Tár

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Tár is a character drama following highly acclaimed orchestral conductor, Lydia Tár, as she comes to perform her magnum opus: an interpretation of Mahler's Fifth. This film is really interesting, it intrigues you the more you watch it I found. Lydia Tár is the sort of celebrity who seems so distant from that which is real, she is imperious and exquisite. There is a quality to how she exists in the world and onscreen that deifies her, sets her above that which is normal. The point this film endeavours to make is top chip away at that exterior and expose the vile individual Tár really is. I often felt like Lydia Tár could have been substituted out for Kevin Spacey, Jeffrey Tambor or a host of other real celebrities who were exposed for the reprehensible actions they committed. The film really damns Tár, shows that she is a talented individual but reminds us that with the power she has gathered from her fame and connections, she has become rather dangerous. Tár abuses her status often to get what she desires, the way she has selfishly trampled through and destroyed people's lives is put on show for us. The film disintegrates Tár and I really applaud it for this, I felt a strong message was enforced. Maybe some might hold a view that the art outweighs the artist, but Tár reminds us of the gravity behind this debate and the real consequences visited upon victims by artists who are allowed to continue due to their 'greatness'. 

 

Tár is a very compelling character examination with a central performance that gives more to quite a weighty piece. However, there were a number of technical components that I really admired. Hildur Guðnadóttir's score and work on the selection and composition of classical pieces often strikes very deliberately. Music is like a blunt weapon that crashes into some scenes, it shakes us up and sometimes feels like the only 'real' thing about our immoral protagonist. The cinematography throughout also feels very deliberate and carefully framed, it gives the feeling of figures gliding about a stage with how gentle and subtle the camera moves or places itself within a scene.

 

Noémie Merlant, who played Francesca Lentini, really plays to the professional and emotional dependency her character has towards Blanchett's; I loved watching Merlant's role steadily break away and become distant from Tár. Nina Hoss, who played Sharon Goodnow, plays a very fraught relationship with Blanchett that often feels on the rocks; watching Hoss play those quiet moments of pain her character feels when her wife betrays her was exceptional. Sophie Kauer, who played Olga Metkina, really steals the show throughout the feature; Kauer crafts a role who feels so lively and indifferent to Blanchett that she becomes incredibly captivating. Julian Glover, who played Andris Davis, is a gruff old mentor figure who plays jaded very well; you see the seeds of immorality that his role clearly passed down to Tár in this performance.

 

However, the best performance came from Cate Blanchett, who played the title character: Lydia Tár. When you meet this character for the first time she seems monolithic, she has the sort of presence that when she enters a room you feel like a spotlight is cast upon her. I really loved how Blanchett embedded so much confidence and authority into Tár, it made her the giant of her industry that we needed to see. But from that point we see all the subtle cracks that Lydia Tár isn't a very likeable person either, she ceaselessly manipulates others or drives others who hold conflicting views from her down. Blanchett establishes her character as powerful and then uses that power to bludgeon other roles beneath her. The more you watch this sordid act being played out again and again, the more you come to revile her. It initially is disarming; you find humour in her threatening her daughter's school bully but then you see the darker side of her destroying adult lives for her own comfort and security. Watching Tár grapple with the idea of losing her status instead of guilt over what she has done is very powerfully played out by Blanchett. I also think the subplot in which her character becomes enamoured by Olga is really well played by her; Blanchett plays to futile yearning in a way that feels both tragic and wrong.

This film is quite a unique character deconstruction, it has a complex protagonist and subject matter that isn't easy to navigate at the best of times. Funnily enough, this meant I really slogged through the first act, it didn't grab me right away and I really found Tár to be the sort of film that slowly hooks your attention and pulls you in deep. The opening of the film introduces to high society at its most niche; no one really talks in a manner that feels grounded and the vernacular of the characters is overblown with sophistication and pomp. There is a real snobbery to the delivery of the work at first; which paired with some of the personal views the main character holds really muddies the intent of the feature. I feel the audience will really struggle to understand if Todd Field wants us to sympathise or despise Lydia Tár when first we meet her. I was also really disappointed with how the film ended, in that it probably continued on for ten or fifteen minutes longer than it needed to. The film jams some vague hints at Tár's family roots and also goes on a really lengthy journey to show how far she has fallen in her prusuit to reclaim status and success. Everything this extra time achieves just feels like the film is repeating itself and really drumming home the point unnecessarily.

I also found the editing of the film to move at a very slight pace, cuts came very intermittently and often great pacing choices came from the nature of the story and less how the feature was assembled. I'm also very annoyed any time texting is put in the film and it's inserted in a way that really doesn't allow the audience to read it well.

Mark Strong, who played Eliot Kaplan, gives a performance that feels remarkably off for his usual calibre; Strong's first scene is a dull affair peppered with some extremely stiff delivery. Mila Bogojevic, who played Petra, is a young actress who doesn't rise to the intense script; Bogojevic is in scenes with weighty language and if often paired against Blanchett who swiftly eclipses her. Allan Corduner, who played Sebastian Brix, is a little too comfortable playing the wallflower with this role; his only memorable scene is his last and even in that moment Blanchett steals the show out from under him.

 

This film poses some tough questions and a look at celebrity culture that I really found quite worthy, in spite of some varied narrative delivery. I would give Tár a 7.5/10.