2022 - TAR, a character study of a fierce character.

I have no idea what to make of this film.  Cate Blanchett's performance as a talented and extreme orchestra conductor whose life is about to come crashing down, is about as good as you will ever see in any film.  The writer/director Todd Field has done an excellent job working with the actors and his written a fascinating story.  So what's the problem?  

 I think Tar suffers under it's own weight as an intense drama and character study.  Cate Blanchett's performance is completely uncompromising.  Her character Lydia Tar has a fervent connection to the music she conducts particularly Gustav Mahler's 5th symphony.  Lydia Tar also appears to be skilled at manipulating people in her personal and professional life.  In the end Lydia Tar is such a completely unsympathetic character that I finally found difficult to relate to her on just about every level.  To paraphrase the old saying, watching Blanchett's performance has all the fascination of gazing into a snake pit.

I don’t think it helped the film that much of the story while interesting is very subtlety told by the director.  I don't have a problem being challenged by a narrative but at two hours and thirty eight minutes that's a lot of time to be immersed into this muddled world.

 

I'm extremely conflicted about this film.  There are so many good things in it but the running time and the unrelenting unpleasantness were a real turn off.  Tar will require a second viewing which in a way is a complement to Todd Field and Cate Blanchett.  Considering the shallowness of most film dramas this film is in many ways a flawed but very impressive achievement.