Hilary e Jackie

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.

It is a pleasure to see a film that has believable characters and an engrossing story which both entertains and enlightens. "Hilary and Jackie" tells the story of two sisters, Hilary and Jacqueline Du Pre, from their early years as devoted sisters and fledgling musicians, through their divergent life choices as professional soloist and housewife.

Jacqueline's career as cellist takes off just as Hilary decides to marry and raise a family on a rural farm. The music is integral to the development of the story. Director, Anand Tucker, uses it to comment on the action, much as the piano performances were used in "Shine". The digital stereo sound highlights the richness of the music combined with emotionally gripping sound effects.

Emily Watson shines as Jacqueline in a varied and multi-faceted performance that may well earn her another Academy Award nomination. As the quieter more sensible Hilary, Rachel Griffiths is also effective in a less showy but subtle portrayal.

The key dramatic sequence comes at the film's center where Jacqueline leaves her husband, pianist and conductor, Daniel Barenboim, to stay with Hilary and her family. The surprising favor and request she asks of her sister will not be revealed here. Suffice it to say, this is not a film for children.

The powerful final scenes will remain long in memory. The fine music should encourage those not familiar with the careers of Du Pre and Barenboim to sample their recordings. Put this fine film on your must-see list.

A superb film, on many levels. Any film that has won or was nominated for 21 awards must be worthwhile!

BUT - BE SURE TO READ the IMDB external reviews, viz. 'The Australian' and 'James Berardinelli's ReelViews'. These articles point out the factual errors (as well as praise).

I hope that this does not lessen the movie's greatness for you. It IS an excellent movie, sensitively done and a vehicle for health, family, sexual issues, etc.

Just don't take it as the absolute truth about Jacqueline du Pré. By the way, neither was the film 'Shine', about pianist David Helfgott.

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.

Films as intelligent and well crafted as this are hard to come by. `Hilary and Jackie' is an exceptionally well done character study of two real life sisters. Jackie (Emily Watson) is a world-class cellist and Hilary (Rachel Griffiths) lives a normal middle class life. The story is rich in character development depicting the sisters starting from their childhood when both were musical prodigies. Now that they are adults, they envy each other's life. The story follows Jackie's career and explores the sisters' relationship, including the deep resentment and enduring love they have for one another. Director Anand Tucker does a wonderful job of presenting the story. He induces great feeling from each scene and lays the raw emotions on the screen without embellishment whether pure or turbulent.

Emily Watson was superb in the lead role. Her's was an extremely complex character and her command of the range of emotions Jackie required was phenomenal. Lovers of classical music will appreciate the rich soundtrack and Watson's realistic cello renditions. Watson was nominated for best actress by the Academy in 1999 for this performance and I felt she was most deserving of the prize that ultimately went to Gwyneth Paltrow for `Shakespeare in Love'. Paltrow's performance was clever and charming, but had nowhere near the power Watson delivered in this film. Emily is such a talented actress, however, that I have little doubt eventually there will be some other envelope with her name inside.

Rachel Griffiths also gave a career performance as Hilary and she was nominated for best supporting actress, an award I felt she won hands down. Griffiths' tortured performance was gut wrenching and inspired. She played Hilary with deep sensitivity and handled her emotional conflicts brilliantly. The Academy's choice of Judy Dench was again perplexing as the Shakespeare juggernaut rolled on.

For those viewers who appreciate a powerful and disturbing drama, great acting, complex characters, terrific classical music and extraordinary character development, this film is a must. I rated it a 9/10. Don't miss it.