| That it would all make sense in the end, that every decision in all facets of the moviemaking process felt perfectly executed by its brilliant and surprising final shot/scene, felt like an impossibility during that opening act. This was the trick. Not to fool the audience in "haha, got you" way, more like a great magician's reveal. And what more do we want from the movies? Whether or not the filmmaker wants us to think about "cancel culture" when we watch this is irrelevant in my eyes. Because — SPOILER ALERT — Tár's ass gets canceled HARD in the end. Cancel culture is a stupid thing but it's a stupid thing which has become "part of the culture" whether we like it or not. It's like whether or not the anthropomorphic M&Ms are allowed to speak or not? We've got zero control! It's not our decision. Sorry to break it to you, folks. |
If this sounds like exhausting subject matter, fear not. It's actually an extremely refreshing and nuanced take on the occasionally hellish modern times our lives weave in and out of. Tár is an awful and manipulative person (she threatens a child!) but so are most of the other characters in their own way. The serious allegations against her are damning, but we're never provided with any real evidence that she's actually guilty. If pining after a young cellist in your orchestra who not only isn't interested in you but is actively making fun of you behind your back and using YOU for her personal and professional gains is a crime, well then lock ME up! Wait, hold on a second....
(Sorry I briefly transfigured into the spirit of Tár herself, won't happen again.)
...but TÁR ain't no one-trick pony either. Just when you think the movie was about this other thing, it turns out to be about something else, the thing it was about originally: music. Lydia Tár's fall of grace is almost comically extreme. If the movie ended with her drowning in pills and booze and dying it might have felt too obvious! But no, she doesn't fucking quit. Because deep down, despite her MANY flaws, her love for the music was real and unbeatable.
After the first half-hour, I thought I was going to hate this film. It truly irked my soul. A "famous conductor of classical music" is one of the least relatable character constructs I can think of. It's 2023, y'all. Haven't we killed all of these elite people yet? (We we're supposed to do this, us, the masses, but not enough people got the memo.) Choosing this path for your complicated movie is deliberate. (And Fields might be the biggest OrcHead [orchestra head] out there, but it doesn't matter; he's not making THIS movie for them or himself.) But now I'm convinced that the entire first act was a kind of rope-a-dope. The artifice and the pretense and the facade of that world is real. It sucks and seeing it isn't meant to be enjoyable. But the music is the opposite: even more real and endlessly magical, the kind of magic that can peel you off the ground like a cartoon after the steamroller gets you.
To me, the heart of this film is in that separation. It doesn't matter if the people who make great art are also good people (seems like they rarely are?). TÁR feels like a work that will resonate for some time, and will be ripe for rewatching. Not because of any amount of messaging, but because of that heart. It sure is tricky, but it's true.
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 661C - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 662B ⫸
⫷ EPISODE 661C - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 662B ⫸
Tár is a 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field and starring Cate Blanchett. Blanchett plays Lydia Tár, a renowned conductor who is accused of sexual abuse. The supporting cast includes Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, and Mark Strong. Tár premiered at the 79th Venice International Film Festival in September 2022, where Blanchett won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. It was released on September 1, 2022.
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