Like most of the movies I watch these days, “Tár” was a recommendation from a movie buff friend of mine who told me to go into it blind and come out the other side blown away.
I’m glad I took that friend’s advice, because director Todd Field’s fake biopic about a music conductor’s life slowly unraveling around her is one of the most interesting and well written movies I have seen for a while, and I’ve recently seen the well-deservedly awarded “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which is saying something.
“Tár” stars Cate Blanchett as titular character Lydia Tár, a famous and, as the opening scene explains, extraordinarily well-decorated composer and conductor as her career begins to spiral out of her control. Tár’s character is presented almost entirely neutrally, and only over the course of several drawn out scenes are we presented with her personality; she’s incredibly controlling, manipulative, and emotionally abusive, and as her life begins to unravel at the height of her career, her darker side begins to lash out.
The movie is written and shot as if to convince the audience the story being told is a true one.; Field uses long, esoteric scenes to paint the character of Lydia Tár, and plenty of information is left for either the audience to infer based on previous scenes or simply to interpret for themselves, as if perhaps they would already know parts of Tár’s story before the film ever started. It’s beyond convincing, enough that I found myself taking to Google as the credits rolled to ensure that it actually was fictitious.
This feat, combined with the incredible performance from Ms. Blanchett, is the brilliance of the film. In the almost three hour runtime, Field trusts his audience to guide themselves through the film, leaving hints here and there as to the conclusion while never giving away too much. Even in its final scenes, there’s plenty left unanswered in the story, but it’s left so purposefully open that it’s hard to find fault in the movie. Even when it finds itself touching on subjects of racism, social justice, and abuse, Tár continues to push itself forward by using these as tools to create a character rather than trying to send a message. It’s a bold choice given how touchy these subjects can be, but their use only creates a stronger character out of Lydia; as the world around her crumbles, Field never needs to explain how she is crumbling, too, because it’s all right there if you’re willing to look.
