, and “Blackpink: Light Up the Sky” refuses to delve into the way YG designs and markets the skill at such a young age. This is an economy in which corporations make millions by running young people to the bone. Reviewing the subject is a missed opportunity, but the film’s seductive stars are his saving grace.
Blackpink: Illuminates the sky in Korean and English, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 19 minutes. Watch it on Netflix.
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