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At the one-minute-and-11-second mark of Netflix’s official trailer for its upcoming documentary on Kylie Minogue, the star, sitting on a plush tan sofa, says: “F—.”
The expletive follows a build-up of headlines from throughout the life of Australia’s pop princess, from some calling her “talentless”, to images of her former partner, the late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence, and reports about her breast cancer diagnosis in 2005.
In the trailer, she describes the latter as a time that left her feeling as if she had been “removed” from her body. “I was so scared of what was ahead of me,” she says.
“We didn’t know if she was ever going to be well again,” her sister, Dannii, says in a separate interview for the documentary. “But I just wanted to be with my sister.
“Music kept us going.”
The trailer for the three-part documentary, KYLIE, which will land on Netflix on May 20, shows Minogue reflecting on her stardom, from her origins as a soap star to relentless scrutiny.
A still from the three-part documentary, which lands on May 20.Netflix
In a montage towards the end of the trailer, Minogue is performing in front of thousands. “Life makes sense to me on stage,” she says, before we get a glimpse of her laughing in her home, with a woolly scarf draped snugly around her.
The documentary will feature interviews with both Kylie and Dannii Minogue, as well as her former Neighbours co-star, Jason Donovan, musician Nick Cave, and music producer Pete Waterman.
It is directed by Michael Harte, an Emmy and BAFTA award-winner, and produced by John Battsek’s Ventureland (both were behind Netflix’s hit docuseries on footballer David Beckham).
“Minogue opens her personal archives and reflects on a life that captivates, inspires and soundtracks multiple generations,” Netflix’s description of the documentary states.
Stills from the trailer.Netflix
“Leaning into a lifetime caught on home movie cameras, personal photographs and new interviews with Kylie herself, it also shows the woman behind the hits – and how she has faced public scrutiny, personal loss and illness with grit and grace, earning respect far beyond her own fandom.”
Minogue’s family rediscovered many private and personal memories about Kylie during the documentary’s filming and research, her sister Dannii says.
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“Can I tell you how joyous and moving it’s been for the whole family to watch Kylie put this together? We didn’t even realise how many boxes from Super 8 films… finding the machines to watch it and digitise it. There’s a lot of love gone into it, a lot covered, a lot of surprises,” Dannii told radio station Nova in April.
“I’m in it, talking, because the rest of the family, they’re so shy… we’re all in there because that’s our thing. So it’s kind of showing the private and the personal, but also what it takes to create this huge career that spans decades and generations.”
The documentary follows confirmation in March that the Australian icon will perform at the AFL grand final in September, a deal that took decades to land.
While its subject has a four-decade career worth of material to explore, the Netflix trailer itself leaves viewers with little to feast on.
“I don’t know where we’re going; it certainly has no end,” Minogue says at the very end of the trailer.
The documentary goes behind the scenes of key moments in the singer’s life.NetflixWant more TV? We’ve got you.Save
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Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners