Hilary & Jackie
by Anand Tucker
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DVD details
Actor: Charles Dance, David Morrissey, Emily Watson, James Frain, Rachel GriffithsDirector: Anand Tucker
Brand: UNI DIST CORP. (MCA)
Producer: Andy Paterson
Producer: Guy East
Producer: Nicolas Kent
Producer: Nigel Sinclair
Writer: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Writer: Hilary du Pr?
Writer: Piers du Pr?
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 121 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-11-05
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Hilary & Jackie
DVD Review: Retired
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a cellist! Before going to the US and being resettled there as a
refugee, there has been a picture of Jackie du Pre on my shelve as some-one I admired. Then she passed away. Brain scelerosis. All those things
were depicted in the movie. The Elgar Concerto, the prodigious child life, the woman on the beach, the "all is alright".. I like the moving
fiction-movie.
DVD Review: Incongruous Logic = terrible direction
Summary: 1 Stars
I watched this movie up until Hillary, who appears in every way intelligent, decides that the demand of her sister, who, after running naked into the woods, is found shivering and out of her mind, should be allowed to have sex with Hillary's husband! The reason? Because she needs to know somebody "LOVES" her???? I thought the idea that sex = love was something most adults realized was not necesarilly true about the time they found out what the word "prostitution" means.
I understand the musical aficionados have their own bone to pick, but I found the incongruous logic that would allow an emotional lunatic (which Jackie certainly was at the point of adultery) to 'have her way' with Hillary's husband (with Hillary's blessing) was to allow the lunatic to 'run the asylum' because the emotionally damaged sister requests it to be too much to swallow, and i shut the movie off.
DVD Review: Everyone should see this
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely love this movie. From every angle, it is by far a wonderful movie to watch. I laugh, i cry, i wonder why! It captures you and draws you into the world of these sisters, and make you wish you knew them then! This is up there in my top 5 movies of all times. DVD Review: HORRENDOUS Film
Summary: 1 Stars
Whether I knew who Jackie was or not before hand, this hokey, poorly made soap opera would have made me never want to KNOW who she was. The acting is mediocre, the writing is the worst, dialog terrible and directing barely that of a Lifetime Network Movie. Watching this was as much of as having rectal surgery by a paraplegic, no, actually that would be MORE fun. DVD Review: A very touching and moving film about passion, devotion and above all else; love...
Summary: 5 Stars
I love a good biopic, truly adore them. Every once in a while a biopic comes along so outstanding in its power and presence and emotional connection that my love for the every popular genre is reconfirmed to the enth degree. `Hilary & Jackie' is that type of movie, a film that swells with the grace and glory of love and passion as well as the moving aspects of pain and misery. I will admit to having not known a whole lot of the du Pre sisters before watching this beautiful film, but my adoration of everything Emily Watson caused me to seek it out and watch it. Not only is Watson stellar (and so deserving of that Oscar nomination) but the entire film is handled with such delicacy and devotion that one can't help but become swept away as it progresses towards its devastating, yet affirming, end.
`Hilary & Jackie' tells the story of Hilary and Jacqueline du Pre, two talented young sisters growing up in a home that makes music the focal part of their existence. We are given an overview of the young lives of both Hilary and Jackie, Hilary the eldest and at the moment more talented of the sisters. Hilary is a flautist who has won award upon award, and her young sister Jackie just wants to be included with her sister at all times, so she practices her cello and perfects her craft to where soon she is rising above her sister in talent and in recognition. The film then shifts gears to their later life when Hilary has practically given up on her music to start a family with her fianc? Kiffer and Jackie is now world renowned and unhappily settled into a life of fame.
The film is split in sections and tells the same portion of the girls lives through the eyes of each, giving Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths equal time to astound the audience. Watson undoubtedly has the showier role. Jackie is repressed by her talent, struggling every day to find herself in her music. She loves to play, needs to play, but the pressure to perform eats away at her to the point where she begins to resent it in a way. As the film progresses and her health starts to evaporate her performance becomes even more pivotal to the success of the film, and she delivers masterfully. This is nothing against Griffiths though, who devours her characters restrained passion, a passion that has been suppressed by the talent of her younger sister. You can read in her eyes the resentment for her lot in life, yet her undying love for her sister overpowers any and all other emotions in her life. She is committed to her sister, even if it means sacrificing her own happiness.
While Watson and Griffiths are without doubt the biggest selling points of the film, they are accompanied by a slew of phenomenal supporting performances. Charles Dance and Celia Imrie are amazing as Hilary and Jackie's parents, and David Morrissey is fantastic as Kiffer, Hilary's husband.
Some have attacked this film for being untrue and or `stretching' facts, but my question to them is `what biopic doesn't do that?' In all honesty in order to make most non-fiction engrossing to the general public Hollywood has to add layers of fiction in order to embellish truths. Fact remains that simple sequences of silence cannot capture exactly what is going on in someone's head (sure, an actor can emote a feeling with their facial features but one cannot emote a specific thought) and so to complain that the film shows Jackie abuse her cello and yet she (according to you) never did is kind of petty when her resentment of her fame alone would have moved her to wish harm done to the very thing that is causing her grief, her cello. She may have never actually placed it out in the cold, but director's decision to include that scene was an attempt to further impress upon the audience Jackie's mental condition at the time. It may not be true, but does it really need to be.
As far as the supposed `hokiness' of the opening (and closing) beach sequence I have only this to say; "you missed the point." As one reviewer mentioned, the film hints towards a slight psychic connection between the girls (as is common among twins and has been known to express itself in `close' siblings) and this little detail adds a layer to the genius surrounding these two talents. I think that the opening and closing sequences add closure to the film and actually brought a tear to my eye.
In my opinion the few areas of inaccuracy within the film (granted I have not read the book and am basically going off of what some reviewers have mentioned as falsities within the film) shouldn't deter anyone from embracing the movie for what it is. It tells the tragic tale of the du Pre sisters (I think we can all agree it was tragic in a touching sort of way) and I think that in the end it paints a beautiful picture of unrivaled love between siblings that endured to the end despite any persons faults.
Description of Hilary & Jackie
THE TRUE STORY OF TWO SISTERS WHO SHARED A PASSION, A MADNESS AND A MAN.It earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pr?, who enraptured audiences with her bold, emblazoned, and wholly unconventional playing style, and who died at age?42--was criticized for its "lapses" in truth by people who purportedly knew du Pr?. Some of the controversy revolved around the other main character in Anand Tucker's gorgeous, involving movie--du Pr?'s sister, Hilary, whose book, A Genius in the Family (cowritten with brother Piers), dished some dirt on Jackie's sleeping with Hilary's husband. But don't let that deter you from this ebullient movie experience. The film is a bisected story (each sister's tale is told in the same amount of screen time) teeming with heartfelt drama that belies the cheap shots it received from its detractors. It's stirring, reckless, loving, involving, and rife with unconventional passion; passion for music, life, art, and the delicate relationship between these two synchronous, extraordinary sisters as played by brilliant actors Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (both of whom earned Oscar nods). Though Watson got the juicy, showy role as Jackie, it's Griffiths who provides the heart, soul, and spine of the film. And director Tucker has that gift of being able to explain through the visual medium what is happening inside of his character's heads. He's helped by a fine screenplay by Frank Boyce Cottrell. No matter what the truth of Hilary and Jackie might really be, this is an exceptional, rare film that is defined and graced by fine acting and writing. --Paula Nechak
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