Aline (film)

Aline is a 2021 French-Canadian musical comedy-drama film co-written, directed by and starring Valérie Lemercier.[2] A fictionalized portrayal of the life of Céline Dion, Lemercier plays "Aline Dieu", a Canadian singer who rises to international superstardom.[3]

Aline
French theatrical release poster
Directed byValérie Lemercier
Written by
  • Brigitte Buc
  • Valérie Lemercier
Produced by
  • Sidonie Dumas
  • Alice Girard
  • Édouard Weil
Starring
CinematographyLaurent Dailland
Edited byJean-François Elie
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Gaumont (France)
  • Maison 4:3 (Canada)
Release dates
  • 13 July 2021 (2021-07-13) (Cannes)
  • 10 November 2021 (2021-11-10) (France)
  • 26 November 2021 (2021-11-26) (Canada)
Running time
128 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Canada
Languages
  • French
  • English
Box office$11.1 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, her singing is performed by French singer Victoria Sio.[5]

Aline had its world premiere on 13 July 2021 at the Cannes Film Festival, and was released in France on 10 November 2021 by Gaumont, and in Canada on 26 November 2021 by Maison 4:3. It received mixed reviews from the critics and earned four nominations at the 47th Annual César Awards, including Best Film, and with Lemercier winning for Best Actress.

Cast

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, the Dion family 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]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 75 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.60/10.[7] On AlloCiné, the film holds an average rating of 4.1/5 based on 35 press reviews.[8] 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:

"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."[9]

— Kyle Buchanan

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."[10]

Accolades

At the 47th Annual César Awards, Aline scored 10 nominations including Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress and Best Director.[11][12] Lemercier won in the Best Actress category.[13]

References
  1. "Aline (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  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 4 December 2021.
  8. "Aline". AlloCiné. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  9. Kyle Buchanan, "We Need to Talk About ‘Aline,’ the Crazy Celine Dion Movie at Cannes". The New York Times, July 14, 2021.
  10. Peter Debruge, "‘Aline’ Review: Valérie Lemercier’s Sappy Céline Dion Cover Lacks the Range of the Artist It Celebrates". Variety, July 13, 2021.
  11. Keslassy, Elsa (26 January 2022). "Adam Driver, 'Annette,' Celine Dion Biopic and 'Lost Illusions' Lead France's Cesar Nominations". Variety. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  12. Tartaglione, Nancy (26 January 2022). "César Awards Nominations: 'Lost Illusions', 'Annette', 'Aline' Dominate; 'Titane' Shut Out Of Best Film Race – Full List". Deadline. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  13. Zilko, Christian (25 February 2022). "'Annette' and 'Lost Illusions' Dominate César Awards 2022: Full Winners List". IndieWire. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.