The fight against illness is presented as the common thread of this documentary, I am: Celine Dion. The disease is “stiff man syndrome” which causes more or less violent muscle spasms, from the vocal cords to the toes, and from which we learn here that she has been suffering for 18 years. But until recently the disease went undiagnosed. Moreover, when the filming began, the diagnosis had not been made. Celine Dion was suffering, starting to cancel concerts, but didn’t know what she was fighting against.
A sequence risks upsetting fans. It takes place after a studio session, full of emotions and annoyances, to record the song for the film Love Again, the only title released in recent years. Celine Dion finds her physiotherapist and notices that her feet are stiffening. It is a symptom that can be a warning of a larger crisis and that is what is happening. Céline lies down, her whole body goes into muscle spasms, her team places her in a side safety position and repeats reassuring words to her.
“The worst thing I have ever filmed”
The body is stiff, the face frozen in a disturbing grin and agitated by spasms, there are cries and tears, medicines and a stopwatch. “ If in 10 minutes there is no improvement, call for help. », Pronounces one of the caregivers present after administering a nasal spray. “ This is the worst thing I’ve ever filmed. confides director Irene Taylor at the microphone of Le Parisien. I was all alone with the doctor and the cameraman in the room, I had headphones on and I could barely hear his breathing. It lasted forty minutes before she regained consciousness! (…) I wondered if I would continue filming, but I had worked with her enough before to know that I had to do it. »Irene Taylor also tells our colleagues that this scene was filmed at the end of 2022.
The crisis over, Céline Dion gets up and… sings Who I Am by Wyn Stark. His song “ end of crisis ” And “ end of session ”, according to the caregiver who accompanies him.
Since she knew what illness she was fighting, Céline Dion is doing better, she is receiving appropriate care. But this neurological disease is rare and difficult to tame. The star hopes to be able to sing again and get back on stage to find his audience. On TF1 last week, she spoke to her French fans, assuring them that she was doing everything to be able to come back: “ I do not know when. But I’m going to come back on stage “, she said.
