Album Review: I Am: Céline Dion (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Céline Dion
Despite a slightly above-average motion picture soundtrack to coincide with the sad documentary, Céline Dion remains one of the greatest.
The documentary I Am: Celine Dion has a leading actress, Céline Dion. It looks at her past and the fight the Canadian is now waging against the autoimmune disease Stiff-Person Syndrome. This rare neurological autoimmune disease manifests itself in significantly increased muscle tone up to seizures. Singing is now difficult for her, and going on tour seems almost impossible.
On the other hand, the I Am: Celine Dion soundtrack has two main actors: Celine Dion and Redi Hasa. The singer’s contributions are naturally nothing more than a greatest hits album. On the other hand, the cellist from Albania takes over the original score with six pieces. When the communist regime collapsed in his home country, he fled to his brother in Italy. In his luggage: a cello borrowed from the conservatory in Tirana, which he baptized the “stolen cello.” “Find the soul in every note you play,” he takes as a mantra from his mentor Einaudi. These extremes face each other in I Am: Celine Dion: The overflowing Dion and the sensitive Hasa. A concept that never comes together.
Dion’s songs are bursting with the skill of the brilliant, versatile vocal singer. She remains one of the greatest in the lightness with which she makes even the heaviest pieces look like a picnic. But she always carries the aura of a somewhat stubborn A student. A prejudice that the film dispels.
Despite the wealth and detached interior design, the Canadian shows herself as unexpectedly sympathetic, humorous, and grounded. She bravely faces the illness, not letting it determine her life. Apart from that, she still finds much joy in her isolated life. You can see her playing with her children in sloppy clothes, nursing, and feeding her sick guinea pig. Awwww.
After the documentary, you may re-evaluate her work, but the old problems remain. Nothing can be taken away from the technical work. The “My Heart Will Go On” anecdote alone illustrates this. Dion never wanted to sing the Titanic song, her biggest hit. Finally, author James Horner and her husband and producer René Angélil persuaded her to record at least a demo. She agreed and took exactly one take. One! Zack! The music has been rearranged, but you can still hear her demo recording in the film. You may consider the song what you like; her performance is impressive.
Unfortunately, songs such as “Because You Loved Me” or “I’m Alive” usually remain too predictable and well-behaved. The smoothly sanded, abundantly dusty 1990s and 2000s productions take even more life away from the pieces. Songs without rough edges, which every “The 80s, the 90s and the Best of Today” radio station played until nauseating and beyond, instead get in the way of the singer. “The Power of Love” was already forgettable by Jennifer Rush. The Ike & Tina Turner classic “River Deep, Mountain High” dies an unworthy musical death.
Her strength lies in classical chansons, as her goosebump-inducing performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris impressively shown at the latest, where she sang Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne À L’Amour.” However, French pieces such as “Zora Sourit” only suggest this initially. “Je Crois Toi” is one of the few highlights.
Her rock excursion “J’irai Où Tu Iras” is not very good, in which French singer/songwriter Jean-Jacques Goldman joins the former Eurovision Song Contest winner. It sounds like the worst possible version of the Rodgau Monotones. The cleanest version of “St. Tropez Am Baggersee.” “All By Myself” receives further emotional depth in the film and beyond through the death of her husband. The absence of the Siegfried & Joy song “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” resembles an affront! Not only to her but also to one of Jim Steinman’s best songs.
Of course, after seeing I Am: Celine Dion, it can be argued that Dion is doing better than other people who suffer from the same diseases, thanks to her status. Most of us need more resources to get started on recovery. But when you feel bad, wealth hardly plays a role. In addition, with her now more open approach to the disease, she serves as a role model, creates attention for this rare disease, and thus helps research and, ultimately, less well-off people.
Ultimately, however, Hasa’s emotional instrumental pieces are the most convincing. In tracks such as “Main Theme - Artist Always” and “Talea,” he cleverly stages the story of the Canadian with emotional and thoughtful tones. With significantly less playing time, I Am: Celine Dion belongs to him. Thus, the film brings Hasa, whose last album, My Nirvana, consisted of Nirvana cover versions, new fame outside his creative field. In the end, despite all the sadness and tragedy that the documentary brings, there is also a lot of good in it.