07:24 AM
Celine Dion assures that her “passion as an artist will never disappear” despite her health problems, which are, according to her, only a small part of her monumental story.
“I’m not dead,” the singer told AFP on the red carpet on Monday, before the premiere of the heartbreaking but also joyful documentary. I Am: Celine Dion (I am: Celine Dion).
The film focuses on his brilliant career and the most recent problems derived from a rare neurological disease that has forced him to retire from the stage.
For the Canadian artist, the decision to talk about her illness in the documentary is both “the greatest gift and the greatest responsibility” and she hopes to serve as an inspiration to people with similar situations.
“It’s hard to be here,” she admitted to the press, although “at the same time, I’m very moved,” she said in her native French.
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“I feel like I still have a lot of support and a lot of love and I hope this documentary helps, because it helped me a lot,” he said, detailing his gratitude to his family, his medical team and his fans in this “eternal” and daily fight.
“Authentic”
The 56-year-old artist, known among other successes for My Heart Will Go On, from the soundtrack of Titanicrevealed in December 2022 that he had been diagnosed with rigid person syndrome (RPS), a progressive autoimmune disorder that has no cure, and which forced him to indefinitely cancel his performances.
Treatment helps relieve the symptoms of this disease, which can cause muscle stiffness in the torso, arms and legs and severe spasms that can cause your voice to crack uncontrollably.
Irene Taylor, the film’s director, told AFP that Dion’s only request had been to be able to tell her own story, in her own words.
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“It was like music to my storyteller ears,” Taylor said. “She opened up and was very authentic,” both “in her joy and in her suffering,” the director said.
“Love Letter”-
The documentary offers archival footage of the charismatic artist, as well as tender scenes at home with her children and dogs that offer a quirky and cozy portrait of Celine as a mother.
But the film also documents the severity of Dion’s pain, including a long sequence that shows in excruciating detail the singer suffering a seizure. The episode leaves her motionless and unable to speak, which moved many viewers to tears.
But the common thread of the documentary is not so much his illness, but his love for family, friends and music.
She is visibly tormented by the loss of her privileged voice, but it is her joie de vivre and unwavering sense of humor that shines through in the film.
The documentary about Dion, who has sold more than 250 million albums throughout her long career, will be available worldwide on June 25 on Prime Video.
Earlier this year, Dion made a surprise appearance at the Grammys to present the Album of the Year award to Taylor Swift. She has rarely appeared publicly since she announced that she had MRS.
Before the screening, in front of a packed Manhattan theater, Dion compared herself to an apple tree, a metaphor she also uses in the film: she has always felt that she had to produce shiny fruits for fans who were willing to pay large amounts of money. to se her.
Dion was moved to tears as she described a recent comment from a fan, who told her in a message: “We’re not here for the apples… we’re here for the tree.”
“This film is my love letter to each of you,” he said amidst a standing ovation. “And I hope to see you all again very soon.”
