Todd Field’s “Tár”

Tár (2022)

A powerful character study that is more than an investigation into cancel culture led by a potent and convincing performance from Cate Blanchett

Going into this, I was expecting this to be firmly centred on cancel culture but the film has more layers. It’s among the best character studies I’ve seen on film. A lot of questions are asked, ideas put forward but it’s left to the audience to draw their own conclusions.

The film tells the story of emminent composer and conductor Lydia Tár(Cate Blanchett) opening with an on stage interview by Adam Gopnik at The New Yorker Festival. So convincing is the exchange that it’s easy to forget that Tár is a fictional character. In this first phase of the film, we see her as the public sees her and she’s astute, brilliant, insightful, and charming. As the film progresses, we move into her work day and family life where subtle hints point to potential faults in her awe-inspiring persona which are then zoomed into over the course of the film. The overall effect is astounding. If this sounds interesting to you, you’ll probably enjoy the film.

Blanchett carries and conveys the eminence of Tár so convincingly that as good as the supporting actors are (Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, Julian Glover, Mark Strong, Allan Corduner), they’re lost in her wake and so again real life overlaps with fiction.

In addition to the cancel culture element which is just one colour in the rainbow here, there’s observations on bias, corruption, comparison between skill and success, isolation, pedestals, and elitism. It’s constantly interesting even if some of the dialogue on the details of music can be impenetrable, it demonstrates the power and knowledge of Tár.

Is it for everyone? No. Not everyone will find the 2.5 hour run time or the discussions on classical music to their liking, but for me the film kept moving forward at a good rate, surprised me at several points and ended unpredictably. Blanchett’s performance is worth the price of admission alone.