Movie: Tár (2022)

 “Tar… What is that movie about? Some sexually predatory artistic genius? She’s an EGOT, for crying out loud, and it’s so punitive. They drag her down so far that after that after a while it sort of turns into a gothic horror film.” Critic, Peter Rainer at the AirTalk 2023 Oscar Preview

Tár - A strange movie with nearly five minutes of credits at the beginning of the film, and a short set of end credits with music that yanks you out of any atmosphere left over from the last scene. Tár is about an egotistical conductor. She’s just so focused on her life,  maximizing her experience and prioritizing her pleasure and her expertise, that she loses sight of other people. Turns out almost everyone in her life dislikes or fears her. Her ego-self has lied to her and convinced her that she’s immune to the consequences of her cruel and inappropriate behavior. Those pesky consequences catch up to her when a scandal involving the suicide of a protégé comes to light. I gotta appreciate the comedy of a conversation  between Tár and her mentor when she asks him about how he would deal with “a student or a colleague misinterpreting your actions” and he immediately jumps to the conclusion that he’s been accused. Once convinced he’s not, he begins listing off conductors who have been accused and there is a list!

Cate Blanchett disappears in this performance: she is Lydia Tár. I was skeptical at the beginning of this, but I fell into it, and into the rabbit hole of the story until the end. The last chapter, so to speak, was rushed, and again the ending was odd. I see why Blanchett was nominated, but I also see why people aren’t raving about this movie. Overall, the story left a lot to be desired. I can’t think of any good reason to see it again. I’m trying to think of Tár in the same vein of Everything Everywhere All At Once, because I gave that movie a lot of credit for being different from traditional storytelling. Both movies use nontraditional techniques. So, with Tár I wonder what questions are still left unanswered. At the end of the movie, I still don’t know who was tormenting Tár throughout the film. Did we start to channel the mental break depicted in Black Swan? Or was what we saw onscreen Tár tormenting herself or paranormal, even? What was the story with the Russian cellist?

Click here to hear the AirTalk 2023 Oscar Preview

I watched this movie on a DVD checked out from my local library.