Year of Release: 1998
Director: Anand Tucker
Screenplay: Frank Cottrell Boyce, based on the book A Genius in the Family by Hilary du Pré and Piers du Pré
Starring: Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, James Frain, David Morrissey, Charles Dance, Celia Imrie
Running Time: 121 minutes
Genre: Drama, biography
Jacqueline du Pré (Watson) achieves worldwide fame as a cellist, coming to be regarded as one of the greatest of all time. However, her success comes at the cost of her mental and physical health, and threatens the close bond which she has with her sister, Hilary (Griffiths).
This film was released to great acclaim, and both Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths were nominated for Academy Awards, however it was also hugely controversial, with many people who knew Jacqueline du Pré publicly criticising the film for misrepresenting her. I do not know anything about Jacqueline du Pré so I can't speak about the controversy. The films most notorious scene is one where Jacqueline sleeps with Hilary's husband (David Morrissey) after seeking her consent. The tale of the tragic artist is one that is as old as the hills, and looks set to be with us until the end of time. The key element here is the relationship between two sisters. As a child, Hilary's talent with the flute far outshines Jackie's on the cello, but Jackie very soon overtakes her, although, apparently, she takes up the cello so that she can be with Hilary. Lacking Jackie's transcendent talent, Hilary opts for a quiet family life in the country. Jackie's life is ruled by the cello, despite all the success, wealth and fame, she comes to strongly resent it, hallucinating the instrument's strings fraying and breaking. Gifted a very valuable cello by her teacher she begins to abuse the instrument, kicking it, leaving it out in the snow and deliberately abandoning it in a taxi. Her love-hate relationship with the cello is interesting, her musical talent gives her everything, including her conductor husband (James Frain), but it also seems to take everything. The film depicts certain key events from both Hilary and Jackie's points of view, however it means that Hilary is sidelined throughout most of the second half of the film, and I was left curious to see more about how the events affected her and her family. Emily Watson is incredible as the charismatic, vulnerable, yet tortured Jackie, giving her a radiance that helps to show how people were drawn to her. Rachel Griffiths is very good in the quieter role of Hilary, managing to convey a lot very subtly. Also in the cast are British film stalwarts Celia Imrie and Charles Dance as Hilary and Jackie's parents, and Bill Paterson as Jackie's cello teacher. David Morrissey and James Frain do well with what they are given as the leading male characters, although they are effectively sidelined by Watson and Griffiths. The script is well written by Frank Cottrell Boyce although, as you would expect considering it is based on Hilary's book, while the film is sympathetic towards Jackie, it is certainly on the side of Hilary. Director Anand Tucker directs with a little too much style and visual tricks for the material, and the film's style does date it as being a product of the late 1990s. It is a powerful film though, and worth watching even if you are not a classical music fan.
Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths in Hilary and Jackie
