Hilary and Jackie dvd movie.|
Hilary and Jackie cheap dvd videos, dvd movies for sale |
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List Price: $19.98 Features • Closed-captioned • Color • DVD-Video • Full Screen • Letterboxed • NTSC In Theaters : 15 January, 1999 DVD Release : 20 July, 1999 |
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Hilary and Jackie description It earned Oscar nods, yet this cinematic look at a genius--that of English cellist Jacqueline du Pré, 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 Pré. Some of the controversy revolve ... review details |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | This film is a historical farce and should not be associated with Jacqueline du PrA in any way |
| There is a certain school of thought which holds that biopics have no obligations to historical accuracy -- that this is the exclusive province of documentaries or books. I happen to disagree. There are plenty of documentaries that "dramatize" real-life events in the form of dialogue, and many Hollywood films (e.g. _Pollock_, or _My Left Foot_) which were made with concern for accuracy and respect for the memories of specific historical events or characters. If a movie uses real-life names, locations, etc, then misinformation would be malicious that infect the perceptions of mass audiences who see (and for the most part believe) them. A movie that denies the Holocaust or tramples over the memories of war veterans cannot be said to be ideologically unmotivated, but still more callous is such misinformation that is made for purely monetary reasons.
_Hilary and Jackie_, a film dramatization of the life of English cello prodigy Jacqueline du PrA , is one of these. It presents a very heterodox portrayal of Jacqueline's overall character, and has been denounced by her friends and colleagues who knew her throghout her life (Barenboim, Rostropovich, et al) as a complete distortion of the Jacqueline they knew. For e.g., she is remembered by her students and colleagues as being emotionally vibrant with an impassioned love of her craft, while in the film she is portrayed as an insufferable bunch of neuroses who despised her cello -- it having a negative influence on her self-esteem. She is depicted making an indulgent demand to have a sexual relationship with Finzi, her brother-in-law. Her sister Hilary (the apparent heroine of the story), ever selfless, obliges for the benefit of her apparently disturbed sister. The movie ends with Hilary at Jackie's side during her death throes even though (it is made clear) Jackie never did anything for Hilary in her life. If you take the movie's account, it was clearly more than Jackie deserved. The account here generally follows "A Genius in the Family", the controversial memoir written by Jacqueline's siblings. But her siblings would be less reliable on most points than her colleagues who spent a larger amount of time with her (e.g. at her death when she chose to surround herself with her friends instead, contra the events in this film). That is to say nothing of the fact that the two sisters weren't on speaking terms for much of their life (though Hilary claims there was a reconciliation before Jacqueline's death). Clare Finzi, Hilary's daughter, wrote and contested the film account of events as a "gross misinterpretation, which I cannot let go unchallenged." She was referring to the actual events between her father and aunt, but the errors of omission are even significant, and at the same time worse. The film depicts Jacqueline as being unsympathetic, ignoring the aspects of her personality that made so many sympathize with her. Nothing here reminds one of the flamboyant cellist that is extensively recorded in Nupen's excellent documentaries _Remembering Jacqueline du PrA e_ and _Jacqueline du PrA in Portrait_. More importantly, the film is guilty of irresponsible revisionism. Biopics don't have to be historically accurate to the letter, just the general spirit of the characters. But as so little is substantiated about the specific events of Jacqueline du PrA 's personal life as presented here, this is probably a movie that wasn't supposed to be made in the first place. W. K. Clifford famously said that if we cannot ascertain the grounds for a belief, we have no business in believing it. I would add that we have even less business in popularizing heterodox theses to a mass audience without compelling evidence -- something this film lacks. The director Anand Tucker admitted to not caring about such accuracy; he claimed that "it [truth] doesn't exist" because of alternate viewpoints. (One wonders what he would have made of Holocaust denial.) The action of popularizing an extremely tendentious and dubious memoir of Jacqueline's life to audiences who are mostly unfamiliar with her is a unprovoked act of slander -- a base and callous smear against her memory. The above point is something missed by the critics who defend _Hilary and Jackie_ as portraying "another side" to Jacqueline's personality or offering a corrective to "official" documentaries or biographies. To the majority who watch the movie unreflectingly, there is only one "side" shown. That gets me back to the core of what I dislike about this film: its historical irresponsibility. Jacqueline du PrA obviously achieved much and suffered much in her life, and whether you agree with this film or not, it isn't a constructive tribute to her life's work as an artist and teacher. Integrity demands us to treat unsupported claims with caution, not proselytize them to an unwary audience. Jacqueline du PrA was a great cellist who contributed much to the art was well liked by her colleagues and acquaintances. Her pedagogical legacy survives in the generation of cellists who studied under her tutelage. If she is to be remembered, it should be for that and not the dubious details of her sex life as "played out" and vulgarized in sensationalist media. One would do better to peruse the biographies of Jacqueline du PrA by Carol Easton, Elizabeth Wilson and, yes, the du PrA siblings (if you read between the lines). Or better yet, listen to her music and watch the documentaries of her which contain clips of her life and performances. The latter were directed by Christopher Nupen who, unlike Tucker, actually knew and cared about his subject matter. For if even a fraction of the money the BBC and the Arts Council gave to _Hilary and Jackie_ were diverted to Nupen's program (which they, instead, rejected), great gains would have been made; gains to music, as well as to our conscience. |
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