Directed by Valérie Lemercier
Where & When: Laemmle NoHo 7 theatres, North Hollywood, CA. April 18, 2022 4:20 PM
The last of fourteen children in a poor yet loving French-Canadian family in Quebec, Aline Dieu has a remarkable singing ability, first displayed at the wedding of one of her brothers at the age of five. With music playing an important part of the Dieu family and recognizing that the world should hear Aline's singing, her mother and brother write a song that will showcase the amazing talent of the now-twelve year old. They manage to get a recording of this song into the hands of a well-known music manager in Canada who is moved to tears by Aline's voice, promptly deciding to devote all of his energy into helping make this young girl a star.
If this story sounds oddly familiar, well, it's intended to. The French performer, Valérie Lemercier has co-written, directed and stars in "Aline", a loving, fictionalized tribute based on the life and career of the Canadian pop superstar, Céline Dion. And the fifty-eight year old Lemercier impressively plays Dieu from a five year old to middle-age with the aid of digital effects. The film is a meticulously designed fantasy that dives into the world of a real-life singer yet surprisingly lacks a bold, imaginative spirit.
With Guy-Claude Kamar (Sylvain Marcel) now managing Aline, he takes steps to mold the shy, awkward girl into an image closer to what is expected of an international pop star. He arranges to have her teeth straightened, transforms her with a fashion make-over and begin to have her learn English. But Aline's budding career almost comes to a grinding halt when she damages her vocal cords. Her options are surgery or to not speak at all for three months with Aline wisely deciding to remain silent.
And as her music career begins to rise, Aline finds herself falling in love with Kamar who is twenty-five years older than herself. While this couple initially kept their romance secret from the public, fearing that they would not be accepting, they couldn't keep this information from her family with Aline's mother, Sylvette (Danielle Fichaud), in particular, appalled by the idea. After finally announcing to the world that they are together, fans embraced the news of their relationship (and eventually Sylvette) which was followed by the singer and her manager getting married in a lavish wedding ceremony.
Valérie Lemercier may not be well-known on this side of the Atlantic but in her native France, she is a celebrated star. She made her film debut in Louis Malle's "Milou en mai (May Fools)" in 1990 and would go on win two César Awards for Best Supporting Actress (for "Les Visiteurs" and "Fauteuils d'orchestre") before receiving the Best Actress César for her performance in "Aline" last year. Lemercier began working behind the camera in 1997 and had a big hit with her third feature as a director, "Palais royal!", a 2005 comedy based loosely on the adultery scandal involving the British royals, Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Unlike that film, Lemercier handles her fact-based fictional character in "Aline" with a more delicate, respectful touch. The actress, with her expressive, pliant features, is captivating as she evolves from a small, shy child with a big voice to a powerful and confident superstar performer. As a filmmaker however, Lemercier is competent yet lacks a distinctive visual style that might have elevated this routine rags-to-riches musical love story.
There is no doubt that Lemercier is a big fan of Dion, honoring this musical icon in a unique way, but it's hard to understand what is the actual point of "Aline". The character at the center of this film is definitely not supposed to be Céline Dion. And "Aline" is not a parody. Yet Lemercier painstakingly recreates the major events in the singer's life, the clothing that she has worn and even performs several of the songs that Dion has made famous (with vocals provided by French singer, Victoria Sio who puts in the extra effort to sound like Dion). It just feels odd to do a pseudo-biography on a performer who is still very much alive and in the middle of her career that is not really intended to poke fun or offer critical evaluation. What might have made "Aline" even more intriguing is if Lemercier had played up the fantasy-comedy elements in this story even further instead of remaining so faithful to the real-life of Dion.
I can look back at "Dreamgirls" which was clearly based on the story of the Supremes yet was far enough removed from the actual hitmaking Motown girl-group (which included original songs that conveyed the emotions of these characters) that the similarities were never a real distraction. "Aline" is literally retelling Céline Dion's life story with only thinly veiled name changes and minor creative liberties to make it appear fictional. This musical-dramedy certainly has it's charms but since Lemercier had no intention to offend in any possible way, the narrative and characterizations are mostly too blandly generic to effectively thrill. I mean, if you're going to invent a movie about the life of one of the biggest pop singers on the planet, then the most shocking and scandalous event they experience should involve more than falling in love with a divorced, older man.
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