Renowned musician Lydia Tár is days away from recording the symphony that will elevate her career. However, Lydia's elaborate facade begins to unravel, revealing dirty secrets and the corrosive nature of power.
- Released:
- Runtime: 158 minutes
- Genre: Drama, Music
- Stars: Cate Blanchett, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer, Julian Glover, Allan Corduner, Sylvia Flote, Vincent Riotta, Sam Douglas, Lucie Pohl, Vivian Full, Lee Sellars, Christoph Tomanek, Frank Röth, Diana Birenytė, André Röhner, Jessica Hansen, Murali Perumal, Sydney Lemmon, Ryan Reynolds
- Director: Todd Field
Comments
- mohammadesfandiari-13363 - 30 April 2024
"Tar, Judgment, and Narrative at Your Disposal!
From the moment Max, the young student of Joliard, is stopped by Lydia Tar in the early parts of the film and asked, 'Why did you come to Joliard?' to the point where she belittles him for succumbing to what passes on social media; only one question repeats in the viewer's mind: Art or artist?
Are these two separate from each other or will they always be judged side by side? A question that throughout the film, you will repeatedly ask yourself, seemingly having a different answer for it each moment. It's as if Todd Field, the director of the film, wants to play with your mind and make you waver in decision-making. A feat he had previously accomplished quite successfully in his other film, Little Children. It's as if he aims to force the viewer to choose; to choose which side to stand on? To choose who did the right thing? To choose what was the right thing to do? And then, just at the moment when he chooses and becomes certain of his choice, he throws seeds of doubt towards him, casting doubt on every decision and choice he makes.
It's as if 'Tar,' rather than being overly successful in narrating the downfall of an artist, relinquishes the role of narrator and puts the pen in the hands of the audience to write their favorite story themselves.
But the question raised here is not just a mere one; art or artist? Judgment is up to you." - panagiotisstathopoulos-24039 - 14 January 2024
what a directional dissapointment
With such a cast such a scenario what a disappointment this movie is. Instead of showing the subtle ways of power and abuse of power in half the movie we see the lifestyle Lyndia Tar is enjoying and in the other half we watched instead of a downfall a comedy.
The cast is great ghe scenario is thought provocing but the director fails to show the internal struggle opposite forces that exist in Tar. And while he is successful at depicting the machievwlian politics behind seats of power Tars downfall is not believeblen or even plausible. Thus the end part resembles more like of a comedy instead of drama. - mjonasb - 19 November 2023
A Symphony of Subtlety and Power
In "Tár," the cinematic world is treated to a masterpiece that resonates with a unique rhythm. It's a film that demands your full attention, unfolding at a pace that is not slow but meticulously measured. For those willing to immerse themselves in its narrative, the movie offers a rich and enjoyable experience.
The storyline is a compelling exploration of the complex interplay between immense talent and the pursuit of success. Lydia Tár, portrayed with exceptional nuance, navigates the high stakes world of classical music. The film masterfully illustrates how subtle manipulations can spiral into profound consequences, presenting a narrative both contemporary and timeless.
This isn't just a film; it's an experience that lingers with you, challenging perceptions of power dynamics in creative fields. With a rating of 8 out of 10, "Tár" is undeniably a must-see. It's a testament to the power of cinema to both entertain and provoke thought, leaving an indelible mark on its audience. - boatsfra-42489 - 6 January 2023
Tar is Tar and Feathered
I wanted to get into this movie and I made it past the opening three hours of credits, followed by a day of the opening interview. I got through that point without getting the rope and gave the movie my due diligence, but sorry folks, I wasn't feeling it.
This movie definitely has subset of viewers, those who appreciate classical music and those who conduct it. I love classical music but I would be wary of recommending watching this dud without some serious soul-searching and mind-bending mushrooms.
I love Kate Blanchett and her acting chops are second to none. Can I get some props for making it through the first half-hour? - cvjetklivadic - 1 January 2023
Generic artist from all ankles
This movie definitely is not and can not be everyone's cup of tea. People could find it boring, confusing and very possibly not interesting.
Sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. But that is what I like about this movie and about ,,In The Bedroom'' director. It seems that he tries to take one particular situation, or in this case, life and work of someone and show every aspect of it.
We see Lydia Tàr teaching students, giving interviews, conducting orchestra, handling legal matters in a formal/business part of her life. We see her interacting with family, future and past associates in restaurants and similar places in her private life plus we see her alone with all her traumas, inner battles and ambitions.
Something of it is interesting and relatable, something is not but that is a life and everytime real life gets its way into a movie it divides the audience.
No matter how much person is exciting or not on screen or stage, in real life there is no way everything is only exciting or boring about that person.
It is not easy to follow what's going on because many characters are introduced as we already know them. I'm ok with it but someone else might not be.
Movie is much more suitable for those people who have similar profession as Tàr.
Cate Blanchett didn't disappoint. She is magnificent and delivers great performance as Lydia Tàr here. Cinematography is beautiful and script is nice. So technically it is a very well made movie.
The only thing which is missing from this movie is some kind of fireworks to positively shock the viewer. In other words, everything has the same, calm rhythm from start to finish, feels more like some kind of analysis of or a tutorial for how to be a controversial artist with a warning what could happen if you seek perfection too much, than like a live action movie.
In a world of special effects and box office profit seekers it is not good time to be this movie. But if you are able to sit trough two and a half hours observing some controversial lesbian self confident artist's life battles, give this movie a chance, you will not be disappointed! - shuswap-83557 - 28 December 2022
Tar and feather the makers of this snoozefest
Start with the good part. Cate Blanchett is absolutely brilliant as an actress, always. Unfortunately her character here is so shallow and unlikeable as to make the audience not care at all about her. That just kills the movie and the reason to watch it. She plays a nasty manipulative self righteousness conniving bitch and so you just sit there listening to long long conversations about nothing in particular and then the temper tantrum freak out mental break down at the end. What was the point? I don't know. She's not that interesting and her life as maestro isn't that interesting. And I love classical music. I'd rather watch the Beethoven movie. Far more interesting a life story and far better music. - DimasDarko - 20 December 2022
Morally Grey Genius
One of the best character study's I've seen. Beautifully put together, a tight; concise, and subtle film with so much food for thought. This movie walks the morally grey line in such fashion and style, and has scenes that are brilliant in its commentary and ideas. So many layers are woven in creating such a perfect canvass for the disheartening colors. The performances feel real and grounded, the best performance of cate Blanchetts career, an already acclaimed actor.
Once it hits the fan the movie starts getting manic and increasingly surreal. The immense pressure feels real and heavy and starts peeling at the seams. Tension is quiet but palpable. Its terrifying and intense combined with the real and grounded feel to the movie and you have one of the most satisfactory 3rd acts of all time. The ending is one of the most perfect resolutions ive ever seen in a movie.
The movie goes on for another few minutes after the climax as it goes you wonder when the credits are going to role and why this act is going on for so long. Moment after moment, scene after scene you don't know where this is going until... that final shot. One of the most perfect reveals in cinema, a historical moment, a shot that is covered in intentions, ideas and greys.
10/10. - dougingold-62107 - 10 December 2022
Very Disappointed
My wife and I were eager to see Tar from the moment we heard of it. We love classical music; we admire Cate Blanchet's work; we know Berlin and speak some German. We even went to the local theater to persuade the management to bring it here, and the day it appeared we were in the audience. And we were deeply disappointed. There is much to complain about but in summary it comes to this: The story is framed as a tragedy but it contains no tragedy. There is no tragedy because we are given no reason to care for Lydia Tar. Revealed in jagged shards of fractured narrative she comes across as a humorless, self-centered, power-obsessed, bully. I wasn't even convinced that she loved music! Was she, in the end, an unfair victim of cancel culture? It mattered little to me; I remained indifferent to her and to her fate. - MrDHWong - 1 December 2022
An interesting, in-depth character study of a composer during all the ups and downs of her career
"TÁR" is a drama film written and directed by Todd Field ("In The Bedroom", "Little Children"). Starring Cate Blanchett in the lead role, it shows an interesting, in-depth character study of a composer during all the ups and downs of her career.
Over the course of several decades, Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) has built a reputation as one of the most celebrated classical music composers of all time. Assisting Lydia throughout her musical endeavours are her personal assistant Francesca (Noemie Merlant) and her wife Sharon (Nina Hoss). After viewing auditions for a new cellist to play in her orchestra, Lydia becomes captivated by young Russian woman named Olga (Sophie Kauer). Sensing an attraction to Olga, Lydia decides to bend the rules by ensuring her an exclusive position in her orchestra while disregarding the credentials of other hopeful candidates. As preparations for her next big concerto begin to take place, Lydia's relationships with both Francesca and Sharon start to feel strained, made worse by their realisation that Lydia has developed feelings for Olga.
Even though he has only two prior feature films under his belt, Todd Field may just be one of the most accomplished yet underrated filmmakers working today. Each of his movies expertly touch on human nature and displays of emotion, with his 2001 debut "In The Bedroom" dealing with how grief affects a family differently, while his subsequent 2006 film "Little Children" dealing with the mutual dissatisfaction of two married people. What both of these films have in common is that they each focus around the unpredictability of life and what obstacles may be thrown in the way of its characters. Sixteen years after the release of his last film, Field returns with his third movie "TÁR", an intriguing look at a particular composer's life and the challenges she is forced to undertake.
Within the first ten minutes, we are cleverly informed of everything we need to know about Lydia as a person, from her musical skills to the various accolades she has accumulated throughout the years. Todd Field is known for ensuring that his characters are fleshed out enough for the viewer to care about what they are going through, and this film is no exception. Here, Field disregards what could have been boring expositional conversations in favour of a casual on-stage interview at a festival in front of a seated audience. Lydia's concise, surprisingly relaxed responses are meant to show that she is simply a regular human being who just so happens to have an exceptional ear for music. The more we learn about what Lydia is capable of, the more intrigued we become to see what will happen to her throughout the rest of the film. As a result, Lydia feels like a properly grounded character that the audience can relate to and not some perfect product of the screenwriter's imagination.
Something else that Todd Field is known for is his unique directorial style. In his previous two films, we see the drama unfold through a series of seemingly mundane events such as the characters going about their daily business until suddenly, out of nowhere, something life-changing happens when everyone least expects it. The lingering consequences of the unfortunate events that follow then start to compound on each other until the characters have had no choice but to alter their perspectives in order to recover. In my view, this makes for a more involving dramatic experience since it is more believable that a person's growth comes from an unpredictable occurrence rather than something they had planned for from the very start.
A similar thing occurs here with Lydia, in that she now must face the difficult choice of either staying with the two people she has known the longest or risking it all for someone she barely knows but is more physically attracted to. Over the course of the film, we witness what was once a pragmatic person becoming more corrupted due to her own inhibitions, allowing a different side to emerge and eventually cause damage to her reputation. I liked how this essentially plays into the idea of breaking away from banality versus following your heart's desires, because this is a dilemma that we all have to face at some point in our lives no matter the time or place.
Field's approach involves drip-feeding moments of Lydia's thought process throughout the story, which sometimes worked but at other times seemed a bit excessive. Since the film clocks in at 158 minutes, there were parts I felt did drag at times, and although they weren't what I would consider "boring", I can't say the same for others who might be watching. It's a shame because I really liked the moments that delved into Lydia's psyche but most of the scenes with the other characters felt a bit flat. I suppose for a person as complex as Lydia, it would be impossible to convey literally everything she is going through all at once with everybody she meets.
For a character as fascinating and multi-layered as Lydia, Cate Blanchett proves that she is the absolute perfect choice for this type of role. Like all the other main characters in Todd Field's films, Blanchett hits all the right notes as she plays right into Lydia's insecurities, elitism, and musical talents to such a degree that she truly embodies this character from the moment the audience sets eyes on her. According to some online research, all of the scenes where Blanchett was conducting the orchestra were real and she actually did play piano during scenes where Lydia is composing music. This proves just how committed Blanchett was to playing this character, and it definitely shows in every single scene.
I just wish there were a bit more focus on the supporting characters, in particular Francesca, Sharon, and Olga. Although we do get to see how each of their relationships with Lydia alternates between sympathetic and hostile, we never really gain a proper understanding of things from their perspectives for it to feel like they are changing along with her. Considering the film's length, I think there were plenty of opportunities to insert scenes of what they were thinking at certain times and this would have added a lot more dramatic weight to the story. To be fair, it makes sense for the film to place most of the attention on the title character but I still would have preferred to see a more involved supporting cast to help things along.
Like his other two films, Todd Field's "TÁR" is a compelling look at human nature during periods of great success and undignified failure. It serves as a reminder that we are all susceptible to these cathartic experiences regardless of our social status. At this point, it's hard to say what direction a filmmaker like Field will take next. So far he's covered family grief, unhappy marriages, and now the rise and fall of a classical composer. There are a plethora of other topics he could cover in future films but so long as he continues this streak of well-written characters and clever direction, I'm certain he'll deliver the goods once again.
I rate it 8.5/10. - mesaxi - 23 November 2022
Blanchett stuns, Field confounds
Cate Blanchett gets better and better. I don't know what there is to say about her performance that hasn't been said, just fantastic.
This film was a bit puzzling to me, I had to think about it for a while to decide if I even liked it or not. Todd Field didn't give you an easy ending, he gave you something to take with you and mull over. One of the things that had me on the fence is that this is a "me too" movie, which is becoming a bit of a saturated subject matter, but Field took a somewhat different approach to the topic which I appreciated.
The story is a slow burn, but I never felt bored. There are some parts of the story where I wish we were given more, but I'm thinking it's the kind of movie where I'll catch things that I missed on a second viewing. Having actual musical performances, not overdubbed miming, was an excellent touch. It always distracts me from a scene when I notice someone miming their parts, even when it's background at a party.
An excellent movie filled with excellent performances and striking visual direction, my only complaint is being frustrated by some gaps in the story, I would have liked to know a little more.
