You won't be disappointed!

Great Film overall

Absolutely Fantastic

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Assuming the editing provides an accurate picture, I would hope that Star Empire is not the norm. we see almost no positive reinforcement from a bunch of men (and one female producer) constantly criticizing a group of young women, which, by the way, comes off as extremely sexist. tough love needs to be balanced with sincere positive feedback. 9muses might be a special case because they, apparently, were mainly models before joining, not necessarily singers and dancers. other bands might have an easier time achieving perfection, such as Mamamoo, f(x), Red Velvet, Gfriend, Lovelyz, Cosmic Girls, 4Minute, etc, because many of their members, I assume, spent years in middle school and high school studying music, singing, dance, and performance before even thinking about going for gold. It would be interesting to get an inside view of Rainbow Bridge (Mamamoo, Yangpa), Woolim (Lovelyz) or Starship Entertainment (Cosmic Girls, Sistar, Monsta X) for comparison, e.g., I suspect Rainbow Bridge treats Mamamoo in a much more reinforcing environment. Why? Just look at the positive, confident, genuinely joyous performances Mamamoo consistently delivers. I can't imagine there's any way Mamamoo could pull this off in a Star Empire environment. Of course, it helps to be exceptionally talented singers to begin with.

9 Muses of Star Empire: Review - Joshua C. OrackThe film begins with a well-designed introduction segment with rolling footage of frantic k-pop fans and brief interview clips as they await what appears to be a sold out music festival known as the Dream Concert. While the elated fanatics are featured on the screen there are graphics appearing with news clippings from around the globe and stunning statistics to attest to the increasing popularity of k-pop. This introduction does well to give context to the growing k-pop wave as a massive enterprise, or more appropriately a machine. The Nine Muses, as we discover through the film are just another small cog in the machine.The film closely follows the group Nine Muses, a group of nine pretty slender and tall young Korean women who are managed by a team of over a dozen individuals of the Star Empire, led by CEO Shin Joohak. Determined to turn the group into mega stars, the film introduces Joohak as he is criticizing the group during dance rehearsal. He then goes on to say that it takes a few years and a lot of money to make stars. Joohak also says that over a million dollars has already been invested in the nine muses but makes no mention of talent . Though it is generally an accepted notion that pop stars are hand picked, the film gives a close look into the process of star forging that brings a sense of shock and discomfort. The film gives us a look under the hood of the k-pop culture machine as the Nine Muses and Star Empire prepare for the opening of the Dream Concert we saw in the first scenes. It is interesting to get a look behind the scenes and find that 'hand picked' idols might better be described as forced. The apparent disregard for actual talent is evident throughout the film, exemplified in a scene when Star Empire is looking through a book with a modeling agency whose representative says that being pretty, slim and tall are the basic requirements to be in the catalogue.The film is successful in capturing the body language and expressions that convey the pressure and tension enveloping the performers and their managers. While Star Empire attempts to craft the next Korean pop idols, the viewers certainly must feel sympathy for these nine young lives that form a cradle of doubt and anxiety brought on by the intense burden of making it and the constant scrutiny of Star Empire.The dichotomy of the likable Muses and hyper-critical managerial staff makes the conclusion of the film is bittersweet. Viewers may find themselves relieved to see that the Star Empire has failed, at least for the time being in their goal to make the Nine Muses into stars but the enduring sentiment is one of disappointment for the young would be k-pop stars.

This documentary was good, but could have been a lot better due to that it was a bit slow at times, and I felt like they could have focused more on things like the girl's physical and emotional exhaustion to deliver more emotional impact. Some of the most powerful moments in the documentary were when Nine Muses members expressed their thoughts and feelings about fame, performing, and their grueling training directly to the camera, unfortunately (and somewhat shockingly in retrospect) there is actually very little of this during the film. We hear from the girls at the beginning, then retreat to a long period of the camera being sort of a fly on the wall as we witness scoldings, training, and idol building drama. Then at the end they interview the girls again. I felt like this documentary would have been more powerful if it featured more direct interviews with the girls, especially after some of the 'fly on the wall' footage. I mean... Great... We can see the managers and CEO giving them verbal lashings "You are #70 on the charts..." and the girls talking to each other with "We debuted at #142..." but no one seems to have thought to ask them "What's going through you mind right now?" Honestly I can't tell if some of them are just like "Whatever..." due to being numbed from exhaustion, or ready to quit because the idol life isn't what they thought, or if they feel genuine shame for letting down the group... Yes... near the end there's that whole intervention scene with a few of the girls crying and confiding their feelings about the process to each other but... again... I think it would have been more powerful to have had them speaking to the camera. It would have been nice to hear more about their thoughts of the fantasy of being idols compared to the reality... Do they take antifan behavior personality or do they just brush it off? How does it feel to work their butts off, and have such a disappointing debut? Who do they blame? We hear a lot about who management blames, but not the Muses themselves... I guess I was hoping for a more human quality in this documentary... It's there, but it's not shining nearly as brightly as it might have.