“If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl,” he says. Celine DionHer case is almost unique in the world. The singer, who gave voice to My Heart Will Go Onthe main song from the production of his compatriot James Cameron in Titanicsuffers from a very rare neurological disease that affects one in a million people.
Is he stiff person syndrome.
Céline told her fans about her illness two years ago, in 2022Since then, he has continued to fight for a goal, like a carrot placed before a donkey: to recover his artistic career.
“It’s not hard to put on a show. The hard part is cancelling it,” he rightly says. “I miss the music. And I miss the audience a lot,” he says at another point.
Céline Dion shows herself as she is. The documentary also includes milestones from her career. Amazon Photos
Stiff-person syndrome affects the central nervous system. Stiffness, muscle spasms and an increased sensitivity to external stimuli, which induce muscle contractions, are its predominant features. In her case, as she tells in the documentary, the first spasms were in her vocal cords, no less.
Céline Dion has been fighting for 17 years
But in truth Dion has been battling the disease for 17 years. So many times he went out to give concerts thanks to the medication they gave him, until he couldn’t take it anymore, and he had to cancel them. And he had to lie, hiding his delicate state of health.
“He was touching the microphone, like it wasn’t working. There were times when we had to stop the concert. A quick change, but it never came back. The lie weighs a lot now”, she is sincere.
“I’m not going to stop,” is the hopeful message from Céline, who wants to but cannot return to music.
“This film contains shocking scenes of medical trauma. Caution is recommended to the viewer” is the legend with which it begins I am Celine Dionwhich premiered this week on Amazon Prime Video.
And in the new documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Irene Taylor, she is shown at her most vulnerable, without this meaning that there are any low blows. The director – who 15 years ago had a short documentary nominated for an Oscar, The Final Inch– is an intimate, private look at the singer’s relentless battle with the syndrome.
The director does not position herself as an interviewer, nor has she chosen doctors to explain what the disease is, which has no known cure, but does have palliative care. The only one who speaks is Céline, until she arrives at a crucial moment in the film, near the end.
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The clipping belongs to the documentary about the singer’s fight against the disease. The director was authorized by the artist to film the moment and include it in the final cut.
And it is a crisis that she goes through, the result of a spasm, shortly after trying to rehearse one of her songs. She is helped, calmed and supported by her physiotherapist and an assistant. Céline herself, as seen in the documentary, allows the cameramen to continue filming her in the midst of the convulsion.
Celine Dion’s strong statements
“I needed my instrument. And my instrument wasn’t working. So we upped the dosage. The medication has a duration,” Dion explains. “I was full of adrenaline and I heard the audience: ‘Céline, Céline, Céline! ’ It was over after 20 minutes. I left the dressing room, went backstage and wished everyone luck. The audience was going crazy. But then I had a spasm and my voice went up. The medication had worn off. It was over. It was 80 and 90 milligrams of diazepam a day. One medication out of many,” she explains.
The film doesn’t focus solely on the 56-year-old musician’s current situation, but also looks at her childhood, her big concerts, the birth of her children, including two twins, who walk around the mansion where they live in Las Vegas, and the death of her husband, the musician and her manager, René Angélil, in 2016. Strangely, there are very few images of him. It’s as if the emphasis is placed elsewhere.
The promotional poster for the documentary shows it splendidly.
But what is so appealing about the film is the sincerity with which Céline’s life is portrayed. “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. I’m not going to stop” is one of the many tearful lines in this raw and moving account.
Documentary film. United States, 2024. Original title: “I Am Celine Dion”. 103′, SAM 13. Of: Irene Taylor. With: Celine Dion. Available in: Amazon Prime Video.
