My first exposure to Kylie Minogue came in the form of some sort of tabloid news reportage, when she was dating an American actor… David Schwimmer, I think it was, maybe, during the earliest days of Friends? I shrugged, maybe let a glance at one of her photos linger, and then moved on. Years later, I would discover, via her Fever hit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” that Minogue spoke (sang) the refracted truth; she knows how to craft and deliver a catchy vocal performance. All of which is further confirmed by Kylie: Rare and Unseen, a new DVD title that delves into her career, which now spans more than two decades.
Though it runs only an hour, and evidences all the editorial precision of a totally-like-oh-my-god-excited teenager, Kylie: Rare and Unseen presents, in its own scattered way, a compelling snapshot of the career and offscreen life of Minogue. There’s an Australian TV interview with a 21-year-old Kylie, a collection of British small screen interviews from the late 1980s on through to today, footage from her first-ever TV appearance (on London’s 6 O’Clock Show) and much, much more, including fashion shoot and awards show footage. While some of the interstitial bits from her concerts yawningly lean too heavily on overwhelmed fans professing their undying love for Minogue, and other passing declarations of childhood inspiration (Olivia Newton-John, the Muppets) come across as indistinct soundbites to a media hungry for informational nuggets to plug into a promotional machine, there’s also a good bit of nice footage in which an on-stage Minogue fields questions from fans, and gives props to her brother and sister (who always seem to be in the audience, actually). These bits — and other frank discussion excerpts, where Minogue talks about her battle with breast cancer — give nice human shading to her otherwise glamorous celebrity. This isn’t a wildly revelatory biography, really, but it is a nice glimpse behind-the-scenes for fans, and seemingly confirmatory proof that Minogue is a hip, real-world gal.
Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case, Kylie: Rare and Unseen comes to DVD presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, on a region-free disc, divided into 10 static chapters of loose thematic grouping. Its audio mix, which tends to fluctuate quite a bit, is an English language Dolby digital 2.0 stereo track. There is no slate of additional bonus material. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. C (Movie) C- (Disc)
