Hilary and Jackie is a 1998 British biographical film directed by Anand Tucker, starring Emily Watson and Rachel Griffiths as the British classical musician sisters Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and Hilary du Pré (flute). The film covers Jacqueline's meteoric rise to fame, her alleged affair with Hilary's husband Christopher Finzi, and her struggle with multiple sclerosis starting in her late 20s. The screenplay by Frank Cottrell-Boyce claimed in the end credits to have been based on the 1997 memoir A Genius in the Family by Piers and Hilary du Pré (later republished under the title Hilary and Jackie). However, that memoir had not yet been published when Hilary and Jackie was being filmed. Cottrell-Boyce stated, "Hilary was working on the book at the same time as I was working on the film ... it was at a very early stage when we were doing the script". The film was instead based on conversations with Hilary and Piers; unlike the book it does not claim to be the true story, and contains some fictionalised incidents. The film attracted controversy and criticism for allegedly distorting details in Jacqueline's life, and several personal friends of Jacqueline du Pré publicly condemned the film. Hilary du Pré publicly defended her version of the story. Hilary and Jackie generally received critical acclaim, and both Griffiths and Watson were nominated for an Academy Award, for Best Supporting Actress and Best Actress, respectively. Controversy Although the film was a critical success, and received two Academy Award nominations, it ignited a furore, especially in London, centre of du Pre's performing life.A group of her closest colleagues, including fellow cellists Mstislav Rostropovich and Julian Lloyd Webber, sent a "bristling" letter to The Times in February 1999. Webber noted in an article published in The Telegraph: Hilary and Jackie is an ugly film, not because it is badly made or acted - quite the reverse - but because Emily Watson's du Pré b