In the aftermath of the murderous criticism of his film Aline by members of the Dion family, French director Valérie Lemercier came out of her silence on Wednesday to defend her work. She does not intend to apologize for wanting to pay tribute to the singer and her siblings through a fiction and not a documentary.
“I didn’t feel like I was committing a crime while making this film. I hope we will understand that it is full of lies which are nice lies. […] I do not think that it damages the heroine, nor her family ”, declared in interview to the To have to Valérie Lemercier, who also plays the role of the international star on the screen.
Tuesday night guests on the show The week of 4 Julie, broadcast on Noovo, Claudette and Michel Dion – godmother and godfather of Celine Dion – did not mince their words to describe the feature film inspired by the life of their sister. They denounced a “humor which does not pass” and scenes which went “too far”.
“It wasn’t a big success for me. I was sad, ”said Claudette Dion in an interview with host Julie Snyder. “I don’t recognize the language. I don’t recognize my family. I do not recognize our roots, ”she added, considering that the director had“ paid for a nasty trip on the back of Celine’s life ”.
For brother and sister Dion, the portrayal of their family on screen is not only far from reality, it is also degrading. “My mother never spoke like that to René, and Céline never wanted for anything. We pass for a gang of Bougon. […] We have never known misery because mum knew how to do everything and dad had three jobs, ”said Claudette Dion on the set of Julie Snyder, her voice trembling, tears in her eyes.
At his side, Michel Dion pointed out the many factual errors in the story. “These are details that everyone knows. There have been so many biographies, documentaries and DVDs, ”he said exasperatedly.
Fiction
For her part, Valérie Lemercier insists: her film is neither a documentary nor a biography of the singer. “It’s a fiction. It is indicated from the beginning of the film on the screen, that all the things presented, all the characters, are the fruit of the imagination of the authors. We invented a lot of things, yes, we do not hide it. “
She says she is well aware that Celine Dion never went out the window with her wedding dress, that she probably never kept small sachets of sugar in her purse, nor even found her engagement ring in an ice cream. “I did not show Celine’s 15 houses either, nor did I try to represent a Luc Plamondon or a Jean-Jacques Goldman on the screen. […] That’s why the main character is called Aline Dieu, because it’s not exactly the story of Celine Dion, ”she continues, surprised that she is criticized for her assumed fantasies.
The director claims to have paid attention to every detail so that her feature film does not fall into caricature or mockery. In his opinion, his film is “full of delicacy, modesty, and above all shows a beautiful family who love each other”.
Despite the harshness of Claudette and Michel Dion’s words, Valérie Mercier’s morale was high on Wednesday, while she was in Gatineau to present her film in the evening. “I know that there are other people in the Dion family who liked the film even if they have not said it publicly,” says the one who hopes that Celine Dion will also take the time to watch it.
Interview canceled
The day before, it was precisely to preserve his morale that his team canceled at the last minute his scheduled interview with Julie Snyder, after learning the content of the interview with Claudette and Michel Dion.
“It was the first in Montreal, I was about to find my whole team, all the actors. […] It was not the time that I found myself with a camera under my nose to argue about my film, however joyful. [Ça] would have ruined the evening, ”she justified herself, considering that she had not“ been mean ”by canceling the invitation.
For her part, Julie Snyder seems to have a completely different view of the situation. “While Celine’s sisters and brothers are personified in the film, it is deplorable that in retaliation for the fact that they spoke freely […], Mrs. Lemercier cancels her presence at the last minute. It is unfortunate that[elle] do not adopt this quote from Beaumarchais: without the freedom to blame there is no flattering praise, ”said the host in an email sent to To have to.
Success across the Atlantic
In theaters since November 10 in France, Aline was very successful from the start. The film drew no less than 900,000 spectators in two weeks. Several media reviews – in Release, Le Figaro, Telerama and Positive – awarded it four stars, Inrocks Even went there with a perfect five star rating. Unsurprisingly, the comments of Claudette and Michel Dion particularly attracted the attention of the French media who made their choux gras Wednesday.
In Quebec, the film officially premieres this Thursday. So far, film reviews have on the whole been as positive as in France. It remains to be seen if the public will also be thrilled by this version of their national Céline.