"I Am: Celine Dion" Conveys a Bittersweet Coda for a Larger-Than-Life Legend

Music icon and diva Celine Dion's latest documentary sheds light on the painful private struggles she's endured to get to some semblance of acceptance of her condition

She’s everything she is because we loved her.

I’m paraphrasing the quote above, but it’s borrowed from one of Celine Dion’s signature cinematic 90s love ballads, and no, not Titanic. It’s from Up Close & Personal (1996) starring Robert Redford as a veteran news reporter and Michelle Pfeiffer as his protege. They fall in love as their mutual professional respect and personal chemistry for one another builds, all to end very tragically in a way that made me never look at a pair of boots with red laces the same again. [Because You Loved Me]

Dinner Party Trivia Moment: Joan Didion and her husband John Gregory Dunne wrote the screenplay for Up Close & Personal.

However, back to the point of the quote and the purpose of this review: In the newly released Prime documentary, I Am: Celine Dion [trailer], Dion allows her fans full access to her sometimes, mundane life, punctuated with some gloomy, uncomfortable bits and a seemingly shut-in lifestyle. The latter is likely influenced by her fame and status, and not just her condition. Also, parts of the documentary were filmed during COVID-19, so one has to imagine this had some bearing on its emotional intensity.

In every way, this is a film very much made for the Dion fandom. It’s her magnum opus to the people who love her against the odds - who have come from faraway places to attend sold-out shows, gone hoarse during concerts chanting her lyrics alongside her, and generally showered her with love and affection. It’s her way of communicating why she canceled shows, had to depart some early, and has retreated in recent years from the limelight. It’s also evident the emotional toll all of “the lies” have taken on her and how much of the responsibility she shoulders for disappointing her fans:

It’s not hard to do a good show.

It’s hard to cancel a show.

She says this while struggling to hold back tears, candidly revealing the root of her malaise and inability to perform. Her neurologic condition, Stiff-person Syndrome or SPS, a rare disease impacting 1 in a million (literally) people causes severe spasms throughout her body. Of all the places to attack, tragically, for such a powerhouse singer as Celine, the condition affects her voice causing it to crack or not to emit any sound at all, rendering it impossible for her to perform due to its volatility. Her first spasms started nearly 20 years ago and from that time up until roughly 4 years ago, she was pushing herself to continue, upping her medications, including Valium to make it bearable to get through shows.

The documentary intersperses footage from music performances of yesteryear (including a ton of less known French songs that I’ve never heard), with more recent interview clips of a very raw Celine, pointedly unpolished in her appearance, sitting down, with no make-up to speak of. It’s arresting to look at and a stark contrast to the once vibrant and energetic performer who always struck me as annoyingly incapable of sitting down.

Side Note: In retrospect, I think I was just jealous of her energy. It was so infectious you couldn’t look away. That’s the Celine I choose to remember and who we see in distorted fragments in this documentary.

For all of the sometimes aimless “unbearable weight of existence” shtick in I Am: Celine Dion, there are moments of levity that counteract the otherwise dull aching reverb of tinged sadness. Celine Dion is a funny woman and while much of that in the past has been tied to her physicality and singing, both of which have diminished because of SPS, there was still room for more sprinkling of joy. She’s still got it, after all, and people are more than the sum of their sad feelings. Just watch Inside Out 2! There’s more than one emotion.

Some funny moments/observations:

• Deadpool/Ryan Reynolds has a cameo and Celine plays off his energy brilliantly.

• Celine Dion’s impression of Sia (7 years ago) on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon

• Comical Insight: The inspiration behind Hacks Deborah Vance’s Las Vegas Haute Couture Wardrobe Warehouse from Season 3 is Celine Dion’s LV wardrobe warehouse. Those scenes were illuminating. That woman is organized and boy, she has a lot of dresses and shoes, which she also rattles off in her signature unapologetic Celine sassiness, “When a girl wants a shoe, she makes it work. I can wear anything from a size 6-10.” That’s a dedication to show business and/or chronic foot problems. Either way, as she walks the warehouse, she is in command of her diva-like status, and there’s a mischievous spark. Yes, I told myself. Give us more of that!

Endnote

The film is directed by veteran documentarian, Irene Taylor. This was her first music documentary, however. Her most well-known prior work was about her deaf parents (Hear and Now) and son (Moonlight Sonata). In an interview, Taylor explained that she didn’t think too much about Celine before getting the gig, but that she’d grown up listening to her and was curious about how to tell her story - combining elements of her life (her childhood, marriage, motherhood, her dog, etc) with her harrowing illness. A colleague of hers had tossed her name into consideration for the job. She also mentioned that Celine very much wanted her voice to be used to tell her story. Makes sense.

Summary

Beyond its “for the fans” veneer, the documentary is about Celine Dion's journey of [WTH now?!??!] self-discovery as she grapples with her identity outside of her iconic voice, which has long been the cornerstone of her career and personal fulfillment. She is adamant that she will sing again and return to performing. I hope she does. But through the cracks in her voice and the tears filling her eyes, the future is a bit off-key and blurry. To which I say, “Lean into the levity. Your fanbase will not desert you.”

Let’s Discuss

• Top Celine Love Ballad? It’s gotta be “Power of Love,” no? Thoughts?

• Have you watched this or are you planning to?

• I know Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance character in Hacks is quasi-modeled after Joan Rivers, but I can also see the Celine connections. Maybe it’s the Summerlin / LV mansion living and warehouse bit? Well, also the residency.

• Celine’s origin story of growing up one of a billion siblings amidst an economically poor upbringing in Canada gets shuffled into the mix, but in the past where you felt a triumph tale, or at the very least, a “Woe is me, [to be] Celine” sentiment, with everything else going on, it doesn’t even pass on the sad or hopeful radar. It’s simply one of many passing moments, faintly strung together.

• I’m in a downer mood after watching this. I want to be excited and uplifted but I’m missing the through line here, likely the same way Celine Dion admits to missing performing. I’m Jack in Titanic holding on to the door, trying my best to evade a cruel fate, but holding out for hope! Or a narrative. Or a tempo change. Anything.

• What can I watch to improve my mood?

In Teaching News

I’ll be back at Lexington Community [or Adult] Ed this Fall starting up a “Romance Film Club.” It’s my activist attempt to combat all the cynicism and hate in the world in light of our upcoming elections. Last year, it was “The Works of Greta Gerwig” which focused on Barbie and Lady Bird.

If I make it available on Zoom would you be interested? I’m on the East Coast and chances are it would be in the evening. I’m going to make sure the films I curate are available on Kanopy, a free library app. Leave a comment or DM and let me know.