Blackpink: Light Up the Sky
              
Director: Caroline Suh
Year: 2020
Rating: 7.0
Blackpink in your area

Blackpink in your area

Blackpink in your area

I am not sure if it is because I live in Thailand, but my social media has been inundated with Blackpink for the past couple of years. Four very cute girls who can sing and dance. Why they have become a phenomenon - at least in Asia - is hard to say. There are so many K-pop girl groups out there and they are always cute but Blackpink for some reason hit a chord. It could be the music - some of their songs are catchy but nothing extraordinary to my ears - it could be their looks - it could be their varied backgrounds - but I think it is mainly the affection they show for each other and for their fans. It is contagious when you watch it and no more so than in this film that details their lives and music.



For those who are not Blinks (fans of the group), they are Rosé (Korean but brought up in New Zealand and Australia), Jenny (Korean but moved to New Zealand at ten years old), Jisoo (born and bred in Korea) and Lisa (Thai who was chosen to move to Korea). Everybody has their favorite - mine is Rosé - to see why, check out her video with Bruno Mars called Apt after a Korean drinking game. It is like a blast of joy in an increasingly dark world.



Even if you are not a Blink - and I should make clear, I am not - they were here in Bangkok and I made no attempt to go see them - mainly because a 71 year old male being there would be creepy x2 - but this film is fascinating on a few levels. It is set up like a Reality Show as we get to know the girls, where they came from and their interactions with one another.  It also delves into the whole K-Pop ugly side but holds back considerably. Girls and boys are found in tryouts around the world as teenagers and the ones who pass are offered to come to Korea and train. Training takes years before they are shown to the public. The training is grueling and most are asked to leave or drop out. Things I have read about it, call it near servitude as they live together in dorms, have strict rules about how they dress and act, who they can see and date, work 14 hour days, one day off every two weeks and have contracts that are exploitive - but at the same time these companies are investing a lot of money in these people. One can argue that their music is not to your taste, but there isn't any doubt that it didn't come easy.



Often these groups don't make it, burn out quickly, get replaced by younger members. But if you make it like Blackpink did you are famous, make a lot of money, treated like royalty. Not bad for girls that survived being grouped initially with 30 other girls. It shows grit and determination. Now they are starting to have solo projects. Lisa had a big hit and Rosé has taken over Instagram and Reels with people doing their Apt vids. This runs about 80-minutes and ends with their success at Coachella where over 100,000 people watched them. Like the Beatles before them, when you make it in America, you know you have succeeded.