Since 2018 and the announcement of his shoot that we are intrigued, the word is weak, by Aline, film freely inspired by the life of Celine Dion. A fortiori knowing that it is the French actress, humorist and filmmaker Valérie Lemercier who, in addition to co-writing and directing it, embodies the Quebec diva. Or, rather, a version of the latter, the artistic license, here, not being reduced to a simple change of first name. Unveiled in Cannes, Aline is many things – a modern fairy tale, a satire of showbiz, a tribute to the singer above all – but this is not a traditional biography. This is one of its great qualities.
The unusual nature of Valérie Lemercier’s approach is evident from the first appearance of Aline Dieu. While her thirteen brothers and sisters perform on stage, their youngest of several years observes them, between shyness and fascination. Except that, on this little girl’s body, it is already the face of Valérie Lemercier that appears. From the outset, we establish an artificiality, a gap. It is assumed.
“I believe in doing what we know how to do,” says Valérie Lemercier, joined in Switzerland where she promotes her film before coming to do the same in Quebec next week.
“On stage, I play a lot of children and teenage girls. From my first solo show, I was playing a little girl. I always liked it. “
For her, playing Aline from the age of 5 went without saying (she even played her as a baby in a deleted scene). Strangely, it is interpreting it from the age of 20-25 that was the hardest for Valérie Lemercier, who specifies that, however, she never considered another avenue.
“These are stage pleasures. Because, on stage, I can really play anything: men, old women, children… Unfortunately, in the cinema, I was always told that it was impossible, that it was not done. I think of actors like Alec Guinness who, in Kind Hearts and Coronets, plays lots of characters, or Eddie Murphy who did that a lot… Me, it wasn’t playing several characters in the same movie that interested me, but playing one at all ages. It amuses me more. It involves a transformation of the body that I had not been able to do in any film until now. “
Playful, but sincere
This idea of pleasure is evident in Aline, which has a very playful side. On the other hand, the film is never mocking, on the contrary. The love and respect Valérie Lemercier has for Céline Dion are evident in every scene, no matter how humorous or dramatic it is.
“Above all, I didn’t want to be derided. Sometimes, unwittingly, they tried to take me to this field, but I very consciously resisted. I wanted to be completely sincere, all the time, in the way I played it, even when it’s funny. For example when it opens to Guy-Claude [l’agent et futur mari, basé sur René Angélil], with slow motion and hair blowing in the wind: there is a comic effect, but Aline’s gaze is really in love. In a moment like this, you can laugh, but not laugh. I wanted to… let the camera enter my head, unfiltered, whereas usually, out of modesty, I maintain a distance. “
On this level, and on all that concerns Aline in this case, Valérie Lemercier notes a posteriori that she was “daredevil”.
“The joy, the envy, the fun were stronger than anything. I was not afraid, I who am nevertheless always afraid of everything: afraid of crashing, of not getting there … I remember that, the first day of filming of Royal Palace!, the number of trucks carrying the material had terrified me. “
In Royal Palace!, in fact, Valérie Lemercier was already dabbling in the biography, but in a more diffuse manner, this time drawing inspiration from Lady Di.
” In Royal Palace!, I did not go all the way, especially in the physical transformation. I now only see the flaws in the film. I think that’Aline is better. And it must be said that Royal Palace! was very cynical, whileAline, not at all. “
The stage as a key
It goes without saying that Valérie Lemercier adores Celine Dion. However, it was only late that she discovered it.
“In 1995, I was playing at the Théâtre de Paris, and there was this usher named Zahia. He was quite a character; she was very funny. She has also become one of the characters that I do on stage. But anyway, after the show, we had parties, and Zahia was having fun singing Ziggy with my first name: “Valérie, her name is Valérie…” I did not know this song. And so, I got to know Celine Dion through this girl, indirectly. “
Released that year, Two became for her a bedside album, and when she finally attended a concert by the singer, Valérie Lemercier was blown away by both the “stage animal” and the fervor of the public.
“I became interested in her… I was very touched by René’s funeral, by his departure, by Céline’s first steps without him, his return to the stage… And it is there, probably, that I have must have put me in his place. “
The scene: we always come back to it. Normal, since it is a fundamental element of the project, in that the understanding of the scene, the scenic performance and the pressure that comes with it, Valérie Lemercier also knows. Talking with her, one comes to suspect that this was undoubtedly her point of access to Aline-Céline’s psyche.
“It’s scary to go on stage; people have no idea. There’s this scene in the movie, inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest, where the guy behind the scenes says all the wrong things to Aline. Before going on stage, we are so vulnerable… One word can destroy us, take away all our self-confidence. “
A project from the heart
Strange proposal on paper, Aline finds all its meaning in the image. No, Valérie Lemercier is not trying to adopt a caricatural Quebec accent, opting instead for a talk of the in-between in phase with the ambient shift. Conversely, the vocal performance of Victoria Sio, who doubles the actress-director for the songs, is bluffing. Aline is what we call in English a “ passion project »: A project of the heart carried through against all odds.
“Nobody believed in that stuff – a little bit in France. And it is true that it can seem monstrous to someone who does not know me, that is to say who is not French ”, concedes Valérie Lemercier, laughing.
“But, yes, there was initially a lot of reluctance, which I only knew afterwards. For example, our former Quebec distributors had asked Édouard Weil, my producer, to redo all the childhood scenes with a real child. “
It would be a bit like asking Todd Haynes to shoot his movie again. I’m not there, an unconventional biography if there is one of Bob Dylan, using only one interpreter rather than a plethora of actors, including an actress, who play Bob Dylan. It’s part of the concept. Nevertheless, this cleavage between what is proposed and what is expected says a lot about the omnipotence of classic narrative forms.
Ultimately, Aline is Céline and it’s not, because it’s also Valérie Lemercier, in the cinema as on the stage.
“Our” Céline
In France, Aline has just received a delusional critical reception. Release, the Figaro, Telerama and Positive all awarded the film four stars, while the very hip Inrocks Went there with a perfect five star rating. The reaction of the public there is in the same direction. What will happen in Quebec?
Here again, it is the cleavage between “what is proposed and what is expected” that risks being taken into account. In addition, there is the chauvinistic, even affective, dimension of the matter to be considered: will we tolerate a French artist coming to present us her vision of her own, and we insist on the words “her own”, of “our” Céline? The future will tell.
Anyway, Valérie Lemercier can’t wait to come back to Quebec.
“ Aline is a co-production with Quebec. A good part of the film was shot in Quebec, with Quebec technicians and actors: Sylvain Marcel [Guy-Claude] and Danielle Fichaud [Sylvette, la mère Dieu], They are great ! Aline, it’s also your movie, and I hope you like it. “
The film Aline premieres on November 26.