The Cannes Film Festival is chugging along, and one of the more perplexing films playing out of competition is “Aline: The Voice Of Love,” a biopic about famed French-Canadian singer Céline Dion that hails from Quebec and her star-studded rise in the music industry. Instead of a proper film about the singer’s life, the French-language film from Gaumont has decided to call Dion by a different name, Aline Dieu. It’s quite an interesting project as “Aline” was co-written, directed by, and starring Valérie Lemercier.
Gaumont calls the film in their trailer “inspired” by the events of Céline Dion’s life. And yes, the trailer was released months ago, but it feels nuts not to share now that it’s been announced as a Cannes world premiere.
The rest of the cast consists of Sylvain Marcel, Danielle Fichaud, Roc LaFortune, Antoine Vezina, and Pascale Desrochers, among others. Marcel plays a version of the music producer and Dion’s husband René Angélil; in the film, the character uses the name of Guy-Claude Kamar.
“Aline” seems to tackle the controversial relationship between Dion and Angélil, given the 20+ year age difference and that he had first met her when she was only 12-years old.
Unauthorized or unofficial biopics aren’t a new revelation; however, they normally don’t have access to the singer’s original music, which “Aline” apparently does. They could also shoot in multiple countries such as France, Canada, Spain, and even Las Vegas, where Dion has a residency at Resorts World. Adding up the costs involved in securing the rights to Dion’s music and the global production suggests that they spent a good amount of money on “Aline.”
Lemercier previously directed the 2017 comedy “Marie-Francine,” which she also starred and co-wrote.
Dion’s iconic theme to James Cameron‘s “Titanic” will likely go down in history as one of the most popular film themes of all time, and I think we’ll all be curious to find out how Dion feels about the project.
“Aline” aims for a release in France on November 20, but obviously premieres in Cannes this July first. Take a peek.