Hilary y Jackie

Jacqueline du Pre is remembered as the beautiful, genius cellist who tragically died of multiple sclerosis at a young age. But this film, though a biopic, avoids the easy conventions of the tear-jerker. Instead, it portrays a talented but capricious young woman who found her rise to fame as difficult to handle, in some ways, as her subsequent decline. Three things lift it out of the ordinary: fine acting from the entire cast; a concerted attempt, in the construction of both plot and soundtrack, to genuinely convey the importance of music in her life; and an intelligent screenplay that uses the viewpoint of her sister Hilary, along with that of Jackie herself, to show her behaviour in two different lights. The veracity of the events has been disputed; but this is a complex, and ultimately moving, film.

This heavy subject matter is so well done, it left me wanting more! The acting is superb. I have always loved Rachel Griffiths and she doesn't let the viewer down in this one either. She pulls this one off fantastically and IS Hilary du Pré! Emily Watson's performance is unbelievable and should have been recognized with a multitude of awards. It is amazing how well she acts in this. One truly believes that SHE has Multiple Sclorosis. I was amazed at how well she played the scenes. I just can't say enough about this film. I highly recommend that if you want quality writing and acting and are prepared for some realistic yet somewhat disturbing subject matter about life, RENT this film!

Music biopics, at least those concerned with classical music, tend to be pallid things; the lives of composers and performers are often uneventful compared those of politicians, generals, artists and even actors. "Amadeus" made a drama out of aspects of Mozart's brief life and Ken Russell had fun with Tchaikovsky in "The Music Lovers" but with most musicians the drama is in their performance. This movie uncovers the rather sad relationship between Jacqueline Du Pre, the brilliant cellist, and her older sister Hilary, also a musician (flautist) of talent. After acquiring public acclaim as a child prodigy, Jackie married another prodigy, the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim, with whom she frequently performed. At the pinnacle of her success, in her mid-twenties, she started to show signs of multiple sclerosis and was soon forced to retire. Her last 15 years were a decline "in fits and starts" to a vegetative state.

Not a pleasant tale. And it seems the gorgeous blonde Jackie was not a particularly likeable lady. So grimly competitive was she towards Hilary that at one point she insisted on sharing Hilary's husband with her, even though she was still married to Barenboim. The story is taken from a book by Hilary and their brother Piers, so one might expect it to be the story from Hilary's point of view. The film attempts to put some balance into the portrayal by first giving us "Hilary" and then "Jackie" but the result is still a pretty dire picture of Jackie, who is portrayed as vain, self-centred, immature, foul-mouthed, cynical and not terribly bright. As Daniel Barenboim is still very much alive (and able to sue) his part in the drama is very lightly sketched in - his alleged neglect of Jackie after she becomes ill is only alluded to by one telephone call. Towards the end, Hilary and Jackie became estranged, though it is not clear why (Hilary's marriage apparently survives) but there is a reconciliation of a sort.

The story is nicely realised with lots of music, including part of the original Du Pre/Barenboim recording of the Elgar cello concerto, the performance for which they are justly famous. As Jackie, Emily Watson is the full-on talented gorgeous blonde brat, a bit like Tom Hulse's Mozart in "Amadeus" but easier to understand. Rachel Griffiths does a good plainer, smarter sister but perhaps lays on the English reserve a bit thick (she is of course Australian). As their father, an amiable Colonel Blimp figure, Charles Dance has rather a small role but steals a couple of moments, as does Hilary's exasperated flute examiner, Professor Bentley, played by Vernon Dobtchev. The character of the girl's musically ambitious Mother (Celia Imrie), obviously a key figure, is oddly underdeveloped. Piers is also kept in the background. As Barenboim, James Frain bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the young Argentine virtuoso, but as mentioned is a shadowy presence also.

Perhaps the book told the story better and what we have here is a summary of it with some nice music thrown in, and some sumptuous locations. Still when you're sitting on a plane in business class and it's a choice between "Hilary and Jackie," "Meet Joe Black" (the Devil as played by Brad Pitt) and some movie about a gorilla called Joe (another re-hash of the King Kong Story) it passes the time. Those poor b******s back in economy are stuck with the gorilla.

As a child Hilary was the talented musician on the flute and the younger Jacqueline was encouraged to keep up if she wanted to accompany her sister on trips to musical events. So Jackie practiced hard on her cello to do so, gradually becoming better than her sister. As adults Hilary is now very much in the shadow of her brilliant sister Jackie, who is booked solid for shows. However where Hilary finds happiness and support from her partner and husband Kiffer, Jackie grows increasingly isolated from others. The pair's relationship drifts apart but comes together again to produce one traumatic moment in their relationship.

I'm sure it has been done many times but I still found this film's structure to be pretty clever. The central traumatic act in the narrative occurs halfway through the film; up until then we follow things from Hilary's point of view and then in the second half we jump backwards and work up to it again (and beyond) from Jacqueline's (more or less). The effect is that the first half of the film is engaging as it develops along lines we don't know while the second film is engaging as it underpins the reasons for Jacqueline's character and where she goes from there. I put of watching the film because I had no knowledge of the characters and no real interest in their music, however now that I have watched it I am glad I did as it is well made and interesting. It is very character driven and evenly paced, which will annoy some viewers but for me it worked really well and produced a story that didn't require you to know the people involved because you felt you did by the end.

Watson leads the cast really well, bringing out the innocent of her character as easily as she does the spite within Jackie. Griffiths yet again shows her talent in taking on yet another accent and strange character and pulling it off. They work well together although their best scenes are early on. Support is good from Frain, Morrissey, Dance, Imrie and others but the film is lead well by the main two actresses who work well with the material given them.

Overall this is a well paced film that will annoy some but is heavy in quality. The character development in the script is strong and the cast respond well to it. Tucker controls it all well with a good eye for a scene and some imaginative visual touches and brings out a film that is well-structured and engaging even if it won't be to everyone's tastes.

Hilary and Jackie is a biographical film about two contemporary English sisters, Hilary and Jacqueline du Pré. Both are musical prodigies as children, but as they mature into women, it is Jackie, the cellist, who moves on to international fame, while Hilary opts for husband and family on an English farm.

The film covers the complex, and troubling relationship between the two sisters, and Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths give brilliant performances in the title roles. What was the Academy thinking when they were both passed over? And the music! It's always in the forefront, and helps move the story as much as the actors and screenplay.

Not to be missed, this is one of the more enjoyable (although not uplifting) movies of 1998. Well worth the cost of the rental.