There is no better story for a biopic or musical documentary than that of a resurrection, a great “comeback.” Kylie Minogue has experienced several in her almost 40-year career, some of which she had kept to herself, at least until now. ‘Kylie’, the documentary miniseries of 3 one-hour episodes that has been uploaded to Netflix these days, is a review of her life from the time she starred in the soap opera ‘Neighbors’ to the present, when the artist has achieved new success with ‘Padam Padam’, at the age of 56.
The series is made up of interviews with Kylie herself, other artists and family members such as her sister Dannii, and of course also a multitude of archival material. There were decades of possibilities. With hours of footage in his hands, director Michael Harte has chosen the shadiest path, that of the heart.
One would say that the turning points in Minogue’s career would be her work with Stock Aitken Waterman, the reinvention as a disco diva that was the album ‘Light Years’ followed by her masterpiece ‘Fever’, and finally her signing with BMG. A label that has very skillfully known how to turn each of its latest artistic steps into an event, even when its ultimate value was quite questionable.
The first is in this documentary precisely represented by the constant appearance of Pete Waterman, who with commendable sportsmanship, tells how he gave Kylie hits when she didn’t even know who she was, and how he later had to let her go, like “a father or a mother” says goodbye to a child. Pete stoically recognizes that one day he had nothing to do with the life of the so-called “Australian parakeet.” Much more deficient is the review of its golden years in the 2000s. The documentary does not show how ‘Fever’ was constructed, its authors or producers, nor the stylist and designer William Baker, nor even Michel Gondry. His last decade does not even exist in this documentary, except for a brief mention of ‘Padam Padam’, which takes away the importance of his successful Christmas album, the album called ‘Disco’ or the country album. And this one contained a song with the best possible story: “when I leave, I want to leave dancing.”
They are not the only record victims of the Netflix narrative. The big ‘X’ doesn’t exist, nor does ‘Get Outta My Way’, nor his frustrated forays into the United States (‘Body Language’, ‘Kiss Me Once’). What, then, does Michael Harte see as this artist’s career? Above all, men.
The first chapter is built around the figure of Jason Donovan. In minutes you go from saying “Hey, they managed to find him!” to “what is this man still doing on the plane?” Things are finally defined when in the transition from chapter 1 to 2, you deduce – Cliffhanger through – that the next episode is going to be dedicated almost entirely to Michael Hutchence. At least the leader of INXS does seem decisive in her life, as he inspires her turn towards indie and searching for herself. Which brings us to Nick Cave.
In these first two hours of footage, determined to tell Minogue’s life from the prism of a heterocis man, Nick Cave is the best. At least it entertains: every sentence he utters is lapidary. He appears dazzled by Kylie because he had not met “anyone who liked life”, he presents himself as a drug addict, he equates his own “psychopathic” fans – who showed up with knives at his concerts – with Kylie’s fans, whom he calls “witches” and “evil, bad people”… and in reverse shot we see Minogue saying that all of this seemed “super cool” to her. It’s hilarious.
Even more relevant, Nick Cave praises pop culture that seem honest (“pop concerts change the viewer’s life forever (…) they are a machine for generating joy”) and definitely influences Kylie, as he encourages her to write lyrics and leave behind her frustrated indie drift (yes, the documentary omits that the album ‘Impossible Princess’ is a cult album for some people). At one point he asks Minogue to return to pop because “no one wants to be indie on purpose.” And until today.
The third chapter of the miniseries finally begins by giving us what we wanted: glitter, many rainbows and many shots of the recording of ‘Your Disco Needs You’. But that’s when cancer appears. You have to have a heart of ice not to end up crying with this episode about the two diagnoses, the one that was known and the one that has just been revealed. The Netflix documentary highlights the extent to which Kylie Minogue is a survivor and, in a cloud of glitter, we had forgotten it. Anyone who has been through this for a loved one or themselves will come away excited. Because besides, who the hell could dislike Kylie Minogue?
In that sense, ‘Kylie’ more than fulfills its mission of looking forward to the artist’s 40th anniversary tour and revitalizing her catalog. We even have to thank them for definitively freeing this artist from her last name: there is only one Kylie. It’s just that this is a documentary for the masses… and delving into his career and his catalog will continue in the hands of specialized journalism.
Podcasts: Kylie Minogue + Tension discography
