Review of Hilary and Jackie (1998) by Jennifer P — 18 Dec 2004

Best in Show: Emily Watson.

One for the future: Rachel Griffiths.

Stand-out scene: Calming the tremors.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

DVD.

When a movie has garnered Oscar nominations for its two main performances it's usually worth a look. As an admirer of the talents of both Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths (beyond excellent in everything they do) this was a movie i'd been meaning to watch for a few years. I vaguely recognised the name Jaqueline Du Pre but knew very little of her life story so this was an unfamiliar subject. As a British film that was shot in Liverpool (a city that is called upon to stand in for Moscow at one point) this is exactly the sort of movie we should be making more of. Its subject is portrayed warts and all (and there's some warts there), the screenplay having been adapted from the memoirs of her sister (Hilary) and brother (Rupert Penry-Jones). The primary colours used in the cinematography mean that this is a visual delight and the story's developments are told in two halves, the first concentrating on Hilary, the second on Jackie. Kudos to Celia Imrie and David Morrissey in supporting roles (Charles Dance's role is as slight as his appearance in Gosford Park), but Watson and Griffiths are as equally as impressive in their challenging parts. Watson should have beaten Gwyneth Paltrow to the Oscar and as for Griffiths losing out to Judi Dench (who was in Shakespeare in Love for a few meagre minutes and was called upon to do little more than stand about regally) justice was NOT done.