At The

"Hilary and Jackie"
tests the bonds of
sisterly love.

SERENA DONADONI
Special to The Jewish News

I

n her memoir A Genius in the
Family, author Hilary du Pre
recalls the quiet moment she spent
with a rabbi before the waves of
mourners streamed into the synagogue
for the funeral of her sister, British cellist
Jacqueline du Pre (1945-87).
Rabbi Friedlander had spent a great
deal of time with Jackie during her last
years, when the multiple sclerosis that
had halted her meteoric classical music
career had left her in a wheelchair.
"Many will claim they were her
best friend," Hilary quotes him as say-
ing. "Many will claim they alone
understood what she needed. But your
memories of your sister are unique.
They are your own. Let no one inter-
fere or take them from you."
Hilary took the advice to heart, first
co-authoring the memoir with brother
Piers (it was recently republished as
Hilary and Jackie), and then cooperating
fully with Anand Tucker, a documentary
film director making his first feature.
"We went to meet Hilary and Piers
and had all the questions you proba-
bly have," said Tucker in New York.

Emily Watson as
Jacqueline du Pre,
the stellar cellist
who converted to
Judaism to many
Israeli inusician
Daniel Bai.enboim,
played by James
Frain. "Hilary and
Jackie" opens today
exclusively at the
Landmark Maple
Art Theatre.

"Why are you telling this story? Why
are you going to let the world know
about this extraordinary episode in
your lives? And then you [get CO
know] Hilary du Pre, and all those
questions go out of your mind."
In a culture that now seems
obsessed with the revelation of every
tawdry secret of its public figures,
Tucker saw something quite different
in Hilary and her need to speak
frankly about her sister — particularly
the longstanding affair Jackie had with
Hilary's husband, Kiffer Finzi, which
was begun with Hilary's knowledge
and reluctant permission.

"I just looked her in the eyes," he
continued, "and I thought, 'My God,
I'm looking at a woman who is telling
the story because she needs to tell the
truth now in her life. She had to write
her own story; she had to reclaim her
sister.' And in telling this story, I think
we claim her own dignity and the dig-
nity of the truth of her sister's life."
The one person who refused to
speak to Tucker was Jacqueline du
Pre's husband, Daniel Barenboim.
Du Pre converted to Judaism when
she married the Argentina-born Baren-
boim, who moved to Israel when he
was 11. She was even a member of

what came to be known as the Kosher
Nostra, the Israeli-bred group of classi-
cal music superstars of the 1960s that
included Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman,
Pinchas Zukerman and Zubin Mehta.
Despite the fact that Barenboim
began a family with Russian pianist
Helena Bachkirev during the last
painful years of du Pre's decline, in her
memoir, Hilary acknowledges his
devotion throughout her sister's ill-
ness, a time when Jackie was often
estranged from her immediate family.
"I desperately hoped that writing

HILARY

AND JACKIE

on page 100

If you love classical music, you'll love "Hilary and Jackie."

Hilary and Jackie is the screen biogra-
phy of Jacqueline du Pre, arguably the
best — if not the best known — cellist
born in this century.
Du Pre, of course, was not born
Jewish. In fact, when she decided to
convert to Judaism, her parents made
the comment, "How can she be a Jew?
She has blonde hair?"
Du Pre met the dashing Daniel
Barenboim, an Argentinean who had
settled with his family in Israel, at a
time when both were considered musi-
cal royalty. He had fervently embraced
his Sephardic religion. Not only did du
Pre convert before marrying Baren-

1/22
1999

boim, she began speaking English with
an Israeli-Argentinean accent.
At the height of her career she was
struck down by multiple sclerosis, and
eventually became an invalid. She spent
her last years in London, living in
Dame Margot Fonteyn's apartment
while her husband had a separate resi-
dence in Paris, where he served as con-
ductor of the Paris Conservatoire
Orchestra.
The movie, the work of Anglo-Indi-
an director Anand Tucker, doesn't con-
cern itself with details of Jacqueline's
Judaism. But it does deal with the sor-
did details of her sexuality that are, to

say the least, disconcerting. The film
chooses to ignore Barenboim's flirta-
tions or affairs.
If you can live with some of the ugly
episodes of her life, you will enjoy this
film almost as much as Shine. If you
love classical music, you will be
enthralled.
The acting is superb. Emily Watson
offers her usual thoughtful and daring
interpretation, though her cello playing
is misguided. Maybe Jacqueline did
flail her arms wildly and give a very vig-
orous physical interpretation of the
instrument, but truth is not necessarily
beauty.

Rachel Griffith, who plays her sister
Hilary, also a musician, is more impres-
sive, mainly because her character is the
less flamboyant, the more selfless, and
ultimately the true heroine of the story
Barenboim did not cooperate in the
making of the film. Neither did he seek
nor demand script approval. After the
film was completed he declined to view
it. Today he is arguably one of the best
living conductors in the world, and du
Pre's recording of the Elgar cello con-
certo is considered definitive. Rated R.
x:x**
— Reviewed by Ph. ilzp Berk