Aline (film)

Aline is a French-Canadian drama film, directed by Valérie Lemercier and released in 2021.[2] A fictionalized portrayal of the life of Céline Dion, the film stars Lemercier as "Aline Dieu", a Canadian singer who rises to international superstardom.[3]

Aline
Film poster
Directed byValérie Lemercier
Written byBrigitte Buc
Valérie Mercier
Produced bySidonie Dumas
Alice Girard
Édouard Weil
StarringValérie Lemercier
Roc Lafortune
Danielle Fichaud
Sylvain Marcel
CinematographyLaurent Dailland
Edited byJean-François Elie
Production
companies
Rectangle Productions
Gaumont
Release date
  • July 13, 2021 (2021-07-13) (Cannes)
Running time
128 minutes
CountriesFrance
Canada
LanguagesFrench
English
Box office$9.9 million[1]

Lemercier plays Aline at every stage of her life from childhood through to middle age, with her body and face digitally adjusted for age-appropriateness in post-production.[4] However, the singing is performed by French singer Victoria Sio.[5]

The film also stars Roc Lafortune and Danielle Fichaud as Aline's parents Anglomard and Sylvette Dieu, and Sylvain Marcel as her manager and future husband Guy-Claude Kamar, as well as Antoine Vézina, Pascale Desrochers, Jean-Noël Brouté, Sonia Vachon, Alain Zouvi, Marc Béland, Christian Bordeleau, Yves Jacques, Jennie Anne Walker, Michel Laliberté, Elsa Tauveron, Arnaud Préchac and Mathieu Dufresne in supporting roles.

Release

The film premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, and had its Canadian premiere in November 2021.[5]

In advance of its Canadian release, Dion's family members spoke out against the film, criticizing it for factual inaccuracies and for portraying their family as "a gang of Bougons".[6] The film was approved by Dion's manager;[2] Dion herself has not spoken about it publicly to date, although Lemercier has claimed that Dion's son René-Charles reached out to her to request a private viewing.[5]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 7 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.00/10.[7]

Kyle Buchanan of The New York Times opined that Lemercier's decision to play the character throughout her life was the strangest aspect of the film, writing that "Shrunk to Hobbit size and Facetuned into near-oblivion, Lemercier scampers, preens and unnerves. I’ve never seen anything quite like it: Not 'PEN15', not John C. Reilly at the beginning of 'Walk Hard', not even a fully grown Martin Short playing a psychotic 10-year-old in 'Clifford'. As a cinematic presence, Preteen Aline looks less like our main character and more like she’s ready to terrorize Vera Farmiga in the next 'Conjuring' movie. Why didn’t they just cast an actual kid? I’m told that as a French comedian, Lemercier has often played children, but 'Aline' takes this shtick several steps too far: The movie is like 'Bohemian Rhapsody' if they shrank Rami Malek and made him play his own teeth. Have you seen those Twitter prompts that ask you to reimagine a classic film with one character replaced by a Muppet? Aline reminded me of that, except the main character is the Muppet and instead of felt, she is made from your nightmares."[8]

For Variety, Peter Debruge wrote that "Lemercier wouldn’t dare offend Dion, nor would she dream of giving fans the slightest reason to question their devotion, and so 'Aline' comes off feeling like a faith-based movie, where Dieu (French for 'God') gets the reverential 'lives of the saints' treatment. For those who adjust their expectations accordingly, it’s still an extremely satisfying watch — just one in which the only conflicts are convincing Aline’s parents to accept her love for manager Guy-Claude (Sylvain Marcel), the couple attempting to get pregnant and a tricky period when Aline’s vocal cords nearly give out. Suffice to say, most of the film’s tears are those of joy."[9]

References
  1. "Aline (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  2. Virginie Ann, "Star of Céline Dion-inspired ‘Aline’ on taking liberties for the unofficial biopic". Toronto Star, November 24, 2021.
  3. Olivia Lévy, "Aline, le film évènement porté par Valérie Lemercier". La Presse, November 5, 2021.
  4. Richard Lawson, "Céline Dion Quasi-Biopic Aline Must Be Seen to Be Believed". Vanity Fair, July 14, 2021.
  5. Brendan Kelly, "The French love Céline-inspired Aline, American critics are perplexed". Montreal Gazette, November 24, 2021.
  6. "Aline : Valérie Lemercier se défend d’avoir abimé l’image de la famille Dion". Ici Radio-Canada, November 24, 2021.
  7. "Aline". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 4, 2021.
  8. Kyle Buchanan, "We Need to Talk About ‘Aline,’ the Crazy Celine Dion Movie at Cannes". The New York Times, July 14, 2021.
  9. Peter Debruge, "‘Aline’ Review: Valérie Lemercier’s Sappy Céline Dion Cover Lacks the Range of the Artist It Celebrates". Variety, July 13, 2021.
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