Tár – Review
158 Minutes, Rated R
Written and Directed by Todd Field
**NOTE: this post will be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Stay tuned.**
Synopsis:
Set in the international world of classical music, the film centers on Lydia Tár, widely considered one of the greatest living composer/conductors and first-ever female chief conductor of a major German orchestra.
Any reason to watch Cate Blanchett perform, right?
Well, I think we can all agree that Awards Season is now well and truly underway with the release of Tár.
This film was conceived and written as a vehicle specifically for Cate Blanchett by writer/director Todd Field, and it’s easy to see why. She slips into Lydia Tár’s shoes (or onto her podium, if you will) effortlessly, embodying the driven, talented, and yes, ego-centric conductor to her maximum capacity.
From there, her cup overfloweth… Lydia’s, I mean.
Opening with a classical music primer, if you will, in the form of a New Yorker interview with Lydia in a sort of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” format, Tár throws the musically ignorant a lifeline, allowing us a look inside the ideas behind Lydia’s achievements and mindset, even if we don’t aren’t conversant in classical composers.
The remainder of the film plays out as personal and professional hubris slowly unwind the carefully cultivated persona of Lydia Tár.
Isn’t that always the way it is, though? People attain positions of authority and slowly, inexorably, become corrupted by believing their own press?
Cancel culture looms large in Tár as a result of ending up on the wrong side of the #MeToo movement.
But here’s the thing: Tár really doesn’t delve into the process of the investigation into Lydia’s alleged behaviors. It simply presents the original accusations and allows the audience to square that with what she has said in the past, as well as the bits of did-she-didn’t-she events Fields decides to show us.
These are hardly conclusive, though they are easily interpreted that way, and while Lydia may, in fact, have done all of the things of which she is eventually accused, we don’t see it. We don’t know it. We can’t prove it, except in terms of whether we choose to err (?) on the side of the presumed victims.
Could Lydia be innocent? Could her teaching and conducting styles simply be abrasive enough to be spun as aggressive or adversarial? Sure, as the early teaching sequence shows us, she certainly can, but isn’t that what good teachers do? Challenge their students?
Regardless, the real joy of Tár is the performances, of watching these actors dive in and embrace the complexity of it all. You will definitely find yourself talking about the topics raised here.
Sure, the film could be tightened up a bit, as it runs a little long at 2:38, but it’s a quality 2:38, so it’s hard to really hold it against Fields & Co.
Tár hits theaters nationwide October 21 and stars Cate Blanchett, Noemie Merlant, and Nina Hoss.
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