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There’s a scene 21 minutes into the new I Am: Céline Dion documentary where the 56-year-old powerhouse visits her Titanic-proportioned storage warehouse in Vegas. Here, hundreds, if not thousands, of career show pieces rest dormant; embellished tutus, gowns, her famous 10-kilogram feathered Oscar de la Renta headpiece she wore to the 2019 Met Gala. At one point, Dion picks up a pair of moss green polka-dot platforms, rightly guesses their label—Dior—before carefully placing them back into their box.
“When a girl loves her shoes, she always make them fit [sic],” she says resolutely. “I have worn shoes, my friend, where my toes were like this [gestures claw-like hands] because they didn’t have my size. Every time I go to a store and they say, ‘What size are you Ma’am?’ I say, ‘No, you don’t understand. What size do you have?’
“I’ll make them fit. I’ll make them work. I walk the shoe, the shoe don’t walk me. From [size] six to 10, give it to me. I love them.”
This scene makes up a good few minutes of reprieve from the gut-wrenching sadness that one feels when they watch this documentary. Jovial moments hemmed in by footage of Dion in the fetal position, spasming and with her hands mangled into the same claws she just used to describe her toes once fitting into her dancing shoes.
Celine Dion performs at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Credit: X / @FranceTV.
For the uninitiated, I Am: Céline Dion is a remarkably uncensored chronicle of Dion’s struggle with Stiff-Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder which causes muscles stiffness and painful spasms. Directed by Irene Taylor, the 102-minute offering journeys through Dion’s 30-year career and how she’s been managing SPS symptoms, sometimes with a near-lethal amount of valium, for almost 20 years. It’s a particularly cruel fate for a legendary musician who cut across languages with her famous ballads—and that high note (F5, which Dion strikes in the key change of “All By Myself”). Sadly, she can no longer breathe in enough air to hit those higher parts of the stave.
Taylor stitches archival footage of Dion together in a sort of uneven tapestry. We are, at first, roused by past footage of the singer belting out “River Deep Mountain High” but hereafter, it’s mere snippets of those power ballads—and some obvious omissions: “It’s All Coming Back To Me,” “A New Day Has Come” and “Because You Loved Me” are just a worthy three that don’t make the cut. You have to wonder if the impact of the fall is a little diluted when the main highs aren’t featured.
Still, this documentary is a must-see. A nearly 10-minute capture of Dion having a seizure drives home, in an ever so confronting manner, the very reason she needed to cancel her Vegas residency in 2021. This medical episode is seemingly triggered by Dion’s mind becoming overstimulated during a recording session of one of her newer tracks “Love Again” which featured in a romantic comedy of the same name released last year. Dion’s decision to let this footage become public is a testament to how little ego she has.
“I still see myself dancing. I always find plan B and C, you know. That’s me,” a barefaced Dion says while wiping back the tears flooding down her face. “If I can’t run, I’ll walk. If I can’t walk, I’ll crawl. But I won’t stop.”
While this documentary is very sad, it’s underscored with that ‘Dion determination’ to get back on the stage one day. Maybe then will those Dior platforms make an encore.
I Am: Céline Dion is available to stream now on Amazon Prime.
