“Tár,” written and directed by Todd Field, tells the story of a world-renowned symphony conductor played by Cate Blanchett, and let me say it from the start: It's the work of a master filmmaker. That's not a total surprise. Field has made only two previous films, and the first of these, the domestic revenge drama "In the Bedroom," was languid and lacerating: a small, compact explosion of the independent world. His second feature film, “Little Children”, was, in my opinion, a flop, although his talent was everywhere.
But “Tár”, the first film he has made in 16 years, takes Todd Field to a new level. The film is impressive, in its drama, its high quality innovation, the vision of it. It is a ruthless yet intimate story of art, lust, obsession and power. It's set in the world of contemporary classical music, and if that sounds a bit far-fetched, the film takes us through that world in a way so rigorously precise, authentic and detailed that it creates the immersion of a thriller. The characters in “Tár” feel as real as life. You believe, at all times, in the reality that you are seeing, and it is extraordinary how that raises the stakes.
Director: Todd Field
Writer: Todd Field
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss
Blanchett, in a performance that is destined to make her a major presence at this year's awards season, plays Lydia Tár, one of the most celebrated directors of her time. The film begins with an enigmatic shot of an exchange of text messages, which will slowly creep up on us as its meaning comes to light. It then cuts to an extended sequence where Lydia is interviewed onstage by The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik (playing himself), allowing us to discover who she is and revel in the wariness of her cultivated stardom. We learn that Lydia has been director of the Boston Symphony and the New York Philharmonic (among other prestigious positions), and for seven years she has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic. She is an EGOT winner, and her mentor was Leonard Bernstein, who pioneered the role of the American conductor as a larger-than-life figure. Lydia, like Lenny, possesses powers of articulation that rival her musical abilities.
He speaks, with astonishing eloquence and wit, of conducting as the ordering of time itself, and how the relationship between Gustav Mahler and his wife, Alma, influenced the composition of his grand, sinister and romantic Symphony No. 5. which it is about. to record in Berlin. And Lydia addresses the question of what it means to be a female director, which, perhaps to our surprise, she treats as a totally irrelevant topic, explaining that that path was paved long ago and that she now occupies the privileged position. of not having to be defined, by her gender, as some kind of novelty act.
Blanchett's performance first strikes us as a bit theatrical; she almost seems to be reciting the lines. But what we realize is that Lydia herself is giving a performance, launching her personality into the waves of New York, piecing together thoughts and anecdotes that she has told dozens of times. Offstage, she's as fiery and spontaneous as she is mockingly spontaneous in the interview, as we see her in a variety of encounters, including a gossip lunch with Elliot Kaplan (Mark Strong), the nerdy investment banker and part-time bandleader. with whom he founded the Accordian Fellowship, an organization dedicated to cultivating and locating young aspiring female conductors, or the bantering exchange he enjoys with Francesca, his attractive, recessive assistant, who multitasks as devotedly as if Lydia were a studio. high maintenance. executive.
One of the fascinations of “Tár” is her portrayal of Lydia as an intellectual role model who has created herself as a kind of brand. She is a passionate scholar who lives and breathes the scores she conducts. She is a passionate teacher who, in a thrilling sequence, leads a master class at Juilliard with a whiplash-inducing provocation designed to cut through the devotions—on atonal music and identity politics—that she believes have blunted the sense of possibility of students. She is a world celebrity who understands that conducting is a dictatorship, something that she imposes within the democratic-socialist protocols that supposedly govern the Berlin orchestra. She's a recording technologist, micromanaging the nuances of how her albums are made , and also an author, about to publish a coffee table book called "Tár on Tár."
Watch Tár 2022 Movie Trailer
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