How sad is this?

Better Late Then Never

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The death of the cellist Jacqueline du Pré in 1987 was the cause of an unusually large amount of public grief and attention in Britain; the passing of a classical musician is normally marked by little more than an obituary in the broadsheet papers and possibly a brief item on the news. Du Pré, however, was someone the British had taken to their hearts. Part of the reason was her special relationship with the Elgar cello concerto, a work which has always played an important part in British cultural life; there may be room for disagreement with all three parts of the analysis, but at the time of her death I remember her being described as the greatest interpreter of the greatest work by the nation's greatest composer.The main reason, however, was the sheer tragedy of her life. She was a youthful prodigy who reached the top very early on; her famous recording of the Elgar concerto with Sir John Barbirolli was made when she was only twenty. Her marriage to the pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim made them a Golden Couple, the Dick Burton and Liz Taylor of classical music. And then, while still in her twenties, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She gave her last concert in 1973 at the age of 28, after which her condition quickly deteriorated. By the time of her death aged 42 she had become paralysed and was confined to a wheelchair. The film was based on a memoir written by Jacqueline's sister Hilary and brother Piers and concentrates on the relationship between the two sisters. Hilary du Pré was also a musician, in her case a flautist, but was much less famous than her sister. Even so, the film pays them equal attention, being divided into two sections, the first telling events from Hilary's point of view and the second from Jackie's. Hilary was the older of the two and during their childhood and early teens was regarded as being at least as promising as Jackie. Eventually, however, it was Jackie who achieved greater prominence and Hilary seems to have given up performing as a professional after her marriage to Christopher Finzi, son of the composer Gerald Finzi. Such a scenario could easily have led to bitter jealousy and rivalry, but in this case appears not to have done so; according to the film the sisters were devoted to one another as children and remained so as adults, even though Jackie seems to have done her best to live up to the old stereotype of artistic geniuses as highly-strung, eccentric and temperamental. Hilary, who was probably not a genius, seems to have been much more placid and level-headed, which enables her to cope with her sister's foibles. When Jackie announces that she wants to sleep with Christopher, Hilary acquiesces, believing that this will help her sister's complicated mental state, and even persuades her reluctant husband to consent to this unorthodox "adultery as therapy" arrangement. Of the main actors I was least taken with James Frain as Barenboim, whom he plays with a heavy foreign accent; the real Daniel Barenboim speaks much better English than this. The others, however, are all much better, especially Emily Watson as Jacqueline and Rachel Griffiths as Hilary, both of whom were nominated for Academy Awards. Both lost, Watson to Gwyneth Paltrow in "Shakespeare in Love" and Griffiths to Judi Dench in the same film. In both cases I would disagree with the Academy; Paltrow's performance was not a particularly distinguished one and Griffiths' contribution is much more substantial than Dench's brief cameo. The two actresses seem exquisitely well suited to their roles, with their contrasting styles of acting- Watson's more demonstrative, Griffiths' more restrained- bringing out the contrasting personalities of the two sisters. An adjective commonly used about Elgar's great concerto- which we hear at several key points in the movie- is "autumnal", and the director Anand Tucker seems to be trying to reflect this in the look of the film. Autumnal tones- dark reds, oranges, browns, yellows- predominate throughout much of the film, and most scenes feature a prominent object in one of these colours, often Jacqueline's dresses. Only towards the end are these colours replaced by more wintry greys, whites and pale blues, indicating symbolically that Jacqueline's autumn has now turned to winter during a period of her life which should have been her spring and summer. The film ends with her looking back at her childhood, seeing herself and Hilary playing on the beach as young girls."Hilary and Jackie" was not perhaps the greatest film made in 1998; my vote for "Best Picture" that year would have gone to Peter Weir's astounding "The Truman Show". Nor is it perhaps the greatest ever film about classical music to my mind that must be Milos Forman's equally astounding "Amadeus". It is, however, beautifully written, acted and directed, a riveting psychological portrait of musical genius, of love, of loss, of sisterhood and of understanding. I am surprised that we have not heard more of Anand Tucker since. 9/10 A goof. The film implies that Jacqueline du Pré died during the night of the Great Hurricane, 15th - 16th October 1987- we even see that notorious forecast with Michael Fish denying that a hurricane was on the way. In fact, she died a few days later, on 19th October. This may, however, have been a deliberate change to make the story seem more dramatic.

It is the almost-bio-pic of British Cellist Jacqueline Du Pre (1945-1987) and her elder sister Hilary (a Flutist). It's about the true love the sisters had for each other and how fate lifted Jacqueline to the top of fame while pushing Hilary to the bottom of it and how it affected their lives. Though the movie is about a great, talented musician Jacqueline, it is not a musical film.I haven't seen such a good real-life-account for a long time. This one is very truthful and not deviating from real-life emotions. The movie is based on the book written by Hilary. There are controversies over this book raised by Jacqueline's fans about her depiction.The movie is mostly the events, emotions and psychological account of its characters Jackie and Hilary. It's a bit of a musical too with some good sound tracks. Jackie (Emily Watson) is the star performer (even on the screen). Hilary comes next. The director has amazingly made this account. When we see Hilary's account we could feel a crushed musician's sadness and when we see Jackie's account we could feel the loneliness and the complex love of Jacqueline with her Cello as well as her sister Hilary.If you are Jacqueline's fan you can watch it only if you don't expect any musical treats of her from the film. As I am not a classical music guy I do not know what I missed about her music.Watch this powerful emotional tragic story.

When this film debuted, there was a bit of controversy because some friends and family swore that the life of Jacqueline du Pré had been misrepresented and twisted in this movie. Considering that the story was written by her sister, Hilary, and her brother, it is certain that there is a lot of subjectivity to it--but this still didn't make this a bad film. However, as several people looked rather bad in the film (such as Jacqueline du Pré herself and her famous husband) and others looked more innocent (such as Hilary's husband--who is apparently NOT quite the nice guy he seems to be in the film), it's not surprising that the film ruffled a few feathers. This really is a shame, as I'd love to know the true facts behind the story (from a totally neutral source) although despite possible flaws, the film style and acting are marvelous and this film is exceptional.One of the elements of this bio-pic I really enjoyed was the non-linear film style. Instead of a by-the-books retelling of the story, after showing the early lives of the two musical prodigies, the film shows what happened from Hilary's perspective. Jacqueline comes off as rather selfish and possibly schizophrenic in this segment. However, when the story later backs up and shows Jacqueline's story, you realize that there is much, much more to the story and Jacqueline is more of a pitiful person--someone you can't help but feel sorry for and care about--though in the first section she was far from likable. This was very creative film making and I love when films like this and HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT show an entirely different perspective that help the viewer to see a whole new context for the first half of the movie.I also really appreciated Emily Watson's performance, though I must admit it was hard to watch at the end without shedding some tears. Her performance was clearly the standout one in the film and was truly compelling. Additionally, the rest of the performances all around were excellent and quality abounds with this film.There's a lot more to this film, but I really don't want to spoil it any more than I have. Give this one a look--it's well worth it. By the way, this is NOT a film for little kids--the subject matter and content are rather adult at times and it's best to leave this one for an older audience.

I have before me a 1965 vinyl LP record with a beautiful portrait of the then twenty-year-old Jacqueline du Pré and her cello. On it she plays the Elgar and Delius Cello Concertos, classics in her repertoire which have never been bettered. Indeed, years later, the "gran maestro" Mstislav Rostropovich on being asked why was it that he had never made a recording of the Elgar Concerto, said that a young English woman had already made the definitive version to which he had nothing to add. I also have various remastered CD recordings - with or without her then husband, Daniel Barenboim as accompanying pianist or orchestra conductor, ranging from Paradis and Saint-Saëns to Fauré, Franck and Dvorák, as well as Sir Edward Elgar's beautiful "Enigma Variations".Jacqueline du Pré was born just a few months before me and we thus celebrate 60 years on this iniquitous planet. Which is the best that can be said about the film "Hilary and Jackie" - iniquitous, "gross", vulgar............ When I learned she had got multiple sclerosis and had stopped playing her cello, I cried for a week; and when she finally died, another week. She shall be remembered for her exquisite music, not for the trashy version of a film like this one.I am sorry, but I just could not bear seeing the film to the end. It had nothing to do with the Jacqueline du Pré whom I loved as a sensitive, intelligent, brilliant musician. Everything which this film lacks.As the Spanish actor Paco Rabal once said: No god could be so cruel.This film is cruel.Even today, I show the LP recording with the beautiful portrait to my teenage students in an endeavour (mostly wasted) to persuade them to stop picking their noses.I give this film a three out of ten - ONLY because there are fragments of her own music in it; as for the rest of the film - ZERO.