Cate Blanchett is a force to be reckoned with in her latest film Tár, from filmmaker Todd Field. Field has very few film credits to his name as a director, but the films that he does make he puts every ounce and fibre of research onto the screen. As for Blanchett, she’s had a remarkable life as an actress, and she isn’t slowing down anytime soon either, but she has played in films such as The Lord of the Rings, Blue Jasmine, The Aviator, Nightmare Alley, Carol, Cinderella, Thor: Ragnarok and many, many more, proving how versatile and chameleonic she is in front of the camera. Tár is a beautiful marriage between Field and Blanchett as they create a character that looks and feels real with Blanchett playing Lydia Tár.
Lydia Tár is a pianist, a composer, and she is also the first female chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, which is where we find her at the start of the film. Throughout the film we learn of the choices she makes and how she isn’t exactly a trustworthy person. She’s hiding secrets and lies from those closest to her and as a result we see how she mentally and physically goes downhill in terms of profession and personal life as some serious allegations are made against her. The other characters are there in the film to merely aid her or obstruct her in her role as a conductor and feel rather meaningless in the larger scope of the story. This is Blanchett’s film and she is absorbed into the fabric of the film and spat out again as she learns to deal with her past indiscretions.
The filmmaking feels very delicate with minor character details littered throughout such as how Tár has a tendency of hearing high pitch sounds at night, a rather delicate alteration with her neighbour and she also poses a clear phobia of germs as she navigates her day-to-day life. Field and Blanchett make the character feel real, and it’s not just in the character choices. Tár has a Wikipedia page, a book launch in America and she even has vinyl sleeves of her past work, making us feel and believe that this could potentially be a biopic. Woven into the story are themes of abuse of power and control over those around her. Tár is in complete control of her life and it is when the death of a former colleague is made public where her life starts to fall to pieces and as harsh as it is to say but she deserves it. She’s a manipulative woman who is only focused on her career and sometimes her daughter as well, but she makes a lot of questionable decisions throughout the film.
Field captures the psychology of Tár brilliantly as she commands and controls the orchestra on stage, through these moments we see shots of how Tár proceeds to capture the perfect tones and pitches of the violinists, cellists and everyone else who look at her with awe and wonder as her presence mystifies and bewilders the various people working under her. As she develops a close bond with one of her members of her orchestra we see a different side to her, one which she hides from her partner. The cinematography captures this relationship in a disturbing and intrusive way, further proving who Tár really is. This is a phenomenal film, and despite the film being about a conductor of an orchestra there isn’t a lot of musical performances on display, with the focus more on Tár's psychological state, which sometimes works better for the film and sometimes it doesn’t.
★★★★☆
4/5
Final Verdict:
Blanchett wholeheartedly deserves any awards she gets for this film. She lives and breathes this character unlike anything she has done before. Todd Field captures the essence of Tár in such a way that makes you almost feel like you know her better than she knows herself. It’s a very internalised look at a character, one that captures the audience and brings the audience for a very dark ride as we see her fall from grace. The how and why she does what she does is the beauty of the storytelling, and Tár will forever be seen as a piece of work that proves how talented Blanchett truly is.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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