SnoopyStyle The du Pré sisters are exceedingly close and musical child prodigies. Younger sister Jacqueline (Emily Watson) becomes a famous globe-traveling cellist. On the other hand, Hilary (Rachel Griffiths) struggles under a strict demeaning teacher and loses all of her confidence. She marries the charming Kiffer Finzi (David Morrissey) and lives an ordinary live. Jacqueline marries Jewish pianist Daniel Barenboim (James Frain).The sisters and their relationship are fascinating no matter how real to their true lives. They're brought to life by two of the best actresses around. To top it off, I love the Rashômon style of storytelling. The two different takes on the events are compelling and heart breaking. The last act is a bit too long. It would have been better to wrap up the movie quicker after Jacqueline leaves the country home.

evanston_dad True story about two musician sisters, one a cellist and one a flautist, and the mental illness that plagued the latter (played in an Academy-Award nominated performance by Emily Watson).Rachel Griffiths is the cellist, the more grounded and dependable sister through whose perspective the story is told. There's really not a tremendous lot to distinguish this film apart from the solid performances of the two lead actresses. This film came so closely on the heels of "Breaking the Waves" that I remembered thinking it was already beyond time for Watson to do some light comedy, or at least play a character who wasn't mentally unhinged. She would soon delight me in films like "Cradle Will Rock" and "Gosford Park." Grade: B

Prabhakaran So 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.

The_Triad I put this film on whilst I was doing something else, expecting I could get on with what I was doing and not really pay attention. Needless to say, I didn't get anything done as once the film started going I was gripped and couldn't take my eyes off it. Hilary and Jackie is a biography of the cellist Jacqueline du Pre and her flautist sister Hilary du Pre. At the beginning, both are childhood virtuosos. When they grow up, Jackie goes on a world tour and Hilary stays home to start a family. What follows is a very interesting and gripping story with exceptional acting. The director has also done very well in particular with some of the editing in the music scenes and in the way the film is structured, which was very interesting to watch. As for the acting, Emily Watson in particular was outstanding (I do wonder if I'll ever see a film where she puts in a bad performance.) but it also must be said that Rachel Griffiths and David Morrisey also impressed. Another thing, as it is a musical biopic, you expect good music. This did not disappoint. In fact the film on the whole was so brilliantly done, the only thing I found disappointing was that I didn't get my work done, and I can't really criticise it for that can I?