‘Tar’ movie review

You know it’s award season when an art film like ‘Tar’ lands in theaters.  This is a film about a woman at the top of her craft.  It stars an actress at the top of her craft too.  Cate Blanchett delivers a tour de force performance. It’s a mesmerizing character study.  She draws you into her sophisticated world that at times feels like a biographical true story.  That’s how masterful and honest ‘Tar’ is constructed by writer/director Todd Field.  It is a film that immerses the audience into a privileged world.  It does not spoon-feed the story but reveals it through Blanchett’s dark and complex embodiment of the lead role.  ‘Tar’ is a must-see.

Lydia Tar (Blanchett) is waiting back stage to be introduced in front of a live audience.  She takes a seat beside The New Yorker’s cultural critic Adam Gopnik (as himself).  It’s a fascinating way to open a film.  It’s an extremely effective way to introduce us to the lead character.  Lydia is the conductor for the Berlin Philharmonic.  She’s a protégé of Leonard Bernstein.  She is an EGOT recipient (winning all the major entertainment awards including an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony).  As a woman, she has shattered the glass ceiling in her profession.  She is one of the top maestros in the world.

As we glimpse into Lydia’s personal life.  We see a different person from her public image.  She has a temper when things don’t always go her way.  She has a tremendous amount of power and likes to control others.  She uses people to her advantage.  She has no problem ghosting people that she has no use for in her life.  When her daughter is bullied at school, she confronts and threatens the young girl.  The bullying stops.  The scene is haunting the way it shows how Lydia can become so icy.  There is always a sense of time throughout the pacing of the story.  There’s an omniscient tone that stresses the importance of time in her profession.  Time plays an important role in her eventual fall from grace.

The film goes into cancel culture and social media.  Lydia is accused of grooming young female musicians.  She blacklists one of her former trainee conductors that lead to an unfortunate demise.  As the story progresses, the audience sees the dark side of Lydia.  You don’t get as successful as her by always being nice.  At times, she’s a complete jerk.  She has no regard for the feelings of others.  When she’s done with someone in her life, she throws them away like trash.  The fascinating aspect of this portrait is that we still care about her.  She’s made plenty of sacrifices to get at the top of her musical career.  The real question to ask is, do we sanction this kind of behavior from great artists or cancel them? 

Here’s some movie trivia.  The director Todd Field used to be an actor.  He was the jazz piano player in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’  The reason I mention this is that he is a director that brings out the best performance in his actors.  ‘Tar’ is no exception.  Cate Blanchett is a shoo-in for an Oscar nod.  ‘Tar’ is a fascinating glimpse into the coveted world of classical music.  But let’s not fool ourselves.  The real reason to see ‘Tar’ is to see Cate Blanchett’s brilliant performance.