PETALING JAYA, Oct 13 — They may be international superstars but off stage, Blackpink is no different from an ordinary group of girls who love to have fun.
Fans of the quartet will be able to get a rare glimpse of the personal sides to Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé in the Netflix documentary Blackpink: Light Up The Sky which premieres on October 14.
The film’s director Caroline Suh said she was immediately struck by the contrast between the girls’ onstage personas and their real-life personalities after meeting them for the first time last year.
Despite their global fame, the members keep each other grounded through a familial bond they’ve developed after knowing each other for close to a decade.
Suh decided to make that bond a core focus of the documentary by conducting casual interviews that allowed the members to open up about their meteoric rise to fame.
“I was told before that they’re very warm and cheerful. When I met them, I really saw that.
“They’re very down-to-earth, friendly, and they don’t put on any airs,” Suh told Malay Mail.
The documentary also features archival footage from the girls’ days as K-pop trainees at YG Entertainment, where they underwent a gruelling period of honing their dancing and singing skills before debuting with the singles Whistle and Boombayah in 2016.
With K-pop breaking into the mainstream in recent years, Suh also highlighted music producer Teddy Park’s comments in the documentary about the limitations that the term “K-pop” can have on musicians who just happen to be based in South Korea.
“What Park said struck a chord with me and I think he raises interesting questions, like whether all Korean music is K-pop and whether it’s based on just the language.
“I think Blackpink sees their music as very unifying and that it transcends boundaries, at least that’s what their goal is.
“It’s a nice message about how culture is global and not specific to single countries.”
Blackpink’s multicultural background also lends to the group’s international appeal, with Jisoo from South Korea, Rosé from Australia, Lisa from Thailand, and Jennie who grew up in New Zealand.
Rosé said it was fun to be able to give interviews in the languages they felt most comfortable speaking in during the documentary, with her and Jennie answering in English, Jisoo using Korean, and Lisa talking in Thai.
“We were able to open up and share some of our genuine thoughts in the language we were most comfortable in.
“There are a lot of languages included in the documentary and I think that in itself symbolises a part of what Blackpink is,” Rosé said during a virtual press conference today.
Jisoo added that Blackpink’s all-encompassing approach to their work has played an integral role in their trailblazing success.
“I would say music doesn’t stop at music these days. The visuals are important and audiences like to take part and imitate what we do.
“I think it’s changed to something that has numerous factors involved and we’re always working hard to bring something new to our fans,” said Jisoo.
It’s been an eventful year for Blackpink as the girls have recently released their debut record The Album in addition to becoming the stars of the first K-pop original documentary on Netflix.
You can catch Blackpink: Light Up The Sky when it premieres on October 14 here.
