I am: Celine Dion is a glimpse into the life of mega star and super talented Canadian singer, Céline Dion. This documentary primarily focuses on her struggles with health issues that greatly impact her personal and professional life.
If you are looking for a comprehensive documentary that covers her entire life, you will be disappointed as this primary focuses on her battle and the impact of having Stiff Persons Syndrome. Her upbringing, road to stardom, relationships with friends and family, etc. Are only ever briefly glossed over.
However, it does a great job showing how illness can greatly limits oneself, not only physically but also how it can have even more devastating consequences on ones mental health, and in the case of Celine, whose identity is very much wrapped up in being a singer and performer, what that means when those things are taken away.
In a way this speaks to the aging process, how we cope when our bodies betray us and no longer able to do what they once were able to. It also speaks about self identity. When your self identity is wrapped around just one or two things (ie. A job, being a mother, being famous), what happens when those things change or are taken away. What is left?
It is truly heart wrenching seeing Céline Dion suffer through this disease (and the camera doesn't shy away showing her suffering and in pain) and while she is constantly surrounded by support staff, she seems so alone.
I praise Céline Dion for agreeing to showcase not only her highs but also her lows and when she is most vulnerable. She is regularly seen in a raw unglamourous light (no make-up, hair just pulled back, and wearing casual lounge outfits), talking about upsetting and emotional subjects, and even at one point showing unflinching footage of her suffering through an attack where she is at her most vulnerable and obviously in considerable pain in discomfort.
