Celine: Through the Eyes of the World

As a film documentary of Celine Dion's 2008-2009 "Taking Chances" world concert tour, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World suffers from a lot of the same problems as This is It, the recent Michael Jackson film. We never truly feel like we're getting a behind the scenes look at the concert itself, as we never get to see the preparations that go into staging such a show, and we seldom get to hear from the people who work with her or are up on stage with her, unless they have to gush praise for the woman they work for. The material here is light, breezy, and doesn't give us as much personal access as some fans would probably like.

Despite this, it comes across as a better film than the Jackson one, because Dion is often much more involved, and comes across as a real person in her film. In This is It, Michael Jackson often came across as an enigma, even to the filmmakers. He was constantly kept at a distance, and never really gave his personal views on what was going on around him. When he was truly talking to the cameras, it sounded as if it had been prepared in advance. Here, we at least feel like we're seeing some of the private side of Mrs. Dion, as she speaks privately with her husband/manager, Rene Angelil, and son, Rene-Charles. The movie even manages to build a little bit of tension late, when Dion discovers she has strained her vocal chords, and we actually get to see the medical process to diagnose the problem.

Aside from that, Celine: Through the Eyes of the World acts better as a travelogue than an actual documentary on the recording superstar. We see her visiting different parts of the world, and seems to be making the argument that her music is one thing that people from all over the world can agree on. We see her fans gush about her music in different languages, we see how far they have traveled, we see them break down in tears at the very sight of her. Heck, we even get to see the French President bestow his highest honor upon her, for bringing French music to the rest of the world. It's all very superficial and sort of egotistical, since director Stephane Laporte edits the footage so quickly, we feel like we're only getting bits of pieces of what we're looking at. It seems to be the only explanation when the film depicts her meeting famous figures like Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali, and barely shows the conversation that follows. (I believe Ali got to say a few words of praise for Dion, but Mandela stays silent.)

We do get some lovely shots of the different countries and cities she visited during her tour, and we even get to see her visiting some places like Mandela's prison cell, and a former Nazi concentration camp (where she breaks down and cries in the middle of the tour). It just never really adds up to a lot. The movie lingers too long on the fluff and the praise, and when something seems to threaten Dion's happiness, the movie is all too quick to cut away. At one point, she has to cancel some concert dates when she becomes ill. We see a five second clip of two fans who seem disappointed and a little angry that they missed out (this clip seems to have been taken from a local news program), and then it immediately cuts to Dion being perfectly healthy and performing moments later.

The movie's main point seems to be that Celine Dion is a tireless performer, is loved all over the world, and is an adoring wife and mother. She's also good natured with her crew and staff, and has an offbeat sense of humor. All well and good, but not enough to fill the nearly two hours this film runs. Fans may also be disappointed that very few, if any, of her songs featured in the film are played in their entirety. As a film, it has its moments of entertainment, but as a backstage look at the woman and the concert tour, it comes up short.

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