Watching this film was an interesting experience. Tár‘s technical brilliance and immaculate execution are readily apparent but observation isn’t the same as enjoyment. As I ruminated on the film throughout the rest of the day, and many days since, I have sunken deeper and deeper into the many notes of its mastery.
One of the world’s foremost Western classical music conductors, and the first female head of a major German orchestra, sees her life and career spiral out of control in the face of damning allegations.
This is only Todd Field’s third feature film and he hasn’t missed yet. His other two films have a combined 8 Academy Award nominations between them, including screenplay nods for both and a Best Picture nom for his debut film, In the Bedroom. Even putting that aside, when you look at the caliber of talent that signs up for his films, it speaks volumes about Field as a filmmaker and that is the case once again here.
I know there was some confusion about whether or not this was a biopic of a real person and while the story is based in reality and textured with many truths about the world of Western classical music, Lydia Tár is not a real person. Just wanted to get that out of the way.
When we first meet her, it’s as part of a New York Times (maybe The New Yorker) interview series with Adam Gopnik, where he appears as himself, in front of a sold-out auditorium. Just the scene setting alone imparts quite a bit of gravitas onto this woman we don’t know as Gopnik showers her with seemingly endless accolades, including letting us know she’s an EGOT winner (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). That last bit is more there for recognition value as it’s not touched on again but the discussion that follows is a stage for the depth of her historical knowledge, her interpretations of classical masterworks, and her view of what she brings to the performance as a conductor. In short, it lets us know that she’s very good at what she does but it also shows how she carries herself.
That opening scene is essentially a coronation. It’s not just about the acknowledgment of her greatness, it’s about the public recognition of that moment. This creative decision by Field is one of the things I love most about this film because although it was confused with being a biopic it defies those conventions.
We have been conditioned to know that formula by now. Our subject usually comes from modest and humble beginnings, they find sudden success and wealth, then eventually succumb to the darker influences that populate those circles. Sometimes it costs them their life but other times they rise above adversity to be greater than ever before and ride off into the sunset. That is not this film. Field introduces us to Lydia Tár at the height of her power and then the whole thing is a gradual plunging descent from that point.
This is a dialogue-heavy script and while it may seem pedantic on the surface it was another creative decision wielded by Field with powerful intent. For those with extensive knowledge of Western classical music, the dialogue may even strike you as rich and detailed, because it is, but let’s not pretend like that is the vast majority or even the intended audience for this film. For the average moviegoer, I believe the intent is to continue to show us how she views herself in relation to her predecessors and to those that would be considered her peers.
I framed it that way because she doesn’t view her colleagues as peers. That is very apparent in her interaction with Mark Strong’s character, Elliot Kaplan, who is a conductor himself but is presented to us as a fan of Lydia’s and as an administrator for either the orchestra itself or some other organization. It’s pretty clear that she has little patience for his fandom and she doesn’t view him as a peer.
When she goes next to teach a class, Field gives us a much more drastic contrast in character that also shows us, emphatically, how she feels about the young generation of potential composers. When a student expresses his as feelings queer person of color, she derides him and dismisses him as a byproduct of the social media age. So, we see that she has contempt for basically everyone in her field while deifying the classical masters. We learn very early on in the film, that despite her position as the first female head of a German orchestra and her comments about equality at the outset of the film, she is very much entrenched as part of the patriarchal structure.
There is some interesting subtext there because she clearly had to climb the ladder of that white-cis-male hierarchy herself to reach her position, yet she has absolutely no interest in deviating from that structure in moving forward. Reading between the lines tells me that she is incredibly proud of what she accomplished because she is the only one, but her ego is so inflated by the achievement that she defines herself by it. She doesn’t believe anyone else is capable, let alone worthy, and she actively uses her position of power to prevent it. This is important when the hammer really falls.
Field did an amazing job of leaving subtle context clues that reflect and enrich aspects of Lydia’s character, or lack thereof. Her behaviors are not usually pronounced because she has had to learn to navigate a system of discretion, but a glance here or a delicate touch in passing there went a long way in shaping the larger picture of who she is and makes everything more impactful as her life begins to unravel. He wrote this for his lead and it shows.
Cate Blanchett is impeccable. She learned German, re-learned piano, and even really conducted the Dresden Orchestra. Yup, those scenes of the orchestra playing are very real and she is at the helm. Of course, she has a commanding screen presence she can invoke when the situation calls for it but what’s most remarkable about her portrayal of this character is the fleshing out of those minuscule notes. She keeps it all tightly knit but, once there is a crack in the facade, it goes from a small leak to a deluge. There may be some great performances coming down the pipe still, but just send her all the awards.
I don’t know if the hairstylist and makeup team is going to get serious recognition for this film, but they should because there are scenes where Cate Blanchett doesn’t look like the same person from one frame to the next. It’s also a very intentional choice to
In stepping back and sitting with this film for a while after it was over, there is a beautiful symmetry and symbiosis between the subject setting of the film and the structure of the script itself. Tár functions like a visual orchestra piece and embraces it without spelling it out for you. Let me see if I can clarify that. There is a lot of exposition about classical music in the film and while a lot of it is white noise to shape the characters, Lydia does romanticize the music in a meaningful and tangible way. As she works towards a high-profile live recording of Mahler’s 5th, what she communicates to the orchestra during rehearsal actually lays the foundation for the film’s structure. Genius is thrown around haphazardly at times, but I found the synergy to be brilliantly done.
For as incredible as this film is on a number of levels, it’s kind of crazy to think that there was other projects Field intended to work with Blanchett on but couldn’t get financed. However, I do see why Focus Features gave him the green light for anything as long as it falls within their budget range.
Even with a fixed budget, this film looks incredible, and it sounds amazing. There has to be a lot of pressure on a composer with a film such as this but Hildur Guðnadóttir breathed a tremendous amount of life and tension into the original score here. It’s not as grandiose as the music the character is working on, but it’s very effective. When watching the trailer, it was the music that gave me goosebumps and when you watch the film you will know why.
Florian Hoffmeister’s cinematography was impressive as well and that early scene at the music school, shot in one continuous take, shows the kind of ambitious skill being wielded. That may be the signature shot, but the layered exterior shots that paint a portrait of Berlin do wonders for giving the setting character and the intense angles of Lydia at the podium are wowing.
If all that isn’t enough, the supporting cast is wonderful with the aforementioned Mark Strong, Noémie Merlant, Nina Hoss, and Sophie Kauer (who had never acted before) who all provided great turns that helped paint the lead in varying shades of light and dark.
To readdress my initial quandary, I wound up loving this film. I just didn’t know it at first. Tár is easily one of the Best films this year and now that it is available on demand I will have to make time to give it a second viewing.
Recommendation: Seeing this one for Cate Blanchett’s performance alone is worth the price of admission and, while some of the unfamiliar and seemingly dry aspects may not be the most welcoming, the robust layers of this film just get better the more I think about it.
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